Cranberry And White Chocolate Linzer Tart Recipe

ALMOND COOKIE CRUST
1 c Ground blanched almonds
1 2/3 c Unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 c Sugar
1/2 ts Baking powder
1 ts Ground cinnamon
1/4 ts Ground mace
1/2 lb Cold unsalted butter; cut
-into 16 pieces
1 lg Egg
1 lg Egg yolk
1 ts Vanilla extract
6 oz White chocolate; chopped
Powdered sugar; for dusting

Prepare the filling:

Cook the cranberries, orange juice, and sugar in a medium saucepan over
medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium
low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the liquid becomes thick and
syrupy, about 10 minutes. The cranberry mixture will have a jamlike
consistency. Set aside to cool thoroughly, about 30 minutes. The mixture
will thicken to a firm jam when cool.

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350
degrees. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.

In the bowl of an electric mixer combine the almonds, flour, sugar, baking
powder, cinnamon, and mace. Mix on low speed just to blend the ingredients,
about 10 seconds. Add the butter and mix until most of the butter pieces
are the size of peas, about 1 minute. The mixture will look crumbly and the
crumbs will vary in size. With the mixer running, add the egg, egg yolk,
and vanilla. Mix until the mixture clings together and pulls away from the
sides of the bowl, about 30 seconds. Reserve 1 cup of the mixture for the
lattice topping and refrigerate it while you prepare the crust.

Press the remaining dough evenly over the bottom and 1 1/4-inches up the
sides of the prepared pan. Sprinkle the white chocolate evenly over the
crust. Use a thin metal spatula to spread the cooled cranberry mixture
evenly over the white chocolate.

Remove the reserved dough from the refrigerator. Using about 2 tablespoons
of dough for the longest ropes and less for the shorter ropes, roll pieces
of the dough back and forth to form ropes of dough about 1/2-inch in
diameter. If ropes break, pinch them back together. Put a 9-inch long rope
across the middle of the tart. Spacing the ropes about 2-inches apart,
place a rope about 8-inches long on either side of the center rope. Place a
rope about 4 1/2-inches long near each end of the tart. You will have 5
ropes of dough across the top of the tart. Turn the tart pan a half turn
and place 5 more ropes evenly over the top of the tart for a lattice
pattern. Bake the tart until the top is golden brown, about 1 hour. Cool
the tart thoroughly in the pan.

Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving.

Yield: 10 servings

Freezing instructions: Remove the tart from the springform pan and using a
wide metal spatula, slide the tart onto a serving plate or aluminum
foil-wrapped cardboard cake circle. Or carefully invert the tart onto a
flat plate and remove the springform bottom, place a serving plate or cake
circle on the bottom to the tart and turn the tart right side up. Wrap the
cooked tart tightly with plastic wrap then heavy aluminum foil. Label with
date and contents. Freeze up to 2 months.

Defrost the wrapped tart at room temperature.