Pumpkin pie for thanksgiving? Groundbreaking! But wait, have you tried this Toasted Marshmallow Pumpkin Tart? Two completely different things. I think you should try it for yourself.
There’s no shortage of pumpkin pie recipes on the internet and yet, here I am throwing another onto the pile. This tart is a bit of a labor of love, not because it’s complex or too time consuming, but simply because it’s composed of different parts. If we break them down into steps, it gets very easy. Let’s do it now!
Anatomy of a Pumpkin Tart
A simple pie structure is always basically the same: crust, filling, and topping. For this Toasted Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie, we have a pate sucree crust, a homemade pumpkin puree filling and a toasted marshmallow topping. I’m drooling. Are you drooling?
Pâte Sucrée
This sweet short pastry is a basic recipe of flour, butter, sugar, and eggs. It’s meant to be light-textured and not elastic. We’re using the creaming method, which means creaming the butter, sugar, and eggs before incorporating the flour.
The crust is crisp – a very important element in this tart because it adds all the texture! In order to insure you have a crisp crust, the tart is pre-baked, lined with parchment paper and filled with weights (dried beans, dried rice or pie weights)
Make sure to use the finest butter you can afford, with a high butterfat content for better results (ideally 84%). The butter should be softened and eggs at room temperature. When combining the ingredients, beat on low speed in order not to beat in too much air. That would make the dough fragile and cause it to lose its shaping when baking.
Chilling is essential to give the butter in the dough time to firm up again before rolling out. If too cold, the dough will crack, if too soft, it’ll be sticky and hard to handle. So make adjustments to your chilling time accordingly, placing the dough back in the fridge as necessary.
Pumpkin Purée
Making your own pumpkin purée is an easy, painless process! All you have to do is cut the squash into edges, remove the seeds and pop them in the oven until soft.
I used butternut squash, but feel free to use other types, such as kabocha or honeynut. For this recipe, I used a 1lb 2oz pumpkin that yields 250g of pumpkin purée.
Making your own purée is also a cheap option! Butternut was on sale and it cost me a grand total of $1.30. Not bad!
For the filling, you can also use your own pumpkin spice blend as opposed to using the species listed in the recipe. In that case, I would use about 3 tsp pumpkin spice.
Pass the purée through a sieve for a smoother product, then once again after tempering the eggs. That way you can get rid of any possible overcooked egg bits.
Swiss Meringue
The star of the show is the toasted marshmallow topping! Having said that, it also – unsurprisingly – makes the tart much sweeter as a whole. If you like a less sweet tart, skip this step and top the slices with whipped cream.
Making Swiss meringue is quick and easy: bring a saucepan with a few inches of water to a simmer. Set a heatproof bowl or the mixer bowl over the simmering water, making sure the water doesn’t touch the bottom of the bowl.
Cook the egg whites and sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved. You don’t even need a thermometer for this. Rub the mixture between your fingers to assess if the sugar has dissolved. Make sure to continually stir the mixture with a rubber spatula. You don’t want it to overcook!
Remove the mixture from heat and beat on high speed until glossy and stiff peaks have formed.
Learn From My Mistakes
The most common mistake when making pies is undercooking the crust. A crispy crust ensures a well-rounded tart that has enough texture to contrast the soft filling and topping. A well-baked crust makes a huge difference.
I’ve underbaked pie crusts before and it always makes me mad (that’s why I’m in therapy). Even this one wasn’t fully baked for my liking (I was mad. I’m still mad). I like a thoroughly baked and crisp tart.
When baking your pie, the process seems long and tedious but it’s worth it: blind bake the crust, then remove the weights, bake it until golden (this might take longer than recipe directions depending on your oven), then brush with a thin layer of egg wash (this creates a barrier so the filling doesn’t cause the crust to get soggy), then bake again until the egg wash has set and the crust is perfectly baked.
Don’t encourage gluten development
The dough must not be overworked. I repeat: the dough must not be overworked. Once the flour has been incorporated, mix just until the ingredients have combined – no kneading!
Kneading encourages gluten development, making the dough stretchy and causing it to shrink when baked.
When rolling out the dough, lightly dust your work surface and dough with flour and if the dough gets too sticky, re-wrap it and return to the refrigerator to firm up again. Adding more flour would dry out the dough.
The dough, once rolled out, is thin and delicate. It can easily tear apart. To avoid overworking it, I use a bench scraper to lift up the dough circle and wrap it around the rolling pin before draping it over the tart pan.
There have been times when the dough broke apart and I had to roll it into a disk, chill it, and roll it out again, which obviously caused it to shrink in the oven. The quickest way to avoid this is by using a bench scraper to lift up the dough if it’s sticky or too delicate.
If you have any tears, use any excess dough to patch the holes. It’ll be fine. Everything will be fine.
Make ahead
There’s a lot of moving parts here and personally, I find pumpkin pies to get better as they sit in the fridge. You can make the dough a few days ahead of time and keep it in the freezer.
