Tastebuds

Chocolate Bottom Pumpkin Tart

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You may be thinking, “Isn’t it too early for pumpkin-flavored things?” And the answer is naaaaaah. This recipe is just begging for you to make it, even if it is just August.

This recipe is for a tart – not a pie. The difference is in the crust and in the filling. While pies may be an amalgamation of delicious ingredients thrown together haphazardly into a flaky crust so the filling is the star of the show, a tart is going to have straighter edges with a filling and crust that are both rich enough to be the main characters.

Ingredients

20 chocolate wafer cookies

2 tbsp granulated sugar

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted, plus more for pan

4 oz. melted semisweet chocolate

1 1/2 cups canned pure pumpkin puree. NOTE: this is not the same thing as pumpkin pie filling.

1 large egg

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground allspice

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

OR replace the 4 spices above with 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Pulse cookies and sugar until finely ground in a food processor. Pause to add the melted butter, and then continue pulsing until crumbs are moistened. Using the bottom of a dry glass or measuring cup, press the crumbs into just the bottom of a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan, not the sides of the pan. Place the tart pan on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until set, which will be about 12 minutes or so.

2. Pour the melted, semisweet chocolate onto your warm crust and spread it out with a spatula. Pop this in the freezer to freeze until chocolate is firm, which will be about 5 minutes or so. Brush sides of the tart pan with butter and then set it aside.

3. In a bowl, whisk together pumpkin, egg, heavy cream, brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, ( or pumpkin pie spices), and salt. Pour the filling into the prepared crust. Bake on a rimmed baking sheet until set, which will be about 45 to 50 minutes. Cool the tart for 1 hour at room temperature. Refrigerate for 1 hour (or up to 1 day).

4. Release the tart from the molding. If the sides stick, gently loosen with a knife.