PUMPKIN TART

With Thanksgiving being just over a week away, I wanted to squeeze in one more dessert recipe that would be perfect for the holiday, but also casual enough for any fall or winter meal. If you’ve been reading my blog for the past year or so, it’s no secret that making pies isn’t my strong suit, mostly because I don’t have the practice but also since I’m more of a cake person than a pie person. Because of my inexperience with this dessert, I decided to forgo giving you a pumpkin pie recipe and instead I’m offering a much easier and less stressful option: the pumpkin tart. Side note: if you want a pie recipe from me, here’s the recipe for my deep dish apple pie from last year, including 10 tips to achieving a “perfect” pie in the kitchen.

A pumpkin tart isn’t too different from a pumpkin pie when it comes to the filling, but one huge distinction is that the former doesn’t require making pie dough - something that a lot of people struggle with since it’s not only time consuming, but also difficult to get right (the pie dough can be too dry, too wet, hard to work with, etc.). With my pumpkin tart, it’s like you’re making a pumpkin pie but with a graham cracker (or gingersnap cookies) crust and simply pressing it into a fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. There’s no need to worry about chilling the dough, having the dreaded soggy bottom or blind-baking that comes with making a pie; you just need to partially bake the crust for about 8-10 minutes before adding the filling… and that’s it, It’s ridiculously simple.

I also decided to add toasted pecans to my crust to give it more flavor, but if you have nut allergies or just want a plain graham cracker crust, simply replace the nuts with more graham cracker crumbs, so the total in graham cracker crumbs would be 1 3/4 cups.

As for the filling, it’s as effortless as it gets. You’ll mix together the basic ingredients for a custard (milk, heavy cream, eggs, sugar), add an entire can of pumpkin purée, some vanilla extract and traditional pumpkin pie spices. The custard doesn’t need to be cooked before being added to the pan - you just pour it over the graham cracker crust and bake it in the oven until the tart is mostly set (we want a little jiggle in the middle, much like when baking a normal pumpkin pie or a cheesecake). The whole dish comes together in just about an hour, which is incredible when comparing the time it takes to make a pumpkin pie. You can essentially make this on Thanksgiving itself if you wanted, but I suggest making it the day beforehand and storing it in the fridge so you have one less thing to worry about. When it comes time to serving the tart, I definitely recommend topping it off with fresh whipped cream, a dusting of confectioners’ sugar or ground cinnamon, and/or a scoop of ice cream (my maple pecan ice cream would be SO GOOD with this).

For the first time in my 30 years on this planet, I am making an entire Thanksgiving meal by myself (with Alex being my sous chef) and I am equal parts excited and nervous. Please wish me luck and let’s hope I don’t ruin everything. But seriously, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, whether you’re with friends, family or by yourself. 2020 has been a real bummer, so I hope we can all have a nice and relaxing day… without spreading Covid.

P.S. Here’s 10 other recipes of mine that would be perfect for Thanksgiving:

1. Apple Butter Spice Cake w/ Mascarpone Frosting

2. Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream w/ Candied Pumpkin Seeds

3. Brown Butter, Pecan and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies

4. Pear Spice Cake

5. Apple Ricotta Tarts w/ Homemade Caramel

6. Pumpkin and Brown Butter Breakfast Puffs (for breakfast the next day!)

7. Apple Tart w/ Maple Whipped Cream

8. Pumpkin Cheesecake (my go-to dessert every Thanksgiving)

9. Classic Sangria

10. Union Square Cafe’s Bar Nuts (a perfect appetizer)

Pumpkin Tart

Yields (1) 9-inch tart

Recipe adapted from Delish

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs (or gingersnap cookies)

• 1/2 cup pecan halves

• 2 tbsp. brown sugar

• 5 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

• Pinch of kosher salt

For the filling:

• 4 large eggs

• 1 can (15oz.) pumpkin purée

• 1/2 cup whole milk

• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• 3/4 cup brown sugar, packed (light or dark)

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon

• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger

• 1/2 tsp. ground cloves

• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated or ground nutmeg

• Pinch of kosher salt

• Fresh whipped cream, ice cream, confectioners’ sugar or ground cinnamon, to finish

Directions

Make the crust:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the pecan halves on a rimmed baking sheet and toast them in the oven for about 8-10 minutes. Allow them to cool for a couple minutes.

2. Transfer the pecans to a food processor fitted with the S-blade and pulse until finely chopped.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together the pecans, graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, melted butter and salt. Transfer the mixture to the tart pan and, using the back of a measuring cup, firmly press the crust mixture into the bottom of the pan as well as the sides.

4. Bake in the oven (on a baking sheet, for easy transfer) for 9-10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool while preparing the filling. Raise the oven temperature to 375°F.

Make the filling;

1. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs until thoroughly combined. Add in the rest of the filling ingredients - pumpkin purée, milk, heavy cream, brown sugar, vanilla extract, spices and salt - and stir together using a spatula or wooden spoon.

2. Pour the filling into the tart pan (you may have more filling than needed, so only fill to just below the top of the crust line). Bake in the oven on a baking sheet for about 40 to 45 minutes - the center may be a bit jiggly but that’s exactly what you’re looking for.

3. Allow the tart to cool completely before removing from the tart pan. Serve with fresh whipped cream, ice cream and/or a dusting of confectioners’ sugar or ground cinnamon,

PUMPKIN + BROWN BUTTER BREAKFAST PUFFS

Well, summer is officially over. And I’m saying this because when I walked into Trader Joe’s the other day, I immediately noticed that the large containers that usually held big, beautiful watermelons were sadly replaced with pumpkins of all shapes and sizes. Although I welcome fall and everything it has to offer from cooler weather to Halloween and whatnot, I’m going to miss my precious watermelon! Ask Alex if you don’t believe me, but I ate watermelon every single day this summer. I guess I don’t care about saying goodbye to long beach days or sunsets at 8pm or wearing dresses… I only care about watermelon. See you next year, buddy!

