Cranberry Chocolate Cream Tart

By vealam

Here’s a dessert recipe to take you through the entire holiday season, from Thanksgiving to Valentine’s Day. A cocoa-flavored creamy mascarpone fills a quick chocolate wafer crust, and the sweet-tart cranberry topping glistens like a jewel.

Ingredients

• For the topping:
• 1 teaspoon unflavored gelatin
• 1 12-ounce bag fresh or frozen cranberries
• 3/4 cup sugar
• For the crust:
• 30 chocolate wafer cookies
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 6 tablespoons butter, melted
• For the filling:
• 1 pound Mascarpone Cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream

Preparation

Step 1

For the topping:
Sprinkle gelatin over ¼ cup water in a small bowl and let soften 10 minutes.

Put cranberries in a saucepan with sugar and ¼ cup water. Bring to a boil; stir to dissolve sugar. Lower heat to a simmer and cook an additional 5 minutes or so; you want to soften cranberries but retain their plump shape.

Drain cranberries over a bowl. Add gelatin to juice in the bowl, stirring to dissolve. Add cranberries to the juice, stirring gently. Cover and chill until the mixture thickens, about 8 hours or overnight.

For the crust:
Heat oven to 350°F. Pulse cookies, sugar and salt in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Add butter and pulse until mixture is moistened and holds together when you pinch it. Press crumbs onto bottom and sides of 9-inch tart pan with removable bottom. Bake crust 10 -12 minutes; cool completely on a rack.

For the filling:
Beat Mascarpone, sugar, cocoa and cream together just until spreadable. Spread filling over cooled crust and top with cranberries.

Refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving.