This Cranberry Curd Tart is cool, creamy, and baked in a super simple graham cracker crust. All you need is 11 ingredients and 15 minutes. Making dessert to bring to your holiday festivities has never been easier!
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🌟Why You'll Love this Recipe
- Perfect for the holidays. Tart cranberries balanced with the sweetness of maple syrup and a buttery graham cracker crust, this cold cranberry curd tart is the perfect dessert to end any holiday meal.
- Only 15 minutes of prep. If you've been intimidated to make your own tart from scratch, you'll love this simple recipe. Have it prepped and ready for the oven in just 15 minutes (including making a homemade graham cracker crust!). If you're a fan of quick desserts, try this mixed berry crisp next!
- Gluten-free option. If you are gluten-free, substitute the graham crackers with a gluten-free graham cracker and substitute the flour with a gluten-free flour blend. Gluten-free flours can be on the dryer side, so add additional butter to help it hold together as needed.
- Make-ahead friendly. If you're looking for a holiday dessert or party dessert that you can prep a few days ahead, this cranberry curd tart is the perfect option. Since it needs to set in the fridge for a minimum of 4 hours, feel free to prep it 1-2 days in advance and refrigerate until ready to serve.
🥘Ingredients and Substitutions
- Cranberries - Either fresh or frozen cranberries will work here. Just make sure to use raw cranberries - if they have added sugar or sweetener, the tart filling will likely be too sweet.
- Lemon + Zest - The essential pop of flavor that brightens up the entire dessert. Don't skimp on the lemon zest here. It makes all the difference in elevating the flavor of this tart.
- Graham crackers - You'll need about 12 graham cracker cookies, depending on the brand for the crust. Make sure to measure the 1 ½ cups after crushing the graham crackers to ensure the crust ingredients ratios are correct.
- Coconut cream - Many tart fillings are made using condensed milk or full-fat milks like heavy cream. I like to use coconut cream to make a filling that's dairy free, yet still rich and creamy. If you are dairy free, swap the butter for vegan-friendly baking butter sticks, too!
- Egg yolks - Yolks give the tart filling structure and encourage it to set into a sliceable tart. Watch this simple tutorial to learn how to separate egg yolks from egg whites with ease.
🔪Instructions
- Prepare the crust. Combine the crushed graham crackers, sugar and butter and mix until the mixture is coarse and sandy.
- Press into a tart pan. Lightly press the graham cracker crust into a tart pan with a removable bottom or a pie dish. Make sure to press the graham cracker mixture up the sides of the pan too.
- Pre-bake the crust. Bake the graham cracker crust for 10 minutes, then set on a wire cooling rack to cool while you prepare the curd tart filling.
- Add filling ingredients to a small saucepan. Stir the cranberries, syrup, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest together until combined.
- Simmer for 15 minutes. Heat over medium-high heat until cranberries begin to burst and thicken, about 10-15 minutes. Once thickened, remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Blend until smooth. Pour the cranberry mixture into a food processor or blender and add coconut cream and egg yolks. Blend for 1-2 minutes until smooth.
- Stir in flour. Transfer the cranberry tart filling to a mixing bowl and stir in ¾ cup flour to thicken.
- Bake. Pour the filling into your pre-baked graham cracker crust and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is golden and the cranberry tart is set on the outside, but still jiggly in the center.
- Cool and serve. Let cool for 30 minutes at room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight to finish setting up. The next day, slice and serve with desired toppings.
💭Recipe FAQs
Does the graham cracker crust need to be baked first?
Yes. Pre-baking the graham cracker crust for 10 minutes is essential to prevent it from becoming soggy once the filling is added.
Why is my graham cracker crust so hard?
This can happen if the butter-to-graham cracker ratio was too low. The butter adds the necessary moisture that holds together the crust and makes it easy to press together. Another cause of a hard crust is packing it too tightly into the baking pan.
How do you thicken curd for tart?
This cranberry curd is thickened with ¾ cup flour folded into the filling. Without this ingredient, the filling will be too thin. Do not worry if it looks too runny when first added to the crust. It will continue to thicken as it bakes and sets overnight.
👩🏻🍳Baking Tips
- Lightly pack the crust into the tart pan. If you pack the crust down too tightly, it will become hard and dense once baked. Press it together just enough to hold it together. It will appear crumbly at first, but once you start pressing it in you'll realize it has enough moisture from the butter to hold together.
