Looking for a spectacular holiday dessert? You’ve found it! This Cranberry Chocolate Tart is rich and decadent – like any good holiday dessert should be! Topped with sugared cranberries that sparkle like snow in the sunshine, this dessert is perfect for chocolate lovers.
This is a great make-ahead dessert, since sugared cranberries actually last for quite a while. You could make them several days ahead and the tart is perfect for…well probably four days but it never lasts long at my house. People flock over every time I make it!
This dessert is triple chocolate: it has a chocolate pecan crust, a rich chocolate filling, and an even richer bittersweet ganache. It’s absolutely perfect with the pop of sugared cranberries and a bit of whipped cream. Throw in a mint sprig if you’re feeling extra festive!
I’m not going to sugar coat it (see what I did there!?), this tart is not for the faint of heart. You know those people who describe desserts as “too rich”…yeah, this is not the dessert for them. This tart is for the true chocolate lovers out there who have never met a dessert that too chocolatey. You’ve been warned!
Cranberry Chocolate Tart
For the crust:
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup pecans, toasted and cooled
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
For the filling:
14 oz semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
For the topping:
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
1/4 cup whipping cream
Sugared cranberries, recipe follows
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly butter a 9″ springform pan or fluted tart pan.
- To make the crust: Process the powdered sugar and toasted pecans in a food processor. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Add to food processor and blend until combined. Cut cold butter into small pieces and add to food processor. Pulse until dough is darker in color and comes together when pressed between your fingers. It should still be a little crumbly and should not form a ball. Press dough on the bottom and an inch up the sides. Prick all over with a fork. Bake for about 15 minutes, until crust just begins to pull away from the sides. Cool on a wire rack wile you make the filling.
- To make the filling: Melt butter and chopped chocolate in a double boiler* on the stove, whisking until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in beaten eggs, granulated sugar, and vanilla. Pour filling over crust and bake for about twelve minutes, until filling is just set. It should still be slightly jiggly in the center and the top should look a little blistered. Cool on a wire rack and for an hour and a half
- To make the ganache: set chopped bittersweet chocolate in a heatproof bowl. Heat cream to boiling and pour over chocolate. Let sit for 1-2 minutes, then whisk until smooth. Pour over chocolate filling and refrigerate for about an hour or until ganache is set.
Sugared Cranberries
2 cups fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
1 cup water
- Bring 1 cup of sugar and water to a simmer in a saucepan. Gently simmer until the sugar is completely dissolved.
- Remove from heat and allow to cool for 10 minutes.
- When simple syrup is cool, pour over cranberries and stir to coat.
- Refrigerate cranberries in syrup overnight.
- Remove cranberries from syrup with a sieve or slotted spoon (reserve the cranberry-flavor simple syrup for cocktails!) and roll in remaining 1/2 cup of sugar. You may need to roll them a few times to totally coat.
- Set cranberries on a paper towel to dry for an hour or so.
Leave a Reply