Cranberry Tart Pie

Cranberry Curd Tart will make a striking addition to your holiday dessert table. Made with fresh cranberries, orange juice and a graham cracker crust. Can easily be made gluten free with an almond or hazelnut crust.

This Cranberry Curd Pie will WOW your holiday guests

Every year, I usually panic buy 2 or 3 bags of fresh cranberries, worried there’s going to be a shortage.

Once I make cranberry sauce and then cranberry sauce muffins, and I still have some left, that’s when this cranberry curd tart happens.

It starts with a classic graham cracker crust with some cinnamon added for extra flavor. There are also gluten free crust options, which I discuss below.

Then, fresh cranberries, orange juice, orange peel and sugar come together on the stove in very much the same way you’d make a traditional cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving (except you’ll be blending it smooth and adding eggs to make it custardy). 

The end result is a dessert with a striking appearance and a tart-but-perfectly sweet taste.

“I made this today with a gluten free almond crust. Beautiful and delicious. A great way to use cranberries.”

—Carolyn

Cranberry Tart ingredients

• graham crackers – these form the crust for this cranberry tart recipe.
• sugar – regular old white granulated sugar is what we’re using.
• cinnamon – this adds a warming fall flavor to the crust.
• salt – it’s important to add a pinch of salt to desserts to balance the sweetness.
• butter – we’ll need almost 2 whole sticks of butter. Almost a full stick for the crust, and one full stick for the curd.
• orange juice and zest – the flavor pairs so well with cranberries.
• fresh cranberries – or frozen cranberries work, too! Just thaw them and pat them dry.
• eggs – you can’t make a curd without eggs! We’ll be using 2 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks for a rich, luscious curd.
• vanilla – high quality vanilla extract adds big flavor to the curd.
• whipped cream – for serving.

Cranberry Tart Recipe substitutions – make it gluten free.

A gluten free cranberry tart is super easy – it’s just a matter of changing up the crust. You’ll probably want to turn to either hazelnut flour or almond flour.

Bob’s Red Mill has a great recipe for gluten free hazenut pie crust. I’d obviously make the sweet version of the crust for this tart, and I’d add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon to the mixture.

Another source that I trust is King Arthur Flour. They have a recipe for almond flour lemon bars. You can grab the crust recipe from that and again, add 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon.

How to make Cranberry Curd Tart

1. PREP THE CRUST. Stir together the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, salt and some melted butter.
2. BLIND BAKE. Press the crust mixture into a tart pan and bake until golden brown.
3. COOK CRANBERRIES. Cook the orange peel, cranberries, sugar and orange juice in a saucepot until they start to burst. Remove the orange peel and then use an immersion blender to puree the cranberries.
4. TEMPER EGGS. Whisk the eggs and egg yolks in a bowl, and then slowly whisk in 1 ladleful of the warm cranberry mixture. Then, add the egg mixture to the pot with the cranberry mixture.
5. THICKEN CURD AND STRAIN. Add the butter and vanilla to the cranberry mixture and cook until the mixture is thickened, stirring it constantly as it cooks. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer.
6. BAKE. Pour the custard into the prepared crust and bake 10 minutes or until the curd is set.
7. COOL. Transfer the tart to a cooling rack and let cool to room temperature, and then refrigerate at least 4 hours.
8. SERVE. Slice and serve topped with whipped cream and orange peel, if desired.

Cranberry Tart Pie Storage

Store any leftovers of this cranberry curd tart in the refrigerator, tightly wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to 3 days.

Cranberry Curd Tart Recipe FAQs