Cranberry curd tart not setting—bake more?

[barefoot]

Hi! I made this cranberry-curd tart, and it looks beautiful, but as it cools, I don't think the filling is setting enough to be able to cut into slices. Eek! Can I put it back in the oven (@350) for another 10 minutes or so? Or once it's cooling, is it too late to bake it more? Thanks for any help!

 

[Apocalypso]

Sorry, just seeing this. I hope it turned out! Did the curd set up before you put it in the pie? I was actually surprised that it called for you to bake the already-cooked curd. Having recently made both orange curd and lime curd, I learned after the orange didn't set up the first time (at least not to the consistency I'd hoped) that I need to take the temp of the cooking curd and make sure it hits 170. It would probably not have hurt to put a little cornstarch into that mixture. Hopefully it just needed to cool completely and there was time to chill it before serving? I would love to try that recipe, though I don't think anyone else in my life would enjoy cranberry curd.

 

[barefoot]

Thanks so much for your reply! I thought the curd had set before I put it in the crust, but I'm new to making curd—in retrospect, I think I probably didn't cook the curd enough before chilling it (prior to filling the pie). I didn't really let it spend time in the bubbling stage when it was still in the pot, since the recipe says "nearly bubbling" and I was worried about overcooking. I think that was my error. It did thicken up a little more after I posted my question, but it was still kind of a mess to serve. (Other problem was that I didn't have a tart pan and used a pie pan, which made for a thicker/taller tart—I think a thinner layer of curd would've helped too.)

All that said, the flavor of both curd and crust were delicious! I'm eager to make this again without mistakes; will report back.

 

[Apocalypso]

It does sound delicious! I went through the same thing, as I mentioned, with curd. You can always give yourself a little cheat and add a little cornstarch to the mixture before heating. Maybe a teaspoon, or 1 1/2, mix it in with the dry sugar first, and then work the orange juice into the sugar slowly before adding the cranberries. That will make any lumps less likely, even though they'll be sieved out. Or add a little softened gelatin, but if you did that you'd do it at the hot mixture stage. I'd also cool the curd all the way down for a few hours in the fridge and make sure the consistency is about where you want it. And I'd chill the final pie instead of keeping it at room temperature. That should set the curd faster.

By the way, I read the comments on the recipe, and was wondering whether you used the food mill method or, as others said they did, used an immersion stick blender, or even a juicer, to extract the cranberry liquid from the pulp?

 

[barefoot]

Thank you for the cornstarch tip—handy to know! I did refrigerate the curd, but chilling the final pie might've helped as well. I was afraid to do anything differently from the recipe.

I was at my mother's house and didn't have many equipment options, so I pressed the cranberries through a strainer with a wooden spoon! It was pretty hard to do, and I wasn't sure I'd have enough liquid (the recipe doesn't tell you how much you'll need), but it was just enough.

Which method do you think you'd use? The immersion-blender method sounds easy, but I don't think I'd want to risk little shards of berry skin in the curd.

 

[barefoot]

(Oh, I just looked again at the comments and I see that people used the immersion blender and then pressed through a sieve. That might be a good way to go, if I make it at home next time.)

 

[Apocalypso]

There's a couple of comments from the author in the comments section too. Someone had asked how much orange juice to add for "juice of one orange" and also how much curd in volume they should expect. He said about 1/2 cup of orange juice, and the end result should be a scant 1 1/2 cups of the cranberry curd. (I've learned to read the comments under recipes - not only to find out how people liked it, but in some cases what they did to improve it. For example if ten comments say "too much salt" or "not enough salt" I might take a tip from them.)

 

[-Daniel-]

(I've learned to read the comments under recipes - not only to find out how people liked it, but in some cases what they did to improve it. For example if ten comments say "too much salt" or "not enough salt" I might take a tip from them.)

I always read the comments too, and try to make sure I leave my own for other recipe hunters. The comments section is usually filled with fantastic tips.

 

[Apocalypso]

I always read the comments too, and try to make sure I leave my own for other recipe hunters. The comments section is usually filled with fantastic tips.

The really funny part is when you see twenty comments saying they made this recipe except they substituted this for that, and changed A to B, omitted C and added D, used E instead of F, but it came out great. So those twenty people didn't actually make this recipe at all, with all the substitutions.