Pumpkin Cheesecake and Chocolate Tart
Description
This was actually a Thanksgiving treat but it’s super perfect for the Halloween season. Borrowed from Anna Olson’s book, ‘Back to Baking’, this was loved by all!
Ingredients
Crust
1 c. flour AND 1/4 t. salt
1/4 c. EACH brown sugar AND cocoa
6 T. (90 g) cold butter cut into small pieces
1 egg yolk AND 2 T. milk AND 1 t. vanilla
Cheesecake Filling
1 package (250 g) cream cheese, softened AND 1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar
1 c. pumpkin purée AND 1 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. EACH cinnamon, cardamom AND ground ginger
1 egg AND 2 egg yolks
Ganache Topping
60 g chopped bittersweet chocolate
3 T. butter AND 1 T. corn syrup
Instructions
For the crust – use a food processor to pulse together the flour, salt, brown sugar and cocoa. Add in the butter and pulse again until the mix is crumbly.
In a small bowl, whisk together the yolk, milk and vanilla, pour this mix into the food processor and pulse again until the dough comes together. Shape the dough into a disc – I flattened mine into a very thin disk – wrap in plastic wrap and chill for a good half hour.
Roll the disk (I found this easiest kept between sheets of plastic wrap) into a 12-inch circle that’s about a 1/4-inch thick. Line an ungreased 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom with the disk and use the plastic wrap to press it evenly into all of the grooves. Chill the crust for half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350 , place the chilled crust on a parchment-lined baking sheet and dock (poke) the bottom of the crust evenly all over with a fork. Bake for about 25 minutes until the pastry has an even, dull color. Leave to cool completely before filling – I made the crust the day before and left it out on the counter overnight.
For the filling – using your electric mixer, beat together the cream cheese and brown sugar for a couple of minutes until the sugar is dissolved then stir in the pumpkin, cornstarch, cinnamon, cardamom and ginger. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and then stir in the egg and egg yolks.
Preheat the oven to 350, scrape the filling into your prepared and cooled chocolate crust, smooth the top and then bake for about 30 minutes unto the center is set. It should be firm around the outside and have just a slight jiggle in the center. Cool the tart to room temperature.
For the ganache – carefully and on low power, melt the chocolate, butter and syrup in short increments in the microwave until you can stir it into a smooth mix. Pour this gently onto your room temperature tart and swirl until it covers an even circular area with about an inch of pumpkin showing around the edges.
Chill for about 2 hours before attempting to remove the tart from it’s pan, slicing and serving – such a treat!
