Lisa Yarde
Thanksgiving without pumpkin pie just isn’t right. Have your pie (and crème brûlée, too!) baked into individual chocolate shells. The coolest thing about these tartlets is that they’re a dessert trifecta of pumpkin pie, crème brûlée, and chocolate. The second coolest thing is they’re easy as pie — always a good thing on Thanksgiving. One reason they’re so easy is their forgiving dough. Instead of traditional pie dough, these tartlet shells are essentially made from a chocolate cookie dough so you don’t have to worry about overmixing or keeping it cold since it isn’t intended to be flaky. While the crackling, brûléed tops are part of the wow, if you don’t have a torch, just skip them — you’ll still have some super-scrumptious pumpkin tartlets.
Pumpkin Crème Brûlée Tartlets
Ingredients
THE DOUGH, COMBINE
- 1 ¼ cups All-purpose flour
- 1 ¼ cups Powdered sugar
- ¼ cup Unsweetened cocoa powder
- ½ tsp. Table salt
ADD
- 1 Stick cold unsalted butter, diced (8 Tbsp.)
- 2 egg yolks + 2 Tbsp. water, beaten
THE FILLING, COMBINE
- ½ cup Granulated sugar
- ½ tsp. Ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp. Ground ginger
- ⅛ tsp. Ground cloves
- ⅛ tsp. Freshly grated nutmeg
- ⅛ tsp. Table salt
- 5 5 egg yolks
HEAT
- 1 ¼ cups Heavy cream
- 1 cup Canned pumpkin purée
THE TOPPING, SPREAD
- 9 tsp. Superfine sugar, divided
- Whipped cream
- Chocolate curls
Instructions
The Dough, combine
- flour, powdered sugar, cocoa, and salt in a food processor.
- Add butter; pulse until pea-sized. With the processor running, add yolk mixture until dough forms around blade. Shape dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
- Divide dough into 6 equal pieces and roll each on a floured surface to 1/8-inch thick. Press dough into 10-cm. regular quiche pans and trim. Freeze shells 15 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 325°.
- Line each shell with parchment paper and fill each to the top with pie weights or dried beans.
- Bake shells on a baking sheet 15 minutes. Remove parchment and weights and bake shells until cooked through, about 12 minutes more; cool completely
The Filling
- Combine Granulated sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and salt; whisk half into egg yolks.
- Heat cream, pumpkin purée, and remaining sugar mixture in a saucepan over medium-low until it boils.
- Off heat, slowly drizzle cream mixture over yolks, whisking constantly; strain.
- Divide custard among shells and bake until centers are barely set, about 25 minutes; let cool to room temperature, cover surface of tartlets with plastic wrap, and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.
The Topping
- Spread top of each tartlet with 1½ tsp. superfine sugar; caramelize with a torch. Top tartlets with whipped cream and garnish with chocolate curls.
Notes
- When brûlèeing tartlets, spread superfine sugar ¼-inch shy of the crust, that way you won’t run the risk of burning the edges.
Nutrition Facts
1 servings per container
- Amount Per ServingCalories685
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat
39g
60%
- Saturated Fat 23g 115%
- Cholesterol 324mg 108%
- Sodium 273mg 12%
- Total Carbohydrate
79g
27%
- Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
- Protein 8g 16%
* The % Daily Value tells you how much a nutrient in a serving of food contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
