I didn’t have to modify the original recipe too much to make this a truly PNW ingredient only dish either! Cranberries, butter, eggs, and hazelnuts are all found in abundance here and definitely in the farm market! If you don’t want to use oranges because they aren’t a local ingredient (I only used them because I had them on hand for my kiddos!) you can sub 1 tsp citric acid and ¼ c. water for the orange juice and zest, be sure to taste the curd and add more accordingly–a ½ tsp at a time. 

Recipe:

FOR THE HAZELNUT CRUST:

1 ¼  c. raw hazelnuts
1  c. corn flour
¼  tsp salt
½  c. sugar
6  tbsp softened butter, more as necessary
1-2 tsp water, as needed

FOR THE CRANBERRY CURD:

1 ½ c. cranberries
1  c. sugar
Juice and zest of 1 orange (I used 2 small tangerines because that’s what I had on hand)
1 stick or 8 tbsp of butter
2  eggs plus 2 egg yolks

DIRECTIONS:

Make the crust: Heat oven to 325 degrees. Put hazelnuts on a baking sheet and roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until skins darken and crack. Optional- Place roasted nuts in a clean towel and rub off skins. Discard skins and let nuts cool. (To make this quicker buy the already toasted hazelnuts in the market!)

In a food processor, grind nuts with half the corn flour until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Add remaining corn flour and salt and pulse briefly.\

Cream sugar and butter in a mixing bowl with a wooden spoon for a minute or two until pale and thick. Add nut mixture and combine until dough comes together. If it seems crumbly, add 1 to 2 tablespoons softened butter or a little cold water.

Grease a 10-inch French tart pan and press dough evenly; use half the dough for the sides and half for the bottom. Prick bottom with a fork and freeze for 30 minutes (or several days if desired).

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Bake chilled tart shell about 15 minutes until lightly brown. Cool.

Make the cranberry curd: Put cranberries, sugar and orange juice and peel in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer until cranberries have popped and softened, about 10 minutes. 

Using an emulsion blender blend until smooth. Transfer to a mesh seive/strainer and push the liquid through. If you don’t have a mesh sieve cheese cloth would work fine, or if you don’t mind a slightly chunky curd skip this step entirely. 

Put eggs and egg yolks into a bowl and beat lightly. Slowly whisk a cup of warm cranberry liquid into the eggs to temper, then combine both and whisk together. 

Return liquid to pot and cook over low heat until nearly bubbling and thickened, about 10 minutes. If using immediately, let cool to room temperature. If working ahead, cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap (press wrap against curd) and refrigerate. (Curd may be cooked up to 1 day ahead.)

Pour cooled cranberry curd into the cooled prebaked tart shell and smooth top with a spatula. 

Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes to set curd. Cool on a rack. 

Store at room temperature for up to 2 days.

Kari’s Notes and Tips:

Peeling hazelnuts is hard work, in my experience the skins are not a problem in a crust like this, so leave them be and get some extra nutrition! 

If you don’t have corn flour on hand or forgot to get some regular old wheat flour or any flour you have on hand will do. Tell us if you try this recipe — We love feedback!