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Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart with Cranberry Gelee

12/20/2018

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For once, I was actively hunting for something new to make when I stumbled across this recipe. The inspiration was the very first Thanksgiving feast I would be making on my lonesome, and I wanted to top it off with a dessert that was traditionally-themed without being completely traditional. This was, arguably, the biggest hit not only of the night's feasting (and not just because it was sweet) but nearly out of all the things I have ever baked for my family. Even my father, the most famous scrooge of the family, prompted me no less than three times as to when I was going to make it again!
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Pastry:
  • 6 tablespoons blanched almonds
  • 1 1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature
  • 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Pinch of salt
Filling:
  • 12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
  • Pinch of freshly ground white pepper
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • Pinch of salt
  • 1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree (10 ounces)
  • 1/4 cup heavy cream
  • 3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 2 large eggs, at room temperature
Gelee:
  • 2 cups fresh cranberries (1/2 pound)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
  1. In food processor, pulse almonds until coarsely ground. Add 1/2 cup of the flour and process to a fine powder; transfer to a bowl. In food processor, pulse the butter and confectioners' sugar until creamy. Pulse in egg and vanilla. Pulse in remaining 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon of flour, almond flour, and salt until a soft dough forms. Pat pastry into a disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
  2. Preheat oven to 325° F. On lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to 14-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Roll pastry into 11 1/2-inch fluted tart pan with removable bottom. Gently press pastry into the rim. Fold in overhanging dough and press to reinforce the sides; sides should be twice as thick as the bottom. Trim off excess pastry and refrigerate until firm.
  3. Line pastry with parchment paper or foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans/rice. Bake pastry for about 25 minutes, or until set. Remove parchment/foil and weights and bake for 10 minutes longer, until crust is golden and cooked through. Let cool slightly.
  4. In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, brown sugar, ground spices, nutmeg and salt. Using electric mixer, beat at medium speed until smooth. Beat in pumpkin puree until smooth. Beat in cream, maple syrup, vanilla and eggs at low speed until blended.
  5. Put crust on large, sturdy baking sheet and set in oven. Pour pumpkin custard into crust (make sure to leave a little space at the top for the gelee). Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until custard is just set but still slightly jiggly in center. Cover edge with foil if crust starts to brown too much. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely.
  6. In medium saucepan, combine cranberries with 1/2 cup of water and cook over moderate heat until they begin to pop, about 5 minutes. Let cool. Transfer to blender and puree until smooth. Strain puree through a fine sieve. Rinse out saucepan.
  7. Add sugar and 1/4 cup of water to saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring, until dissolved. Let cool. Stir in orange juice and cranberry puree.
  8. In small bowl, sprinkle gelatin over 2 tablespoons of water and let stand until softened, 5 minutes. Microwave for 10 seconds, or until completely melted. Whisk gelatin into cranberry mixture and pour gelée over the pumpkin custard; shake gently to even it out. Refrigerate tart until set, at least 1 hour and up to 2 days. Remove the tart ring and serve.
Note: Remember to leave a little space at the top of the custard for the gelee. While you can get away with not doing so because the gelee should be a super-thin layer anyway, it was also very easy for the gelee to spill over the edges when I didn't account for it. While the custard will initially come out of the oven all puffed-up, it will settle in once it cools down, and should still have enough space for the gelee after being baked.

I discovered that I had an excess of filling and gelee after filling the tart to the brim. So have some ramekins ready and you can toss the extra in to be baked at the same time. Then you can "taste-test" guilt-free before the tart ever gets served!
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Rhubarb Tart

5/10/2016

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Long story short, I attempted this recipe due to the convergence of a challenge from an old friend (who, after seeing my koi pond pie, commented that I should next make something reflecting my namesake/internet handle) and another friend having spied cheap rhubarb for sale in another state and hand-carrying a pound's worth of stalks back for me. I then promptly ended up doing a whole bunch of substitutions, both intentional and unintentional, and in the end determined that this is really just a sweet rather than savory pizza-like dessert that is pretty forgiving of whatever you want to do with it. Thus, if you wish to try it, I wish you many happy experiments!
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  • 1 cup fresh orange juice
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 3/4 pound rhubarb stalks, thinly sliced diagonally (1/8 inch)
  • 1 sheet frozen puff pastry (from a 17 1/4-ounces package), thawed (see note below
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
  1. Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle.
  2. Stir together orange juice, lime juice, and sugar in a bowl. Add rhubarb and let stand, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, cut pastry in half lengthwise, then roll out each piece into an 11-by 7-inch rectangle on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin. Arrange pastry rectangles side by side on an ungreased large baking sheet.
  4. Make a 1/2-inch border around each pastry rectangle by lightly scoring a line parallel to each edge (do not cut all the way through). Prick pastry inside border all over with a fork.
  5. Strain rhubarb mixture through a sieve set over a bowl, reserving liquid. Top 1 pastry rectangle (within border) with half of rhubarb, overlapping slices slightly. Repeat with remaining pastry and rhubarb.
    Bake until pastry is puffed and golden (underside of pastry should also be golden), about 30 minutes.
    Meanwhile, boil reserved rhubarb liquid in a small saucepan, skimming foam if necessary, until reduced to about 1/4 cup, 15 to 18 minutes.
  6. Transfer tarts to a rack. Brush rhubarb and pastry with glaze and sprinkle with zest.
Note: The first time I made this, I had leftover phyllo sheets in the fridge that I wanted to use up, so I substituted that for the puff pastry. It actually worked really well, though the process ate up my time like you wouldn't believe. (Note that, due to the toughness of baked phyllo, you may want to "cut" the tart using kitchen shears rather than a fork and knife.) Also, I accidentally burned the orange-lime glaze when I turned away from the stove for the crucial last minute - as a substitute, I spooned out some apricot reserves into a saucepan, added some water, then stirred as it simmered. Once the bubbles started looking syrupy, I strained the liquid into a bowl and used that as a substitute glaze - which actually worked beautifully.
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Pecan Pie / Tart

