Cranberry Cheesecake Tart with Sugar Cookie Crust
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Each layer of this easy cranberry cheesecake tart is pure magic! The creamy and velvety cheesecake is the perfect base for the luscious and silky ruby-red cranberry curd. The sugar cookie crust brings a super fun snap to every bite. It’s an easy recipe that’s so perfect for the season! Top it with sugared cranberries and pretty sugar cookies and you have a show stealing dessert!
I think it’s probably that bright red color that makes you fall in love with this tart. I knew it will be oh-so-pretty, but I was so smitten with the final result. It was a staring contest between she and me, and she totally lost! It’s a bit of lemon juice in the curd plus baking the tart for a little time that are keys in bringing up that gorgeous red color and keeping it bright for dayzzzz.
This tart was a complete challenge for me because I really love making my tarts and cheesecakes with my simple graham cracker crust. Even if I have experimented with other kind of cookies, I think a buttery graham cracker crust is the best thing that can happen to a tart. But you know me, why would I even cook without a good recipe challenge? That’s something I’m always up to!
This cranberry cheesecake tart ended up being so joyful and vibrant! Each component is really easy to make and you can make each in advance. Let me give you some notes on how to make this tart:
Making this Cranberry Cheesecake Tart
The sugared cranberries are optional but if you want to make them, they should be made at least a day in advance. That’s to make sure they dry up nicely and the sugar sticks on them.
Another thing you can make a few in advance is the sugar cookie crust dough. You can make this cranberry tart with a graham cracker crust as well. If the recipe looks familiar is because it’s my sugar cookie recipe at its basic form. I just altered the ratios a tiny bit to make a sturdier crust that holds the tart.
Remember that you are going to shape the dough warm, freeze it and then take out the pieces to form the tart. Think of it as a puzzle, but the pieces are dough instead of carton (way much fun if you ask me!). After you shape the pieces for the tart, you can use the remaining dough to make small cookies for decorations. Another option is to make the tart up to this stage and leave the shaped dough in the freezer a day ahead of baking.
Make the easy cheesecake layer after you bake the crust. It’s very easy and straightforward. Remember to start in a 425° oven and drop the temperature to 275° after 5 minutes. Depending on what stage of the process you are, adjust the oven temperature accordingly. Bake for only 10 minutes to prevent over baking it and let it cool down before pouring the curd. You can also make the tart until this point and finish up the curd the next day. Put it in the fridge and cover it with plastic paper, without touching the top.
To make the cranberry curd you will need to first cook fresh or frozen cranberries (you can’t use dried cranberries here friends) to break them down and release their juice. I used an immersion blender to break them down a bit more and break the skin as well. You also can take some of the cranberries and pass them through a small food processor. This is an optional extra step. You still need to pass them through a sieve. Use that pulp to make the curd. I used some orange juice as well to make it sweeter.
I usually don’t bake my lemon curd but I wanted to bake this cranberry curd just a few minutes to give it that bright and vibrant color. 5 to 7 minutes in a 350° oven is more than enough.
Chill the finished tart for a few hours, preferably overnight. You know chilling this kind of tarts is a very important step for its consistency and flavor, that why this it’s a perfect recipe for making ahead!
At any point of the process, bake the sugar cookies to use for decorations. Since they will be arranged individually they don't need to be bake with the tart.
Shop the post:
Some pie weights for baking the crust.
Pie punches if you want to make some extra cookies for decorations.
3 recipes I think you’ll love if you’re loving this one:
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Trust me this tart will make you and everyone around you very, very happy!! She’s a stunner and will look so pretty on your table. I know you are going to love it!
Don’t forget to share and tag me in Instagram (@devamadeo), Facebook (@DevAmadeo) when you make it. Love to see what’s going on in your kitchens!
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Cranberry Cheesecake Tart with Sugar Cookie Crust
Ingredients
Sugar cookie crust
◯ Unbleached all-purpose flour - 1 ½ cups, 210g
◯ Baking powder – ½ Tsp, 2.5g
◯ Fine sea salt – ¼ Tsp, 1.5g
◯ Butter, softened – 1 sticks, 8 TBSP, 113g
◯ Natural granulated sugar – ½ cup + 2 TBSP, 125g
◯ Egg – 1
Cheesecake Layer
◯ Cream cheese, at room temperature – 2 - 8 oz packages, 452g
◯ Natural granulated sugar – ¾ cup, 150g
◯ Organic eggs – 2, large
◯ Egg yolks – 1, from large eggs
◯ Unbleached organic all purpose flour – 2 TBSP, 18g
◯ Lemon juice – 1 TBSP, about the juice of half a medium lemon
◯ Vanilla paste or pure vanilla extract – ½ Tsp
◯ Pure coconut milk (optional, won’t taste like coconut) - 2 TBSP
Cranberry Curd Layer
◯ Fresh cranberries - 1 ⅓ cup, 170g
◯ Orange juice (you may use store bought 100% pure premium orange juice - ½ cup, 112g
◯ Freshly squeezed lemon juice – 2 TBSP, 28g
◯ Natural granulated sugar – ¾ cup, 180g
◯ Whole organic eggs – 2
◯ Egg yolks – 2
◯ Butter, cubed – ½ cup (I stick, 8 TBSP)
Details
Yield:
A 9” tart shell pan
Total time:
2.5 hours, with idle times in between
Active time:
10 minutes to make the cookie crust, 10 minutes for the cheesecake layer, 20 minutes for the cranberry curd
Baking time:
25 minutes for the crust, 10 minutes for the cheesecake, 7 minutes for the curd
Equipment:
9” tart shell pan, parchment paper, rolling pin, large skillet and glass bowl or double boiler
Steps:
Start by making the sugar cookie crust:
In a medium bowl mix the 1 ⅓ cup/210g cups of flour, the ½ teaspoon/2.5g of baking powder and the ¼ teaspoons/1.5g of salt with a hand whisk.
