It's been an incredible year for cranberries, at least in the spot where I spent the last two weekends, on my knees in my wellies, gathering those ruby jewels of an autumn wetland. I speak like an expert but the truth is, I've foraged for cranberries exactly twice in my life; last weekend, and the weekend before.
The maiden voyage was under the guidance of a friend who offered to show us to her "secret location," which turned out to be a place where we take walks all year round. Lesson learned: you never know what might be growing at your feet. By the end of that first day, I had seven pounds of berries in my basket, and a mind racing with ideas of what to do with them. With the first batch still unsorted, I was keen on going back a second time. It's become an obsession.
Our daughter picked methodically, searching for the darkest berries possible. I was less selective, though I tried to avoid the shriveled ones and made a little game out of attempting to pluck a cranberry whilst preserving its dainty little stem.
Maxwell, on the other hand, developed a sort of bottom-trawling method, using his hands as rakes and collecting berries of all stages, plus their accompanying foliage, bits of sand, and other low-land marsh debris. Together we collected enough to make three tarts, several batches of sauce and four gallon bags for the freezer.
I'd been wanting to play around with some nut-based crusts for tarts and this seemed the perfect opportunity. I happened to have ground hazelnuts in my freezer, though don't be afraid to try it with other nut flours. The berries cook in a sweet solution of sugar and syrup. I used maple sugar and Lyle's Golden Syrup, though you could easily substitute regular granulated sugar and maple syrup or other thick, liquid-form sweetener. Most cranberry tarts call for corn syrup, but I avoid it, instead using Golden Syrup, a British pantry staple, which is relatively easy to find these days stateside.
It turned out to be a spot-on combination for fall: the assertive nutty flavor of hazelnuts paired with the tart berries and the maple sugar was the perfect dessert for a post-forage dinner party last weekend. And since the photos from that night didn't turn out very well, I just had to make it all over again this morning for you all. So, truth be told, it makes a nice breakfast too.

Cranberry Tart with Hazelnut Crust
makes one 9-inch tart
4 cups (16 ounces) fresh whole cranberries
2/3 cups granulated sugar
2/3 cups golden syrup
zest from 1/2 unwaxed lemon
for the Hazelnut Crust:
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cups nut flour/meal
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and chilled
1-3 tablespoons cold water
In a medium sauce pan, combine the sugar and golden syrup over medium heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is bubbling. Add the cranberries and turn over several times to coat evenly with the sugar mixture. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool to room temperature.
Prepare the dough. If using a food processor, combine the dry ingredients in the processor bowl and pulse to combine. Drop in the butter pieces and pulse several times until the consistency of oatmeal. If preparing by hand, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the butter pieces and cut in with two knives or a pastry blender until the mixture is the consistency of oatmeal.
Continue preparing the dough by adding the water one tablespoon at a time until the dough just barely comes together in a ball. Dump the dough out onto the counter and gather up and shape into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.
Unwrap the dough and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to a rough 9-inch circle. Carefully transfer to a 10-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Press the dough into the pan and then form a lip around the edge by turning the pan while gently pinching the lip between your left thumb on the outside and right thumb and forefinger on the inside. Chill the prepared pan for 10-15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F.
When ready to bake, remove the prepared pan from the refrigerator and prick the bottom a few times with the tines of a fork. Line the bottom of the tart shell with pie weights or a layer of parchment paper and uncooked beans. Bake for 10 minutes or until crust begins to show some drying and browning.
Remove the tart shell from the oven and pour the cool cranberry mixture into the shell, spreading it out from the middle so as not to drip on the lip of the crust. Drizzle any remaining sugar mixture from the pan throughout the shell, again avoiding the lip of the tart.
Bake for another 30 minutes, or until crust deepens in color and the filling is bubbling. Cool on a wire rack. Carefully remove the outer ring, and serve while still warm, or at room temperature. Top with a scoop of ice cream, or a dollop of cream.
Related: Recipe: Cranberry Curd Bars with Walnut Shortbread Crust
(Images: Maxwell Gillingham-Ryan; Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan)
Peeler by Normann C...

Comments (26)
* pulls up chair and sits down *
I'm from a family that actually grows cranberries professionally. I end up getting a small shipment every year, so I'm always on the lookout for more recipes.
Towards that end, I discovered a recipe a year ago that's similar to your tart, but with one difference -- they drizzled melted bittersweet chocolate on the crust before adding the berries, and then again over the top of the berries.
