Holiday No Bake Cranberry Tart (Vegan, Gluten Free)

Recipe inspiration & credit from: My Quiet Kitchen

Ingredients

 

For the hazelnut-date crust:

2 ¼ cups raw hazelnuts

14 to 16 large medjool dates (about 1 ¼ cups packed), pitted

¼ tsp sea salt

 

For the filling:

5 cups fresh or frozen cranberries

1 ⅓ cups sugar

1 orange, zested and juiced

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 cup solid, chilled coconut cream from 2 (14 oz) cans of full fat coconut milk. *Refrigerate your cans of full fat coconut milk 2 days ahead of time. When you scoop off the cream layer to use, discard or save for later the liquid portion (great in smoothies!).

Garnish – optional. Save some cranberries to garnish the top. You can also dust with powdered sugar and/or more vegan/coconut whipped cream

Instructions:

Start early! 2-day ahead prep

Two days before making the tart, place your two (14 oz) cans of full-fat coconut milk in the refrigerator. This causes the coconut cream to separate from the liquid in the cans and is critical for the consistency of the filling.

Day of preparation

For the hazelnut-date crust, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread hazelnuts on a baking sheet and bake 10 to 12 minutes. Line a large bowl with a clean dish towel. Transfer the nuts to the bowl, gather the ends of the towel so the nuts are contained, and rub together to remove most of the skins. Discard skins and allow nuts to cool.

Transfer the hazelnuts to a food processor. Add the pitted dates and salt and process just until uniform and crumbly. Press into an 11 inch tart pan and refrigerate until the filling is ready.

Make the Filling. Heat a large sauce pan over medium heat. Cook the cranberries, sugar, orange juice, and orange zest until the cranberries burst and the sauce thickens, 12 to 15 minutes. The cranberry sauce should be very thick. Stir in the lemon zest. Let cool for 15 minutes.

Scoop 1 cup of the solid coconut cream into a blender and add the cranberry mixture to the blender. Blend until velvety smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the blender as needed. Pour into the prepared crust, and smooth the top with a spoon or spatula.

Refrigerate the tart, uncovered, until completely cool and set, 4 hours to overnight. Garnish as desired, slice, and serve.