In the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment beat the 1 sticks/113g of butter and the ½ cup and 2 TBSP/125g of sugar on medium speed (#4 on the Kitchen Aid) for 5 minutes, until the mixture looks grainy and pasty. Add egg and vanilla. Scrap the butter-sugar mixture down the bowl and beat 2 minutes.
Decrease to the lowest speed (#1 on the Kitchen Aid). Add flour mixture, about half cup at a time. Beat for 3 minutes. Dough should be a bit grainy to the touch but hold together when you press it with your fingers.
Press the whole dough with your hands forming a disk. Optional to chill for about 10 minutes wrapped in plastic paper to give the dough some structure. (You can make dough a few days in advance as well.)
Place dough between two pieces of parchment paper. If it feels a bit sticky, dust some flour on top. Using a rolling pin stretch dough until the dough is ¼” thick. Peel the top parchment paper and, if there’s any dough beyond your bottom parchment paper, cut it using a pizza cutter or sharp knife. Pull parchment to a baking tray that fits in your freezer.
Use the bottom of your tart pan to cut a circle on the dough. Also cut a few long stripes of dough of 1 ½” tall (or the height of your pan) to fill the sides. Cut small cookie flowers or any other design through the remaining dough. Place tray in the freezer for 15 to 25 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°.
Separate the circle of dough and place it in the bottom of your pan. Separate the stripes and press them on the sides. Press through the seam of the sides and the bottom so there’s no gap between them. With a sharp pairing knife cut any excess of dough at the top.
Place a parchment paper inside the pan and fill with baking weights or large beans. Loosely cover the borders with the parchment as much as you can. Bake for 12 minutes. Pull up parchment paper to remove pie weights or beans and bake 8 to 10 minutes, until crust looks golden yellow. Let it cool down completely before pouring the cheesecake filling.
You can bake the decorative cookies at this point in a baking sheet for 8 to 10 minutes.
Making the cheesecake filling:
Either in the bowl of a stand up mixer and using the whisk attachment or in a medium bowl using an electric hand mixer with the beaters attached, beat together in medium speed the cream cheese for 3 minutes. Add the ¾ cup/150g of
sugar and mix for 1 minute, making sure there is no sugar on the walls of the the bowl.
Decrease speed to low and add the eggs and egg yolk, one at a time. Add the 2 TBSP/18g
of flour, the tablespoon of lemon juice and the ½ teaspoon of vanilla and the 2 tablespoons of coconut milk (if using), waiting a few seconds before each addition to allow each ingredient to incorporate well. Scrap the walls and bottom of the bowl and mix again.
When the oven is ready on 425°, pour cheesecake mixture over cookie crust. Bake for 5 minutes. Drop oven temperature to 275°. Bake for 10 minutes, until the mixture looks shiny and firm but not dry. It should be a bit jiggly in the center. If it’s too wobbly, bake it for 1 more minute.
Let it cool down before pouring cranberry curd.
If baking the cranberry curd the same day, bring oven temperature to 350°.
Making the cranberry curd layer:
Start with a 350° oven.
In a small saucepan combine the 1 ⅓ cup/170g of cranberries with the ½ cup/112g of orange juice, the 2 tablespoons/28g of lemon juice and the ¾ cup/155g of sugar. Heat over medium heat until cranberries have burst and start to release their juice, about 5 minutes. If possible, use an immersion blender to break down most of the cranberries’ skin. You can also pass some through a small food processor.
Pass cranberries through a sieve to get the pulp. You should have about ⅓ cup.
Fill ⅓ of a large skillet with water and heat over medium or medium low heat, just until barely simmering.
In a large glass or heatproof bowl whisk the 2 eggs and 2 egg yolks with the cranberry purée.
Place the bowl in the skillet and using a wooden spoon or silicon spatula stir slowly but almost constantly until the mixture thickens, this can take from 10 to 20 minutes. You’ll see streaks from the foamy layer on top will start to dissolve. When they disappear almost completely, that means your curd is entering the last minutes of cooking. You are looking for a mixture that covers the back of the wooden spoon and when you run a finger through the center it will leave a clear pass. If you have a candy thermometer, temperature should reach between 160° and 180°.
Retire from heat and start adding the 8 tablespoons of butter, a few cubes at a time. Mix until all the butter has melted and then continue mixing for an extra minute. Pour over the cheesecake layer until reaching the top of the pan. Bake 6 to 7 minutes, just to set the curd and make it brighter.
Chill for a few hours in the fridge before cutting, preferably overnight.
If you have any remaining cranberry curd, store it in an airtight jar in the fridge. It will be good for a few months.
To serve:
Arrange flower cookies and sugared cranberries on top of the chilled curd.
Tart will be good for a whole week in the fridge.