11/21/2015

 
My brother adores pecan pie, but they almost unilaterally call for corn syrup in their recipes, which is just ... bleh. This is one of the rare ones that does not ask for corn syrup - and from the way he devoured it on his birthday (in place of a cake), I'd say it did quite well without it. 

(Though this is usually done in a pie crust, I have also substituted the pine nut tart crust for the usual pie crust. One note is that you can't just cook the tart crust first as usual; it may burn if you just put it into the oven with the rest of the filling for 30 minutes. I took the halfway road and cooked the crust for 10 minutes at 350 F, poured the filling in, covered the edges with foil, and then popped it back into the oven to finish.)
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  • 1 9" pie crust
  • 1 egg wash (1 egg + 1 tsp water)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup melted butter
  • 1 cup light brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup white sugar
  • ​1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
  • 1 tablespoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chopped pecans
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.​ To prevent the filling from making the bottom crust a soggy mess, I like to blind bake the pie crust partway and help seal the bottom with an egg wash. Line the bottom and sides of the crust with foil or parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans - make sure to not only cover all over the bottom but up the sides also. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove the pie weights and lining, brush egg wash all over crust, put a heat shield on the edges of the crust, then return to the oven for another 3 minutes. Remove and set aside while you make the filling.
  2. In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy, and slowly stir in melted butter. Stir in the brown sugar, white sugar and the flour; mix well. Last add the milk, vanilla and nuts.
  3. Pour into the pie shell. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. (Depending on your oven, the nuts on top might get a little burnt-looking. You may wish to cover the entire pie with foil instead of just the crust edges as a heat shield at this time. Make sure you make slits in the top of the foil to allow steam to vent.) Then reduce temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 35 - 40 minutes. Let pie cool completely before serving.

Blueberry Custard Pie or Tart

7/3/2015

 
This was adapted from a Country Living recipe. The first attempt was both weirdly my least-favorite but my family's most-favorite baking attempt ever - I simply could not get over the weird snot-thick consistency of the blueberry topping that came from the original recipe's 3 tbsp of cornstarch, though my father and brother literally gobbled up over half the tart in the space of a morning. A second try not only improved the texture but the appearance considerably, and after substituting lactose-free milk for whole milk, I was also able to enjoy it tablet free! With the sweetness dialed down somewhat and a few extra steps added to improve custard and topping consistency, the second one disappeared nearly as quickly as the first.
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  • 1 graham cracker crust, either store-bought or hand-made
The custard:
  • 1.25 cups whole milk
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp unsalted butter
The blueberry topping:
  • 4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1.5 tbsp cornstarch
  • 3/4 cups water
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp butter
  1. In a saucepan, cook the milk, egg yolks, sugar, and cornstarch over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens. Stir in vanilla and butter. Transfer custard to a shallow dish to cool.
  2. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, mix 1 cup of blueberries with sugar over medium to high heat. Stir occasionally, until the blueberries start to soften and burst and become a slurry. Mix the cornstarch into the water, then pour into the saucepan. Bring to a boil while continuing to stir, until the mixture thickens. Stir in lemon juice and butter, then remove from heat and let cool. Gently stir in remaining 3 cups of berries.
  3. Once the custard is near room temperature, spread it into the bottom of the graham cracker crust. Top with the berry mixture and refrigerate until set.
Note: If you're going to use lactose-free milk instead of whole milk, you might want to dial down the sugar amount for the custard slightly, as lactose-free milk tends to be sweeter. The filling can be made a day ahead and refrigerated separately. To prevent the custard from forming a film, press cling film all over the surface.

