Mini Pumpkin Tart

Pumpkin is available in abundance during the fall season and it features prominently in Thanksgiving menus. Pumpkins can be used for savory as well as sweet dishes. This pumpkin tart makes a perfect dessert. The recipe makes one mini tart.

The crust on the tart is made with ginger snaps. It is just as delicious as the filling and complements the pumpkin perfectly. I baked ginger snaps for this recipe. But before I knew it they were all gone. Luckily my daughter had put two ginger snaps in a little box to take to school as a snack and had forgotten about them. I used those two for the crust. I had to supplement them with two digestive biscuits. Digestive biscuits are mildly flavored and did not affect the taste. Ginger snap recipe will be a future post.

You can increase the recipe four times to make a regular sized tart. I used applesauce in place of an egg in this recipe. The applesauce sufficed as this is a one serving portion. If you want to bake a tart in a regular tart dish then you will have to use two egg in place of the applesauce.

You will need (for one mini tart)
For the crust
5 ginger snaps (or 2 ginger snaps and 2 digestive biscuits)
2 tbsp. butter, melted

For the filling
3 tbsp. pumpkin puree
2 tbsp. condensed milk
1 tbsp. applesauce
1 pinch cinnamon powder
1 pinch clove powder
a pinch of salt

To make the crust preheat the oven to 375 F. Place your tart dish on a baking sheet.

Crumble the cookies on a flat surface. Pound with a pestle or roll over with a rolling pin to crush the cookies to a near powder. Do not crush them too fine. Mix in the melted butter. Transfer to the tart dish and push down to form an even layer along the bottom and sides. Bake for 5-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow it to cool completely.

Mix the ingredients for the filling in a bowl.

Transfer to the cooled crust. Ensure you leave an edge of the crust above the filling so it does not overflow.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the filling sets and turns a light brown color.

Cool in the refrigerator overnight.

Enjoy!



This is my entry for week four, day two of BM #46 for the theme Festivals. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#46.

Lemon Tart

When I think of fruits in dessert I think of lemon tart. On our trip to Paris we indulged in lemon tarts in the little cafes along the side of the road. Most of them had outdoor seating as well and since we visited in summer we sat outside.

The crust for this recipe was adapted from here. I had noted down the lemon curd recipe a long time ago but never made it before. Though it was a good first attempt I would call this recipe a work in progress. Over time I will continue to refine it and update this post.

You will need
For the crust
1 1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tbsp. milk
1 tsp. salt

For the filling
3 lemons
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp. butter
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks

To make the crust
Preheat oven to 425 F. Mix the flour and the salt. Add the oil and cold milk and mix together to form a sticky dough. Roll out the dough between parchment paper and transfer to a round pan. Prick the bottom with the tines of a fork about 8 times. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the crust begins to brown. Take it out of the oven and put on a cooling rack to cool.

To make the filling
Lower the heat in the oven to 350 F. Grate the zest of one of the three lemons. Now squeeze the juice of all three lemons and add to the zest in a pan. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the pan along with the sugar. Heat the pan and stir the mixture frequently until the sugar and butter melts.

Whisk the eggs yolks with the egg whites in a separate bowl. Ladle a little of the lemon mixture into the eggs stirring continuously. Lower the heat and pour the beaten eggs into the pan whisking continuously. The mixture will thicken gradually. Continue whisking until the lemon curd is cooked and heated through. You will notice the color begin to change and the mixture would have thickened considerably.

Pour it over the baked crust and bake for 5 minutes to set the curd. Let it cool completely. Serve cut up into wedges.

This is my entry for week three, day one of BM #37 for the theme Fruit based desserts. Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing BM#37.