TRY THAT. Seriously.
I'm TOTALLY going to make this for Thanksgiving... one change: Mine will be gluten-free, replacing the all purpose with some mixture of rice, tapioca and sweet sorghum flours. Yummy! Thanks!
Looks wonderful Sara Kate - but please leave some in the woodlands for the wild things and to be sure there will be more for you next season ;)
@MiaSFL no worries! There were football fields' worth of berries!
Looks amazing. One question please: what is nut flour? Is it ground nuts? Can I get it at a regular grocery store? Thanks !
We used to gather lignonberries (similar to wild cranberries but smaller!) when we live in Alaska! OH how I miss them... This is our 1st fall back down in the lower 48 but I still have a couple of bags in the freezer from last year (yes we did transport them w/ us when we moved in January as our trailer was like a portable freezer at -20F.) Plus we got a few bags of hazelnuts in our CSA shares this fall... Umm I see a delicous tart in the near future!!
OMG amazing! Beautiful photos too. Wow, this is really great. I would eat this for breakfast. ANd, with MiaSFL, make mine gluten-free.
@Alexandra -- Bob's Red Mill makes hazelnut and almond flour. Sometimes they're called meal, but I think it's the same thing. (Can someone confirm?) A bag of Bob's will set you back $10-12, so you're warned. Keep it in the freezer as those nut oils are delicate and prone to oxidation. They're very delicious and work well in baked goods.
@MiaSFL -- I don't like rice flour. Do you have other flour mix suggestions, or pre-made? I have some Bob's GF AP mix. Will that work?
This is gorgeous. I've made Martha Stewart's cranberry tart twice, and it's turned out beautifully. She uses a regular pate sucree. I am excited to try this version with the hazelnut crust for Thanksgiving this year. Thanks for this! And I agree, the photos are beautiful!
What is golden syrup?
Must they be fresh? The West Coast is sadly short on cranberry bogs.
I wish I could get fresh lingonberries! My relatives are all Scandinavian so we get a jar or two at Christmas, but nothing like the real thing. SOOO good. This looks great too...I'll keep an eye out for nut flours.
If you're not interested in blowing ten bucks on a bag of nut flour, you can always grind up a few handfuls of the nut of your choice in the food processor, just be sure to stop processing before it starts sticking together. It will be a little coarser than the store-bought stuff, but should be a fine substitution in a tart crust like this!
This looks delicious. AnnebelleSF, I have the same question. I have many bags of frozen cranberries (from last autumn!). Any chance I could use frozen instead of fresh berries?
@Oven Mitzie In the piece above I link to our profile of golden syrup, check it out here.
@AnnebelleSF and @prema, Yes, you can use frozen berries. Let them thaw out at room temperature for about an hour before proceeding. Your tart might look an extra step wilted, but it will still be great.
@AnnebelleSF, parts of the West Coast don't have many cranberries, but Oregon and Washington are two of the top five cranberry producing states.
What would you use instead of golden syrup?
Ooops! Nevermind, I didn't read closely enough. :)
This looks delicous. Nutty crust are always so good and baked cranberries are always so good.
We switched to baked cranberries a few years and I'll never go back. The texture is superb.
Since Dr Oz claims that cranberries do everything but open-heart surgery, I'm glad to see this recipe. Thanks!! :)
Oh my; I'm getting flushed imagining how delicious this is going to be. Planning on whipping it up this weekend to impress our house guests (one's a gourmet chef). Thank you!
will a regular pie crust work just as well? Time and temp variations because of pastry?
I have children with nut allergies.
This recipe might actually be my soul mate...
I made this. I was liberal with the cranberries and stingy with the corn syrup (I didn't have any golden syrup). I used whole wheat flour in the crust. I also ground my own nuts.
It's VERY good but tart. Definitely serve with vanilla ice cream. For breakfast!
The crust is awesome. I'll use it for banana cream pie too.
I served this for Christmas this year. It was so yummy! I ground my own hazelnuts for the flour, which was really easy.
I used frozen cranberries without thawing them, and it turned out fine. The only problem I encountered using the frozen cranberries was that I had to rinse them with cold water, so they stuck together. This was annoying when I first put them in syrup, but by the time I assembled the tart they were detached.
The tart is delicious with vanilla ice cream!
Made this for thanks giving... it was great! Really great, and a nice antidote to the heaviness of most Thanksgiving foods.
Definitely a keeper!