Pine Nut Crust for Tarts (from Bouchon)

4/9/2015

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This is an absolutely amazing crust. The pine nuts were expensive, but totally worth it, and with a food processor and a stand mixer, everything was done in 10 minutes. In fact, the toughest part was just getting everything divided up evenly and wrapped well, and then cleaning up.
  • 10 oz (2 cups) pine nuts
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 lb (3 cups) all-purpose flour
  • 8 oz unsalted butter @ room temperature
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Servings: enough for 3x 9" tarts
  1. Place pine nuts in a food processor and pulse a few times. Add sugar and flour and continue to pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Transfer mixture to a large bowl.
  2. Add butter, egg, and vanilla extract and mix to incorporate all the ingredients (highly recommend a mixer with a paddle attachment for even incorporation of butter, otherwise the crust will easily fall apart when baked).
  3. Divide dough into 3 equal parts. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes before using. (Extra dough can be frozen, wrapped well, for up to 1 month.)
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Lemon Tart (Tarte au Citron from Bouchon)

4/9/2015

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I first had a taste of this at Bouchon itself, and with the pine nut crust, it was simply amazing. It's actually a relatively easy/quick thing to make; the hardest part is probably just having to stand and stir in front of the stove for 8 minutes. The original recipe has an amazingly intense lemon/tart taste, so for those who may want to be a little less overwhelmed by that, see the note at the bottom. But in its original form, it won me first place at a citrus-themed festival, so it can't have been too bad!
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  • butter and flour for the tart pan
  • 1/3 recipe Pine Nut Crust
  • 2 large eggs, cold
  • 2 large egg yolks, cold
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
  • 6 tbsp (3 oz) cold unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces
Servings: 9" tart
  1. For the crust: Preheat oven to 350 F. Generously butter and flour a 9" fluted tart pan w/ a removable bottom and refrigerate it while the oven preheats.
  2. Remove the tart pan from the refrigerator. Use your fingertips to press the chilled pine nut dough evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Trim off any excess dough.
  3. Bake the crust for 10-15 mins, then rotate it and bake for another 10-15 mins, or until it is golden brown. Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool while you make the filling.
  4. For the sabayon: Bring about 1.5" of water to a boil in a pot that is slightly smaller than the diameter of the bowl you will be using for the sabayon. Meanwhile, in a large metal bowl, whisk the eggs, yolks, and sugar for about 1 min, or until the mixture is smooth.
  5. Set the bowl over the pot and, using a large whisk, whip the mixture while you turn the bowl (for even heating). After about 2 mins, when the eggs are foamy and have thickened, add 1/3 of the lemon juice, whisk, then continue adding another 1/3 until all the lemon juice is gone. Continue whisking vigorously, still turning the bowl, until the mixture is thickened and light in color and the whisk leaves a trail in the bottom of the bowl. (The trails should stay for a bit, instead of immediately disappearing.) The total cooking time should be 8-10 mins.
  6. Turn off the heat and leave the bowl over the water. Whisk in the butter a piece at a time. The sabayon may loosen slightly, but it will thicken and set as it cools. Pour the warm sabayon into the tart crust and place the pan on a baking sheet.
  7. Preheat the broiler. While the sabayon is still warm, place the tart under the broiler. Leaving the door open, brown the top of the sabayon, rotating the tart if necessary for even color; this will take only a few seconds, so do not leave the oven. Remove the tart from the broiler and let it sit for at least 1 hour. Serve at room temperature or cold.
This tart can be quite strong in flavor. Use 1/3 cup of lemon juice and 1/2 cup of sugar instead if you wish something less tart and sweet. Even though I made the tart successfully without adding any additional liquids after cutting out the lemon juice, you may wish to add just enough water to help bring the liquid volume back up to the original 1/2 cup that was asked for in the recipe, as then you won't need to watch so carefully for over-cooking on the stove.
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ARCHIVE: Breton Shortbread Cookies or Tart Crust (from The French Market Cookbook)

1/1/2015

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  • 1/2 cup/70g unrefined blond sugar (also sold as evaporated cane juice) or caster sugar
  • 6 tbsp/85g high quality unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 small fresh vanilla bean or 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 large organic egg
  • 1 cup/130g all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar and butter. (Alternatively, do this by hand in a bowl with a wooden spoon.) Split the vanilla bean lengthwise with a sharp knife, scrape the seeds from the inside of the bean with the dull side of the blade, and add them to the sugar and butter. Beat the sugar and butter at low speed until pale an fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat for 2 minutes.
  2. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt, stirring with a whisk to remove any lumps. add to the mixer and mix at low speed for a few seconds, just until no trace of flour remains. The dough will be quite soft.
  3. Transfer the dough to a container and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, and preferably overnight.
  4. Preheat the oven to 350F/175C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.
  5. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out between two sheets of parchment paper to a thickness of 1/3 in / 8mm. Peel off the top sheet gently and use a round cookie cutter, about 2 in /5cm in diameter, to cut out circles of dough.
  6. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet, giving them a little room to expand.
  7. Gather the scraps of dough and repeat to cut out more cookies. As the dough warms to room temperature, it may become to soft to work with; place it in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up before cutting out circles again.
  8. Bake the sables until golden brown, 15-20 minutes.
  9. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. The sables will keep for a few days in an airtight container at room temperature.
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    Picture

    Sweet Enough

    Part of the reason I started baking was because I like my goodies to be less obviously sweet - I want to taste the flavor, not just the sugar. So most of these recipes will have the sugar dialed down.

    This site also acts as my mobile recipe box, so instructions are often pared down to a minimum - very few frills but for some hints and suggestions!

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