Our baking friend Joanna Waldman of Thetford Center, Vermont, asked us recently if we had a good recipe for a cranberry dark chocolate tart. No, actually, we didn’t… but that’s easily remedied! If you like chocolate-covered cranberries, this pie is for you.

Cranberry topping
1 cup (7 1/2 ounces) sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) cranberry juice
1 cup (6 ounces) dried cranberries
12-ounce package fresh or frozen cranberries

Bring the sugar, salt, and cranberry juice to a boil. Stir in the dried cranberries, then the fresh or frozen berries. Simmer gently for 10 to 12 minutes, or until about half the berries have popped. Remove from the heat, and cool to room temperature. Yield: 4 cups.
You’ll need about 15 ounces (a scant 2 cups) sauce for the pie; enjoy the remainder on its own.

Crust
1 3/4 cups (about 5 1/4 ounces) graham cracker crumbs*
1/4 cup (1 ounce) confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar
6 tablespoons (3 ounces) melted butter

*One cellophane-wrapped packet of graham crackers (11 whole crackers) will yield this amount of crumbs.

Process the crackers, sugar, and melted butter in a food processor till crumbly and well combined. Press into the bottom and up the sides of a 9" pie pan. Bake in a preheated 375°F oven for about 7 to 8 minutes, until it’s set, but not brown. Remove from the oven and cool.

Filling
1 cup (6 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips or chopped semisweet chocolate*
2/3 cup (5 3/8 ounces) heavy cream
3/4 cup (3 ounces) diced walnuts or pecans, toasted in a 350°F oven for 8 to 10 minutes

*Resist the urge to use bittersweet chocolate; with the acidic tang of the cranberries, it’s just too much. You want a dark chocolate that’s noticeably sweet; most chocolate chips will be fine. We prefer Peter’s Burgundy chunks.

Put the chips and cream in a microwave-safe container, and heat for about 90 seconds. Remove from the microwave, and stir till the mixture becomes smooth and dark brown. You’re simply making a basic ganache.

Assembly: Spoon the hot ganache into the cooled crust, and sprinkle the toasted nuts on top. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour, probably 2, till the ganache has firmed up. Once the ganache is set, top with the cranberry sauce.
Yield: 1 pie, 8 to 10 servings.