The pumpkin purée can be made couple days ahead and the custard the day before. Then, all there’s left to do is make the meringue and toast it right before serving. If you don’t have a kitchen torch, your oven broiler will work just fine!
If you ever make this Toasted Marshmallow Pumpkin Pie, let me know in the comments!
Toasted Marshmallow Pumpkin Tart
1
9" tart40
minutes5
minutes3
hoursabout 2
hours (total)Ingredients
- Pumpkin Purée
1 1lb 2oz (500g) butternut squash
- Crust:
3 tbsp (50g) butter, at room temperature
1/3 cup (50g) confectioners’ sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbsp (30g) lightly beaten egg (about 1 egg)
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup (125g) flour
- Egg Wash
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tbsp heavy cream
- Pumpkin Custard
250g pumpkin puree (above)
200ml heavy cream
100ml milk
100g granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp salt
4 egg yolks
- Meringue
140g egg whites (about 4)
280g granulated sugar
Directions
Pumpkin Purée: Preheat the oven to 350F.
Line a baking sheet with silicone mat or parchment paper.
Cut off the top of squash to remove the stem. Cut into large wedges and using a spoon, remove the seeds. Place on baking sheet and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until soft when poked with a fork.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Once cooled, remove the skin and place in a blender and blend until smooth(you can also use an immersion blender). Pass puree through a sieve into a medium bowl. Set aside.
Make the shortcrust pastry: Add butter into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. On low speed, beat until soft and creamy, about 2 minutes.
Add the confectioners’ sugar and vanilla. Beat until smooth, another minute.
Combine the egg and salt and add to the mixture. Scrape down the sides and beat for 30 seconds, or until incorporated.
Add the flour and mix on low speed just until combined, about 30 seconds.
Remove the dough from the bowl and shape into a flat disk. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Take the dough out of the fridge. Lightly flour a working surface the dough (and maybe your rolling pin). Roll the dough into a rough circle until the pastry is rather thin, about 0.15–0.2 inches (0.4mm–0.5mm) thick. Occasionally, lift the dough up to prevent from sticking. Lightly flour the surface as needed. If the dough is tearing or getting too warm, place it back in the fridge for another 5-10 minutes.
Drape the dough over the tart pan. You can use a rolling pin for this and a bench scraper to help lift up the dough circle.
Using your fingers, press the dough into the edges of the fluted indents. If the dough is tearing, take any excess pastry and patch the holes as necessary.
Using a sharp knife, remove the excess dough from the edges. You can also use your rolling pin by pressing it firmly against the top of the pan, then rolling it over the entire pan.
Place the tart pan on a baking sheet. Place it into the freezer for 30 minutes.
Cut a large circle of parchment paper and scrunch it up until flexible.
Remove the baking sheet from the freezer. Gently press the scrunched up paper into the edges of the pastry shell, making sure to cover the edges and completely line the tart. Pour baking beans or rice into the base and spread them out. Bake for 25 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and carefully lift out the parchment paper with the baking beans on. Return the baking sheet to the oven and continue to bake the pastry until golden color, 5–10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes. Lightly brush the egg wash the inside of the tart shell. Place it back into the oven for 5–7 minutes, or until the egg wash has completely set and the pastry is golden.
Remove the tart shell from the oven and allow it to cool.
Make the filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together the pumpkin puree, heavy cream, milk, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, ginger, and salt. Bring to a gentle simmer.
Place egg yolks in a medium heat safe bowl. Remove pumpkin mixture from heat immediately.
Temper the egg yolks: pour in a small amount of the hot pumpkin mixture until into the egg yolks and whisk until well incorporated. Slowly add the remaining pumpkin mixture and gently mix until shiny and smooth – you don't want to incorporate air into the mix, so use a rubber spatula or an immersion blender for this part.
Pour the custard through the sieve into a bowl.
Bake the tart: Place the tart shell on a baking sheet. Pour the custard into the tart shell. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the custard is slightly wobbly in the center. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
Make the meringue: Place the egg whites and sugar in the mixing bowl of your stand mixer or a large metal mixing bowl. Set it over a pan of simmering water. Stir continuously and vigorously so the egg whites do not cook. Check that the mixture is done cooking by rubbing some of it between your fingers and feeling if the sugar has fully dissolved. Once fully dissolved, turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the pot.
The mixture is done cooking when you rub some of it between your fingers and can feel the sugar has fully dissolved. Once fully dissolved, turn off the heat and remove the bowl from the pot.
Transfer the bowl to the stand mixer and whisk at high speed until stiff peaks form.
Assemble: Remove the tart from the pan and place the tart on a serving dish. Spoon the meringue on top of the custard filling and spread it out with the back of a spoon. Using a kitchen torch, toast the top of the meringue just before serving (you can also place it under your oven broiler).
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