Cranberry Almond Tartlettes (with Pistachio Crust)

I got to pick the theme for this month's "You Want Pies with That?" blog event. (Oooh, the pressure! )

I had a handful of ideas, but in the end it came down to either a nut-themed pie, or a no-bake pie. I tend to shy away from nuts, so I figured this would force me to step out of my comfort zone. That, and the fact that it's been an unusually cool summer here in our neck of the woods (pausing to say a prayer of thanks), so turning on the oven hasn't been the torture it normally is during the dog days of summer.

So, nuts it was!


I fondly remembered the French Pear Tart that was made for Tuesday's with Dorie and decided to make a modified version. (I love, love, LOVED that tart.) This time around, I made Dorie's Sweet Tart Dough with Nuts, using ground pistachios in place of some of the flour. I made the almond cream as-is, but I subbed cranberries in place of the pears. I was trying for a sort of Christmas theme, but the shell didn't have a green tint like I had hoped.

I filled the partially baked shells with almond cream and then pushed some frozen, thawed cranberries into the almond cream.


So, how was it, you ask? First off, I thought the shell was awesome with the pistachios. I couldn't really detect the taste of the nuts, but somehow the crust tasted richer and had a beautiful sandy texture, while still holding up well. The almond filling was still delish, but honestly, I think the pears are slightly better than the cranberries. It was still good, though.

If I made this again, I'd probably use more cranberries and maybe sprinkle some sanding sugar on top.

If you'd like to see the recipe, you can find it -----> here, at Dorie Greenspan's site. For the tart dough with nuts, reduce the flour to 1 1/4 cup and add 1/4 cup ground nuts (almonds, pistachios, etc.). Dorie mentions that you can change up the fruit (obviously, I used cranberries). Oh, and one last thing, for these 4" tarts, I reduced the baking time of the crusts to about 20 minutes, and the tarts to about 45 minutes.

OK, over and out until next month!