Growing up outside of Pittsburgh, I assumed that all wedding receptions featured those decadent displays known as cookie tables. Weighted down by platters of cream-filled lady locks, lemon bars, nut horns, Mexican wedding cookies, spritz cookies and anise-laced pizzelles, these linen-covered tables attracted guests in droves. Introduced as a low-cost alternative to an expensive wedding cake, the cookie table eventually became a companion to cake. Custom dictated that family members make the cookies but, if you didn’t have gifted bakers at home, you could do as my mother did and enlist the help of a local bakery and family friends.

At parties it was the dessert table around which people clustered. Here the cookies were less ostentatious — think chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter blossoms, pecan sandies and butterscotch — but just as plentiful. So too were the brownies, fruit and custard pies, marshmallow-studded ambrosia and heavenly angel food cakes. What didn’t make it to the dessert table? For obvious reasons I never saw ice cream, make-your-own-sundae bars or chocolate fondue pots. Generally, anything that didn’t melt or cause a traffic jam around the table was good to serve.

Although I now live far from my childhood home, I still honor these delicious traditions with my own dessert table. The offerings change with each year and party theme but the dessert rule remains the same: Bake two or three cakes. Make a pie, tort or tart. Ask friends to bring a sweet or two. Put it all on the kitchen table and dig in!

This year I replaced my standard Christmastime treat, cranberry bakewell tart, with a cranberry torte. Similar to the raspberry jam-filled Linzer torte, a cranberry torte contains ground nuts, jam and a cut-out top crust. If you’re handy with a rolling pin and knife, fashion latticework out of the torte dough. If not, you can use cookie cutters or a pastry stamp to make a pattern on the top of your cranberry torte. If your torte ends up looking a bit mundane or goofy, dust confectioner’s sugar over the top before setting it out. Confectioner’s sugar not only tastes divine but also hides scores of imperfections. I speak with authority on that!

CRANBERRY TORTE
Serves 10 to 12

for the filling:
4 cups fresh, whole cranberries
4 cups granulated sugar
Juice and zest of 2 oranges
1 cup cranberry juice

for the crust:
1/2 cup toasted hazelnuts
1/2 cup blanched almonds
1 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup plus 1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Confectioner’s sugar, optional, for dusting

To make the cranberry filling, place the cranberries, sugar, orange juice and zest and cranberry juice in a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high, stirring the ingredients together as they cook. Reduce the heat to medium-low and, using a spatula or spoon, mash and stir the berries. Simmer the ingredients until thickened, about 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the cranberry jam to cool to room temperature. Note that the filling can be made a week in advance and refrigerated until ready to use.

To make the crust, put the nuts and 1 teaspoon granulated sugar in the bowl of a food processor and process until a flour has formed.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and cloves. Add the nut flour and whisk until combined. Set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the 1 cup sugar and continue beating until light and fluffy, periodically scraping down the sides of the bowl. Add the egg yolk and vanilla and beat until well combined.

Scrape down the bowl, add half the nut-flour mixture and mix until combined. Scrape down the sides again, add the remaining nut-flour mixture and beat until combined.

Divide the dough into two balls, with one ball slightly larger than the other. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until chilled.

When you’re ready to bake the torte, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Lightly flour a clean work surface and a rolling pin. Take the larger of the two dough balls and, placing it on the floured work surface, roll out the dough until it is between 1/8- and 1/4-inch thick. Lay the dough over the tart pan and pat it down so that the dough is evenly spread out in the pan.

Using a spatula or frosting spreader, fill the dough with the cranberry jam. You should use most, if not all, of the jam.

Roll out the other dough ball until it’s between 1/8- to 1/4-inch thick. Using either a sharp knife, cookie cutter or dough stamp, cut out strips or shapes and arrange them on the top of the cranberry jam.

Bake until the crust is golden brown, 45 to 55 minutes. Remove it from the oven and allow the torte to cool for 20 minutes before removing it from the pan. Allow it to cool completely on a wire rack before dusting with optional confectioner’s sugar and serving.