Cranberry Chocolate Cream Tart
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Cranberry chocolate cream tart filled with cocoa-flavored mascarpone and topped with cranberry compote. A great holiday dessert to make all season long!
This chocolate and mascarpone cheese tart, topped off with ruby-red cranberry compote, is one of those perfect little black dress desserts.
Make this recipe throughout the holiday season from Thanksgiving to Valentine’s day and you’ll have a versatile sweet treat up your sleeve.
Just like the best LBD, the tart is ready to impress for any event you might have coming your way, plus it’s simple and looks good on everyone! 😉
It manages to be glamorous, festive, and streamlined all at the same time.
The crust is easy to make — it’s a basic chocolate wafer cookie crumb pressed into a tart pan and baked for 10 minutes.
The rest of the dessert is fuss-free with no other baking required.
Just fill the shell with a lightly sweetened mixture of cocoa powder and mascarpone cheese, refrigerate and top with a glistening cranberry compote just before serving.
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Creamy Chocolate Cranberry Tart
Ingredients
Makes 1 8-inch tart
Topping:
- 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
- 1 12-ounce bag fresh or frozen cranberries
- ¾ cup sugar
Tart
- 30 chocolate wafer cookies, such as Nabisco Famous
- 6 tablespoons melted butter
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 pound mascarpone cheese, at room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
Make the topping:
- Sprinkle the gelatin over ¼ cup water in a medium bowl and let it soften for 10 minutes. Put the cranberries in a saucepan with the sugar and ¼ cup water. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Lower heat to a simmer and cook an additional 5 minutes or so — you want to soften the cranberries but keep their plump shape.
- Drain the cranberries over the bowl in a mesh colander. Stir the juice with the gelatin to combine, then add the cranberries and stir gently. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture thickens, about 6 hours.
Make the tart crust:
- Heat the oven to 350 (175 C) degrees.
- Pulse the cookies, sugar and salt in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is moistened and holds together when you pinch it.
- Press the crumbs onto the bottom and sides of a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Bake the crust 10-12 minutes. Cool completely on a rack.
Make the filling:
- Blend the mascarpone, sugar, and cocoa together until smooth, by hand or using the paddle attachment of a heavy duty mixer. Spread the filling over the cooled crust and refrigerate at least 2 hour.
- To serve, spoon the cranberry mixture over the chilled filling.
Karen’s Notes and Tips
Nutrition
Hey, I’m Karen
Creator of Familystyle Food
I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.
thats the stuff
Hi, I just wanted to stop by and let you know that I featured this recipe on my blog today and to thank you for it. I see that there are no current posts on your blog so I hope that all is well with you. Merry Christmas.
This looks great and I completely agree that any recipe that can manage to be glamorous, festive, and simple all at the same time is worth knowing about. This would also look gorgeous as little individual tarts. Thanks!
Discovering your blog has been a bright spot in my (dark, dreary Mon)day! I love the versatility of this recipe, and the idea that it could be a go-to dessert from now through February. It would make a lovely contribution to this month’s Shine Supper Club. I hope you’ll consider joining us!
Wow, that looks absolutely divine! I can’t wait to try it!