Cranberry & Chambord Tartlets

Chambord is produced in a Loire Valley chateau. You should goggle the chateau, as it is a story in itself. The spirit is made from red and black raspberries, Madagascar vanilla, Moroccan citrus peel, honey  and cognac. Whole raspberries and blackberries are steeped in the spirits for a period of several weeks to produce a fruit infusion. This infusion produces a distinct raspberry flavor and aroma.

After the infusion is extracted, a second set of spirits is added to the fruit and allowed to rest for a few weeks. After this second infusion is drawn off, the remaining fruit is pressed to obtain the natural sugars and juice. The spirits and juices from the final pressing are then combined, and finally, the berry infusion is married with a blend of cognac, natural vanilla extract, black raspberries, citrus peel, honey, and herbs and spices.

If you have not tried Chambord, I highly recommend it. Add it to all kinds of fruit preparations.

I decided to make a fresh cranberry tart and add chambord to the mix. I topped the little tartlets with a meringue. They are really incredible.

Ingredients:

1 recipe of my never fail pie crust

1 bag of fresh cranberries
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon of cloves
3 tablespoons of cornstarch
several tangerines (1 teaspoon of zest and 1/4 cup of juice)
1/4 teaspoon of cream of tarter
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
3 tablespoons of Chambord



You will need to start out making the pie crust. Roll out the dough to one quarter inch thick. Cut rounds to the size of your tart pan. I used a muffin tin. But you could use any size you would like. Chill the dough well and then cut out parchment to line the crust.  Fill the lined crust with beans and bake in a 375 degree oven for fifteen minutes. Remove them from the tins and bake further until a golden brown, You want them to be quite golden. The reason is that the filling does not quite set.


Now to make the filling, add the bag of cranberries to a sauce pan. Add one cup of sugar and one and one quarter cups of water. Simmer until the berries become a mush. Strain the mixture through a fine sieve and toss the solids. But the juice back into the sauce pan and add one quarter cup of sugar, one quarter cup of water, the spices, juice and zest. Combine the water and cornstarch and add to the sauce pan. Simmer the mixture until it becomes a thick jam. Now add the Chambord. Refrigerate until cool.



Now top the tart shells with the cooled fruit mixture and preheat your broiler. To make the meringue it could not be easier. Place the three egg whites into a heat proof bowl. Add 1/4 cups of sugar and the cream of tarter. Place over a simmering bowl of water. You just want the sugar to dissolve. Now take a hand mixer and beat the egg whites to stiff peaks. Place the meringue over the tarts. I used a pastry bag to do this. Now place the tartlets into the broiler and toast the meringue. Watch out, as this can go quite fast.

Enjoy the tartlet !