Cranberry Apple Nut Tart

Ingredients

• For the tart dough:
• 3/4 cup whole pecans, lightly toasted and cooled
• 3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
• 3/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• For the filling:
• 5 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/8th inch pieces
• 1/2 cup almond paste, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons butter, room temperature
• 1 cup granulated sugar, divided, plus additional sugar for sprinkling
• Pinch of salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup whole fresh cranberries

Directions

1. In a food processor fitted with the blade, combine the pecans with the confectioner's sugar and pulse for 20 seconds, stopping when the nuts look evenly ground and meal-like. Move that mixture aside. In a stand mixer with the paddle attached, beat the butter until it looks pale, smooth, and light. Beat in the pecan-sugar mixture on medium speed until no streaks remain, then mix in the egg yolks until blended. Add the flour and salt, and run the mixer on low only until the dough comes together; do not overwork it. Shape the dough into a disk, cover it snugly in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours; overnight is ideal.
2. After chilling, take off the plastic, set the dough onto a floured work surface, and roll it into a circle 1/4 inch thick. This dough is soft and fragile, so if pieces break off, just press scraps where you need them once it is in the pan. Ease the dough into a removable-bottom 12 inch round tart pan. Use your fingertips to press it into shape and mend any gaps with extra dough. Leave the dough standing a touch above the sides of the pan; it can be trimmed after it firms up. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
3. Set an oven rack in the middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees F. When the oven is hot, cover the cold tart shell with foil or parchment paper, add weights, dried beans can be reused for this, and bake it on the oven's lowest rack for 10 minutes. Lift out the liner and weights, rotate the shell, and continue baking until the base barely starts to rise, about 10 minutes more. Take the shell from the oven and let it cool completely.
4. Add the sliced apples to a roomy heatproof bowl. Boil 2 quarts of water, then pour it over the apples. After 2 minutes, drain the fruit in a strainer. Shake the strainer well, more than once, so the extra water comes off. Leave the apples to cool, then set them aside.
5. For the filling, add the almond paste to a mixer bowl fitted with the paddle, then add the butter. Beat in 1/2 cup granulated sugar and a pinch of salt on medium speed, continuing until the mixture is smooth and paste-like. Add the egg and mix until incorporated. Spread the frangipane across the base of the tart shell. Add the cranberries to a medium bowl, then add the blanched apples and toss them with the remaining sugar, 1/2 cup. The cranberries will slip underneath the apples; scoop them up first, then press those berries into the frangipane. Lay the apple slices over the tart in a fan pattern, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 350 degrees F on the center of the middle rack for 20 minutes, rotate the tart, and bake another 20-25, stopping when the frangipane has puffed around the apples. Cool the tart completely before serving.