In a large bowl, mix together the softened butter, powdered sugar, vanilla, and salt until combined. Then fold in the flour and mix until the dough comes together.
Press the dough into your tart pan and then poke a few holes in the dough with a fork to allow air to escape while baking.
Place the crust in the freezer for at least 20 minutes before baking. This ensures that the crust won't sink in your tart pan.
Bake the crust at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.
Remove from the oven and let cool while you make the filling (the crust does not have to cool completely before filling).
Cranberry Curd
Add the cranberries, orange juice, and orange zest to a medium saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook until the cranberries split open, about 10 minutes.
Strain through a fine mesh sieve and discard the skins and seeds. The cranberries don't pass through easily, so you need to press it through with a spoon or spatula (you can also pulse a few times in a blender or food processor to make it a little easier to strain). You should end up with about 1 cup of thick cranberry puree.
Create a double boiler by bringing 1-2 inches of water to a simmer in a small saucepan. Place a heatproof glass bowl on top and make sure it's not touching the water.
In the glass bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar. Then add in the cranberry puree, orange liqueur, and vanilla. Continue to whisk the curd over the double boiler for 10-15 minutes until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. (If the curd isn't thickening, turn up the heat and constantly whisk).
Once thickened, remove the glass bowl from the heat. Cut the butter into chunks and whisk into the cranberry curd until fully combined and smooth.
Pass through fine mesh strainer and then pour into the par-baked shortbread crust.
Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes or until the curd is set and the center jiggles slightly.
Let cool at room temperature for about 1 hour, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 2 hours.
Swiss Meringue
In the bowl of a stand mixer (make sure your bowl is heat safe - stainless steel is best), whisk the sugar and cream of tartar into the egg whites then set the bowl over a saucepan filled with about two inches of simmering water over medium heat. Do not let the bottom of the egg whites bowl touch the water. Whisk the whites and sugar constantly until sugar is dissolved and mixture has thinned out (about 3-4 minutes). If using an instant thermometer, it should read about 160°F.
Place the bowl on the stand mixer and fit with the whisk attachment. On medium-high speed, beat the mixture until stiff peaks form and the meringue is no longer warm to the touch, at least 10-15 minutes. If it’s still not reaching stiff peaks, stop the mixer, place the bowl in the fridge for 10 minutes, then return to the mixer and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
Add the Swiss meringue to a piping bag fitted with your favorite piping tip, and pipe fun designs on top of the cranberry curd tart.
Then use a culinary blow torch to lightly toast the meringue.
This cranberry curd tart is best eaten the same day, but you can keep leftovers in the fridge for up to 3 days!
Notes
Note: Most standard tart pans are about 1 inch deep. So if you're using a deep dish pan (1 ½ to 2 inches deep) this recipe will not yield enough filling to completely fill your pan and you may want to double it.This recipe can be used to make a few different sizes of tart!
If you don't want to make the shortbread cookie crust, you can also use a classic pie crust recipe! Use ½ of my perfect pie crust to fill a 9.5 inch tart pan!