Cranberry-Chocolate Tart
A decadent dessert featuring a chocolate cookie crust filled with creamy mascarpone and topped with a spiced cranberry gelatin layer. This elegant tart combines the tartness of cranberries with rich chocolate and cream, enhanced with hints of ginger and lemon.
Ingredients
- •½ cup cranberry juice
- •1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
- •12 ounce cranberries
- •¾ cup sugar
- •2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
- •1 teaspoon finely grated lemon peel
- •1 teaspoon grated peeled fresh ginger
- •1 pinch salt
- •4 tablespoons crystallized ginger
- •1¼ cups chocolate wafer cookie crumbs
- •¼ cup sugar
- •⅛ teaspoon salt
- •5½ tablespoons unsalted butter
- •8 ounce mascarpone cheese
- •½ cup powdered sugar
- •½ cup chilled whipping cream
- •1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- •crystallized ginger
Cooking Instructions
- 1.
Pour 1/4 cup cranberry juice into small bowl; sprinkle gelatin over. Let stand until softened, 15 minutes. Combine 1/4 cup cranberry juice, cranberries, and next 5 ingredients in medium saucepan; bring to boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Reduce heat to medium; simmer until cranberries are tender but still plump, 5 minutes. Strain into bowl; set cranberries aside. Add gelatin mixture to hot juice in bowl; stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir cranberries back into juice. Chill until cranberry mixture is cold and slightly thickened, at least 8 hours or overnight. DO AHEAD: Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.
495 min
- 2.
Stir chopped crystallized ginger into cranberry mixture.
2 min
- 3.
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Combine chocolate wafer cookie crumbs, sugar, and salt in medium bowl; add 5 tablespoons melted butter and stir until crumbs feel moist when pressed together with fingertips, adding remaining 1 tablespoon melted butter if mixture is dry. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and up sides of 9-inch-diameter tart pan with removable bottom. Bake chocolate crust until beginning to set and slightly crisp, pressing with spoon if crust puffs during baking, about 14 minutes. Transfer tart pan to rack and cool crust completely before filling.
30 min
- 4.
Using electric mixer, beat all ingredients except ginger in medium bowl just until thick enough to spread (do not overbeat or mixture may curdle). Spread filling in cooled crust. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover and chill.
10 min
- 5.
Spoon cranberry mixture evenly over mascarpone filling. Chill at least 2 hours and up to 6 hours. Garnish with crystallized ginger strips, if desired. Cut tart into wedges and serve cold.
120 min
- 6.
*An Italian cream cheese; sold at many supermarkets and at Italian markets.
