Cranberries make the holidays feel extra celebratory. Our cranberry tart recipe bakes these pink-red beauties, along with shaved almonds and almond extract for a rich nuttiness, into a dense cake.
Talk about an easy holiday dessert! Our cranberry tart recipe comes together in a snap—no fussy tart shell needed. Instead, sugared cranberries and sliced almonds are baked in a thick batter, emerging from the oven as a gorgeous cranberry tart that’s dusted with confectioners’ sugar. It’s sweet, tangy and perfumed with a rich marzipan nuttiness that could not be more perfect for the holiday season.
Ingredients for Cranberry Tart
Cranberries: Fresh or frozen cranberries are fine for this cranberry tart recipe. However, if you’re using frozen, allow the cranberries to thaw completely first, then drain away any excess liquid.
Sugar: Cranberries are an extremely tart fruit, so we need 1 cup sugar to dilute the tartness. Half the sugar will coat the cranberries and almonds, and the other half will be used in the batter.
Almonds: As an option, try toasting the nuts beforehand to bring out their naturally rich nuttiness.
Eggs: Take two eggs out of the fridge 30 minutes before starting this cranberry tart recipe to bring them to room temperature.
Butter: Melt the butter and let it cool slightly so the heat doesn’t accidentally cook the eggs. Please, no scrambled eggs in the cranberry tart!
Almond extract: If you’re tempted to use vanilla extract in place of almond extract, don’t! The almond extract creates a warm, nutty and rich taste. It’s completely worth buying. Use up the rest of the bottle in these recipes with almond extract.
All-purpose flour: Thanks to its mix of hard and soft wheat, all-purpose flour will lend the tart a strong structure while keeping a tender, moist crumb.
Confectioners’ sugar: We like to dust confectioners’ sugar all over the top to add a little more sweetness and an easy decoration.
Directions
Step 1: Mix the cranberries, almonds and sugar
Preheat your oven to 325°F. In a small bowl, combine the cranberries, 1/2 cup sugar and the almonds.
Transfer the mixture to a greased 11-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Place the tart pan on a baking sheet.
Step 2: Make the batter
In a small bowl, use a hand mixer or stand mixer to beat the eggs, melted butter, almond extract and the remaining sugar. Beat in the all-purpose flour just until the flour is moistened. The batter will be quite thick.
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