Cranberry Crumb Cheese Tart

The lovely Cranberry Crumb Cheese Tart

This has been a week of decorating. The tree is up, most of the shopping is done, the mantle is hung with stockings and now, the baking really starts…hopefully!
One of the things I made this week was a lovely Cranberry Crumb Tart, to take to a friend who just had knee replacement surgery. After some thought of what I could do to help, I decided to make dinner for them.  It would be a nice way to relieve some of the stress on him and his wife. So, last thursday I made my Sherried Beef  which I posted a year ago. For desert, since I had a can of whole berry cranberry sauce sitting in my pantry,  I thought Cranberry Crumb Tart sounded like a wonderful choice. This tart has a yummy layer of cream cheese, a layer of whole berry cranberry sauce, and topped with a crunchy walnut crumb topping. Quite wonderful!

Pre-bake pie crust

When cool, spread with cream cheese layer, then cranberry layer

Sprinkle crumb topping over the top…then bake 45 min. @ 375 degrees

Out of the oven and ready to enjoy

 This is a lovely treat for the holidays…creamy, tart and crunchy!  

Cranberry Crumb Tart 


INGREDIENTS:

Pastry for one 9 inch tart pan or pie pan
Cheese layer:
1 (8 ounce) package cream
cheese, softened
1 (14 ounce) can sweetened
condensed milk
3 tablespoons lemon juice
Cranberry layer:
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 (16 ounce) can whole berry
cranberry sauce
Topping:
1/4 cup butter, chilled and diced
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Bake unbaked tart shell in the preheated oven 8 minutes. Remove from heat. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
3. In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Mix in sweetened condensed milk until the mixture is smooth. Stir in lemon juice. Transfer to the tart pan.
4. In a small bowl, mix 1 tablespoon light brown sugar and cornstarch. Mix in whole berry cranberry sauce. Spoon the mixture evenly over the cream cheese mixture.
5. In a medium bowl, mix butter, all-purpose flour and remaining light brown sugar until crumbly. Stir in the walnuts. Sprinkle evenly over the cranberry mixture.
6. Bake 45 minutes in the 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven, or until bubbly and lightly browned. Cool on a metal rack. Serve at room temperature, or chill in the refrigerator.