Pumpkin & Date Tart
by Rachel Lim
@ 02 Oct 2015
Tart Dough
340g unbleached pastry flour
100g granulated sugar
230g unsalted butter, cubed
2 whole eggs
60g heavy cream
Pumpkin Custard
700g heavy cream
½ tsp (each) ground cinnamon
and nutmeg
9 egg yolks
150g sugar
1 pumpkin, cooked and mashed
8 medjool dates, pitted and peeled
For the pumpkin custard: Heat the heavy cream, ground cinnamon and nutmeg in a saucepan over a low heat to a boil. Set aside. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl until creamy. Temper the spiced heavy cream into the whisked egg yolks; stir constantly until the custard coats the back of a spoon. Strain the custard through a fine mesh. Add in the pumpkin mash and set aside the mixture to cool. Once cooled, skim off the foam from the top layer. Set aside the pumpkin custard.
Place the unbleached flour and sugar into an electric mixer bowl with a paddle attachment and beat on a low speed. Add in the cubed unsalted butter, and beat to a fine meal texture. Set aside. Whisk the egg yolks and heavy cream in a bowl until frosty. Gradually add the whisked egg yolk mixture into the flour mixture, and beat on a low speed until dough comes out clean from the mixer bowl. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and roll into two potions and then flatten into discs. Wrap the dough discs in plastic wrap and keep chilled in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. Remove the chilled dough discs from the refrigerator and line the dough discs into two tartlet pans and blind bake in a pre-heated oven at 350°C golden brown, for about 25 minutes. Remove the blind-baked tart shells from the oven and add in the dates evenly around the edge of each tart shell, ensuring that each slice of tart will have a whole date in its centre. Carefully spoon the pumpkin custard filling into the centre of the tart shells and bake in a pre-heated oven until custards are firm, for about 30 minutes. Makes 2 tartlets
* This recipe can be found in September-October 2014 Issue.
