This cranberry almond frangipane tart has a nutty almond flour crust, covered with a layer of homemade cranberry sauce. Then topped with light, fluffy almond frangipane cream and fresh cranberries. Then baked to perfection and topped with toasted almonds and a dusting of powdered sugar. It's a fun, festive holiday dessert!
This cranberry almond tart is super easy to make and both the filling and tart crust come together in minutes in a food processor! Since the ingredients for both the crust and filling are similar, you don't even have to clean it out in between! [perfect for lazy people like me]
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What is Frangipane Filling?
Frangipane is an almond-flavored pastry cream used as a filling in desserts and classic French-style pastries. It's a super simple filling that comes together easily and bakes to perfection! When raw, it's a smooth silky cream but bakes up to a light, cake-like texture.
Frangipane can also be used in pastries like croissants and stollen.
Frangipane tarts can be made with any kind of fruit you like! This cranberry frangipane tart is perfect for the winter holidays, but my raspberry frangipane tart is perfect for summer! But you can also substitute other berries, apples or pears, even stone fruits!
Ingredient Notes
Cranberry Sauce - The tangy cranberry sauce base is made with fresh cranberries and cinnamon. It's the perfect compliment to the creamy frangipane filling. I like to use leftover cranberry sauce from the holidays!
Almond Flour Crust - I like to use this almond flour short crust, but you could also use flaky pie crust, or a cookie crust like the one from this custard tart!
Almonds - I love adding toasted almonds to the top of this cranberry tart!
The complete list of ingredients and amounts is located in the recipe card below.
How to Make Homemade Cranberry Sauce
Making homemade cranberry sauce is super easy! You only need a couple of ingredients!
- Fresh or frozen cranberries
- Granulated sugar
- Water
I recommend making the sauce the night before you want to make the tart to save you some time, but the same day will work fine.
How to Make a Frangipane Tart
Add the flour, almond flour, powdered sugar, and butter to the food processor and pulse until a shaggy dough forms.
Add in the egg and almond extract and pulse until the dough comes together in large chunks.
Dump the dough into a 9-inch tart pan with a removeable bottom. Press the dough evenly into bottom and up the sides of the pan. Lightly prick the dough with a fork and then place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to firm up.
While the crust is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
Bake crust at 350°F for 15-20 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is dry.
Remove from the oven and let cool slightly while you prepare the filling.
Add all of the filling ingredients to the food processor and pulse until the filling is smooth and creamy.
Spread the cranberry sauce evenly into the bottom of the slightly cooled crust.
Spoon the frangipane filling over the cranberry sauce. Gently spread it to the edges of the tart, and smooth out the surface. Arrange the fresh cranberries over top of the frangipane filling.
Bake the cranberry almond tart at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool completely.
Add the sliced almonds to a small pan and toast over low heat until golden brown.
Top the tart with the toasted almonds and lightly dust with powdered sugar.
Slice and enjoy!
This cranberry frangipane tart is best eaten the same day, but will keep in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Recipe FAQ's
You can use frozen cranberries to make the cranberry sauce, but I highly recommend using fresh cranberries for the top of the tart.
Yes, absolutely!! This is a great way to use leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving! You'll need about ½ cup for this recipe (a little more or less is fine).
Tips for Success!
For best results I always recommend using weight measurements (especially when baking) because it's the most accurate. Kitchen scales are super affordable and also reduce the number of dishes you have to do! However, all my recipes also include US customary measurements for convince. Use this chart to convert measurements for common ingredients!
Substitutions: In all my recipes, I've included substitutions that I know will work, but I cannot guarantee results if you substitute ingredients that I have not recommended. [For example, granulated sugar and honey are indeed both sweeteners but they have very different properties so they can not always be swapped 1:1. Using honey in a cookie recipe that calls for granulated sugar will yield a giant mess.] In the recipe card you'll find links to the specific ingredients/brands that I use.
A note on salt: I almost exclusively use Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt because it's the best all-purpose salt for cooking and baking. If you're not using kosher salt, consult this handy guide for a conversion chart! When in doubt, if you're using table salt just reduce the amount by half for baked goods. When cooking, I prefer to under-salt because you can always add more! If you've over-salted, adding a little bit of acid (like lemon juice) can help.
More Cranberry Recipes You Might Like!
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Recipe Card
Cranberry Almond Frangipane Tart
Special Equipment
Ingredients
Cranberry Sauce
- 1 cup fresh cranberries, substitute frozen
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 1 cinnamon stick
Crust
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- ½ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- ½ teaspoon almond extract
Frangipane Filling
- 1 ¼ cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 large egg , room temperature
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups fresh cranberries
Top With
- ½ cup almonds, sliced
- powdered sugar
Instructions
Cranberry Sauce
- Add all of the filling ingredients to a medium sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly until the cranberries begin to split open.
- Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the sauce has thickened.
- Remove the cinnamon stick, then transfer to a bowl and chill until ready to use.
Crust
- Add the flour, almond flour, powdered sugar, and butter to the food processor and pulse until a shaggy dough forms.
- Add in the egg and almond extract and pulse until the dough comes together in large chunks.
- Dump the dough into a 9-inch tart pan with a removeable bottom. Press the dough evenly into bottom and up the sides of the pan. Lightly prick the dough with a fork and then place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to firm up.
- While the crust is chilling, preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Bake crust at 350°F for 15-20 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is dry.
- Remove from the oven and let cool slightly while you prepare the filling.
Frangipane Filling
- Add all of the filling ingredients to the food processor and pulse until the filling is smooth and creamy.
- Spread the cranberry sauce evenly into the bottom of the slightly cooled crust.
- Spoon the frangipane filling over the cranberry sauce. Gently spread it to the edges of the tart, and smooth out the surface. Arrange the fresh cranberries over top of the frangipane filling.
- Bake the cranberry almond tart at 350°F for 30-40 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- Remove the tart from the oven and allow it to cool completely.
- Add the sliced almonds to a small pan and toast over low heat until golden brown.
- Top the tart with the toasted almonds and lightly dust with powdered sugar.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information on this website is only an estimate and is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
AH says
This was our favorite Christmas dessert this year. It came out beautifully. I used cold butter for the crust and room temp butter for the frangipane. Loved it!
Jessica says
I don't see any mention of the filling needing room temp butter or not, but I assume so?
Kyleigh Sage says
If you're using a food processor, either cold or room temperature works fine. I've tested it both ways and it doesn't make much of a difference. If you're not using a food processor though, it'll be much easier with room temperature butter.
nancy says
beautiful tart pie!!! such a classic recipe easily explained