Pastry enthusiasts across the globe are familiar with the work of Dorie Greenspan, a seasoned cookbook author highly revered for her culinary masterpieces. Among her expansive array of creations is the irresistible mini tart. These tiny treasures are crafted with flaky pâte brisée pastry shells generously filled with cranberry sauce enriched with nuts and dried fruit. To mitigate the sweetness, a dash of Grand Marnier is tossed in, introducing a touch of vibrant orange essence.

Notably, the cranberry sauce is no herculean task – a simple can from your local grocery store or any extra homemade cranberry sauce you have around your kitchen works wonders. These mini delights are capped off with a dollop of mildly sweet whipped cream, offering a creamy harmony to the delicate flavors. Alternatively, a single muffin pan is quite sufficient for this endeavor – simply bake your tarts in several batches!

The pâte brisée, hailing from the French cuisine tradition, is a shortcrust pastry primarily utilized in crafting pies and tarts. Unlike its American counterpart that allows for a variety of fats – such as butter, oil, or shortening – the pâte brisée strictly employs butter and a strategy known as fraisage. This method merges flour and butter gently with your fingertips until the mixture gains the appearance of coarse crumbs.

Both whole-berry and jellied forms of canned cranberry sauce are available for this recipe. The whole-berry variation retains more substantial fruit bits, while the jellied option provides a smoother, denser texture due to the total breakdown of the cranberries. Homemade cranberry sauce is freezable in airtight containers or freezer-safe ziplock bags for as long as three months. However, we strongly recommend against freezing canned cranberry sauce, as the embedded gelatin can hamper the defrosting procedure, resulting in a runny sauce. Any surplus canned cranberry sauce can safely be stored for up to two weeks in an airtight container placed in the refrigerator.

Your tart shells should be weighed down before blind baking, facilitating their hold on the sides and counteracting slumpage. Shells that puff up or bubble marginally during the baking can conveniently be pushed back into place with a spoon's back and resumed in the oven.

The cranberry filling, inclusive of dried pineapple or pears, can be made as early as five days in advance and stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container. On the same note, the pâte brisée dough can tolerate refrigeration for up to three days or freezing for a month and should subsequently be thawed in the refrigerator overnight when required.