- Use the hard, white cream from the coconut cream can. A can of coconut cream is higher in fat than coconut milk and will be more solid, but there will still be a small amount of liquid that pools in the bottom of the can. Do your best to just scoop out the coconut cream solids. This will ensure your cranberry curd filling is not too runny and sets properly.
- The pan you use will affect bake time. I recommend using an 8-inch tart pan or pie dish. If you use a larger pan, the bake time will need to be lowered because the tart will be thinner. Similarly, a smaller pan would require a longer bake time because the filling will be thicker. For best results, use the correctly sized cooking pan.
Serving
This Cranberry Curd Tart makes an excellent holiday dessert. I love to serve garnished with additional sugar cranberries, a sprig of fresh rosemary, and a dollop of whipped cream.
You also can't go wrong with serving Cranberry Bourbon Cocktails or a Fall margarita recipe!
More Easy Dessert Recipes You May Enjoy:
Did you make this recipe? Leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and a comment below-I'd love to hear how it turned out! THANK YOU!
Cranberry Curd Tart
Yields: 8 Slices
This Cranberry Curd Tart is cool, creamy, and baked in a super simple graham cracker crust. All you need is 11 ingredients and 15 minutes. Making dessert to bring to your holiday festivities has never been easier!
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See the full post for extra tips and photos
Ingredients
Graham Cracker Crust
- 1 ½ cups crushed graham crackers, about 12 cookies
- ⅓ cup sugar
- 8 tablespoons butter, melted
Filling
- 1 (12 ounce) bag or 3 cups fresh cranberries
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup coconut or brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ lemon, juiced
- 1 lemon, zested
- ½ cup coconut cream
- 2 egg yolks
- ¾ cup all-purpose or gluten-free 1:1 flour
Instructions
Graham Cracker Crust
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease an 8-inch tart pan or pie dish with cooking spray.
- To crush the graham crackers, add them to a food processor blender and pulse until they are crushed to fine crumbs.
- Add the graham crackers to a bowl with the sugar and butter and mix them together.
- Add the crust into the pie dish and use your fingers to spread it evenly on the bottom and up the side of the pie dish.
- Bake for 10 minutes, remove from the oven and let cool on a wire rack while you make the filling.
Filling
- Add the cranberries, syrup, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest to a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat until cranberries begin to burst and thicken, about 10-15 minutes. Once thickened, remove from heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Pour the filling into a food processor or blender and add coconut cream and egg yolks. Blend for 1-2 minutes until smooth.
- Add the mixture to a bowl and fold in ¾ cup flour. Pour filling over the shortbread crust and bake for 15-20 minutes or until filling is set on the outside but still jiggly in the middle. Remove the tart from the oven and let cool for 30 minutes then place in the fridge for at least 4 hours or ideally overnight.
- Cut into slices, top with whipped cream if desired, and enjoy!
Sarah's Tips
- Lightly pack the crust into the tart pan. If you pack the crust down too tightly, it will become hard and dense once baked. Press it together just enough to hold it together. It will appear crumbly at first, but once you start pressing it in you'll realize it has enough moisture from the butter to hold together.
- Use the hard, white cream from the coconut cream can. A can of coconut cream is higher in fat than coconut milk and will be more solid, but there will still be a small amount of liquid that pools in the bottom of the can. Do your best to just scoop out the coconut cream solids. This will ensure your cranberry curd filling is not too runny and sets properly.
- The pan you use will affect bake time. I recommend using an 8-inch tart pan or pie dish. If you use a larger pan, the bake time will need to be lowered because the tart will be thinner. Similarly, a smaller pan would require a longer bake time because the filling will be thicker. For best results, use the correctly sized cooking pan.
Tools I Use for This Recipe
- Saucepan
Did you enjoy this?Jump to the comments to leave a review or tap the stars above!
Jeff the Chef @ Make It Like a Man! says
This looks so delicious, and I love the way you've garnished it. I'm a huge cranberry fan, but have never made cran curd. Thanks for inspiring me!
Sarah Holt says
Hi Jeff, thanks so much for the kind words! This is a favorite for my fiancé and I.
Sara Green says
Just WOW! I made this for my daughter's birthday who is obsessed with cranberries and what a hit it is was! Everyone loved it the only problem was I didn't make enough. Thank you so much for this recipe
Sarah Holt says
Hi Sara, this makes me so so happy to hear! I'm so glad you all enjoyed it 🙂