Lemon & Cranberry Tart

By now you know that fall/winter is my favorite time of the year BUT it never fails to also coincide with being the most hectic and I always end up getting caught up in finishing the semester or working too many hours. It's days off like today where I try to take a step back and become reacquainted with the kitchen after days of eating on the go and surviving off of Amy's microwave burritos and pretzel chips (don't judge me).

After I did the post for Ocean Spray Cranberry Orange Bread I had a decent amount of cranberries left. What could you do with fresh cranberries?
Make juice?
Popcorn garland?
Delicious tarts?
I think I'll go with the latter.

This tart was super easy to make, at first I was hesitant to combine the tart flavors of lemons and cranberries together, but the crust is so flaky and buttery that it creates the perfect balance of tart and sweet. If you don't have a tart pan you could always just bake them in a 13 x 9" pan and cut them into bars.

Lemon & Cranberry Tart

recipe was adapted from Kitchen Culinare

for the dough...

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup white sugar
1/4 tsp salt
Zest of one lemon
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cubed
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 TBS PLUS 1/4 cup cold water

for the filling...

2 cups fresh cranberries
3/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
Juice of one small lemon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a standard 10 1/4" tart pan and set aside.

For the Dough:

1.In the bowl of a food processor, add flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and lemon zest. Pulse to combine. Add the butter and pulse until dough is crumbled into small pieces. If you don't have a food processor (like me) I use a biscuit cutter to break up the butter bits.

2.Move the crumbles to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Beat in the egg and vanilla extract. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time until dough comes together. The dough should still be slightly dry.

3.Press slightly more than half of the dough in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Set the remaining dough aside for the topping.

For the Filling:

1.In a medium bowl, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Add cranberries and lemon juice. Stir to completely coat cranberries. Pour filling ingredients over the dough in the baking dish. Spread cranberries so that they are in a single layer.

2.Crumble the remaining dough over the top of the cranberries. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top and the sides are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely. Once cooled, lift tart out of the baking dish and serve.