This recipe is for those who want homemade pumpkin pie but don’t enjoy making pastry!
I still had some pumpkin puree leftover on the weekend, so I wanted to make one more pumpkin tart to use it up. With Thanksgiving just around the corner in Canada, I thought that some sort of pumpkin pie would be a good recipe to explore.
I really enjoy making the pat-in-the-pan crust that I used in my Salted Caramel and Apple Tart a couple of weeks ago. It takes seconds to put together and tastes quite good, with just the right amount of salt in it to balance any sweetness in a filling. I had the idea to try some sort of pumpkin tart that used this simple crust. I wanted it to be an easy dessert that a cook of any baking level could put together. I also wanted it to have a decent amount of flavour to stand make up for a smaller amount of pumpkin in the tart than there would be in a deeper pie.
I have a favourite pumpkin pie recipe that is from a Fine Cooking magazine that used flavourful blend of spices, including some black pepper so I decided to try that. I reduced the amount of total filling because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to fit as much in the tart pan as I would in a pie plate. To ensure that I didn’t have a soggy crust, I pre-baked the crust until it looked dry and started to turn golden, then I let it cool for 15 minutes before adding the filling so that the heat wouldn’t cook the egg in the filling too quickly.
Because I’m always trying to make my desserts look pretty, I decided to sauté some pumpkin seeds in a bit of butter and brown sugar and decorate the top of the tart along with some spiced whipped cream. Not only did the tart look much nicer than a traditional pumpkin pie, I actually liked the flavour better! Sometimes pumpkin pie feels heavy, but I found this one was nicely balanced by both the crust and the toppings, and eating a slice didn’t leave me with a heavy feeling in my stomach.
This tart is so easy to make and delicious! It might be a new Thanksgiving tradition in our house!
Easy Sugar and Spice Pumpkin Tart
This easy pumpkin tart features a quick pat-in-the-pan crust and a pumpkin filling filled with a mixture of brown sugar and warm spices. It’s wonderfully delicious and no one will know how easy this tart was to make! Serve the pie with whipped cream on the side, or decorate with quick candied pumpkin seeds and piped whipped cream as I did.
Ingredients
-
For the Crust
- For the Filling
- For the Quick Candied Pumpkin Seeds
- For the Spiced Whipped Cream
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 F/160 C For the Crust
- In a medium bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. Stir in melted butter to combine. Using fingers press the mixture evenly over the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom.
- Place tart pan on a baking sheet and bake until the crust looks dry and begins to turn golden about 25-30 minutes. Let tart shell cool for 15 minutes before adding the filling. For the Filling
- In a large bowl, beat together the pumpkin, eggs, egg yolk, cream and brandy.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, pepper, and cloves. Beat the sugar mixture into the pumpkin mixture.
- Pour the filling into the slightly cooled crust and bake until the filling is set but still jiggly in the middle and registers 170 F/77 C, about 40 minutes.
- Let cool completely, about 2 hours. Chill in the fridge until ready to top and serve. For the quick candied pumpkin seeds
- Melt sugar, salt, and butter together in a small skillet. Add pumpkin seeds and cook until well coated, about 2 minutes. Transfer the seeds to a plate in a single layer. Separate any seeds that have clumped together and let cool completely. Place decoratively on top of the tart. For the Spiced Whipped Cream
- Just before serving, beat together cream, sugar, vanilla, cinnamon, and ginger until you have stiff peaks, about 2 - 3 minutes. Pipe whipped cream kisses around the edge of the tart or serve a dollop on individual slices.