Now that pumpkin and pumpkin spice-flavored everything has quite literally taken over Trader Joe’s (there’s pumpkin bagels, pumpkin cream cheese spread, pumpkin crackers, etc.), I figured I’d follow suit and offer a recipe utilizing the most popular of the gourd family. While I’m not a fan of pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin-based dishes are something that I’ve come to really love. My pumpkin cheesecake, that I make every Thanksgiving, is something I look forward to baking (and eating) every year, and I am also a huge fan of pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin bread… and pumpkin ice cream. I don’t discriminate; I (mostly) love it all.

So when I was thinking about doing another pumpkin recipe for the blog, I remembered a recipe that I’d made a couple of times before - breakfast puffs, also known as French breakfast puffs. They’re essentially sugared doughnuts in muffin form and, although they’re a bit too sweet for breakfast/brunch purposes, I won’t judge you if you have one (or two) of them with your morning coffee. Typical breakfast puffs do not have canned pumpkin in them, but I was able to figure out what ingredient to remove from the original recipe to replace with the pumpkin: the milk. I actually read online that you can replace the eggs or the oil/butter with pumpkin in certain recipes, but since this recipe only calls for one egg, and the fact that the butter is vital to this recipe (more on that later), getting rid of the milk was my best bet. And it worked out!

Like the title of this post suggests, these pumpkin breakfast puffs also have brown butter in them, an ingredient that I save mostly for fall and winter desserts due to its decadent qualities. Adding brown butter to any recipe gives it a much more nutty and richer flavor, which I think works perfectly with the pumpkin and blend of spices. The last time I shared a recipe featuring brown butter was with my brown butter apple buckle, another perfect example of how well brown butter works with popular fall produce. Speaking of spices, I decided to make it simple and have you use “pumpkin pie” spice for this recipe - something that you can actually buy at the grocery store (I buy mine from Trader Joe’s). The pumpkin pie spice blend that I buy consists of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and cardamom, which are ingredients that most people already have in their pantry. So, if you don’t have pumpkin pie spice, simply make the blend yourself! Here’s a recipe I found, but I would suggest adding a 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom as well.

Pumpkin and Brown Butter Breakfast Puffs

Yields 12 puffs

Recipe adapted from FIVEANDSPICE via Food52

Ingredients

For the puffs:

• 1/3 cup (76g) unsalted butter

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar

• 1 large egg

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 1 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt

• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, I prefer Libby’s brand

For the sugar coating:

• 6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

• 1/2 cup granulated sugar

• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Directions

1. Make the brown butter: In a medium saucepan, melt 1/3 cup butter over medium-low heat. Once melted, the butter will begin to foam and turn to a golden color. Stir frequently and soon there will be a nutty smell and the butter will brown. Immediately take off the heat once browned and transfer to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or a large bowl if using a hand mixer). Allow it to cool for about 10-15 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 12-cavity muffin/cupcake tin with butter or cooking spray and lightly coat with flour.

3. To the slightly cooled brown butter, add both sugars and the egg and mix on medium speed for about 5 minutes.

4. In a separate medium-sized bowl, add the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder and salt, and whisk together.

5. Add the pumpkin puree to the brown butter/sugar mixture and mix until incorporated. With the mixer on low, slowly add in the dry ingredients and mix until just incorporated - don’t over mix!

6. Using a spoon or a ice cream scoop, evenly distribute the batter between the 12 cavities in the pan - it may seem like not a lot of batter, but they will rise in the oven - and bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

7. Allow the puffs to cool for a few minutes before using a knife to take them out of the pan and place them on a cooling rack.

8. Coat the breakfast puffs: put the melted butter in one shallow bowl and combine the sugar and pumpkin pie spice together in a separate shallow bowl. One at a time, gently roll each puff through the melted butter, getting every section, and then roll it through the spice-y sugar. The puffs are best eaten straight from the oven but can be enjoyed for a couple more days when stored in an airtight container.

PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE

It feels kind of insane to sit here and give you a cheesecake recipe with everything that is going on in my home state of California. With a mass shooting and 3 deadly fires that are far from being contained, California has been through a lot this week. I grew up in Oak Park and Agoura Hills (where the Woolsey fire is wreaking havoc) and my grandma and dad both still live in the area. Although my family members are okay, I’ve been sick to my stomach thinking about those who were less fortunate and what they had to endure this past week. It’s devastating to think how many people will not have a home to celebrate Thanksgiving and other holidays this year. When natural disasters happen like this, I feel absolutely powerless to make the situation better; I wish I could put an end to the pain that they’ve all suffered. If you’re wanting to help out in any way, there is always the option to donate to organizations that will support those who lost their homes, businesses, etc. and of course aid those who are risking their lives to end these fires. The New York Times has a great article that outlines how you can help out; it should lead you in the right direction. And please just be thankful for what you have every.single.day and not just on Thanksgiving.

Ok, back to the blog.

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, the upcoming recipes I’ll be giving you will not only be perfect for the big day, but also for the rest of the holiday season. These desserts are actually what I plan on making for either the Friendsgiving party I’ll be attending this weekend, or for Thanksgiving itself next week. So since I’m making these myself, I can promise you that they are all tried-and-true recipes that I firmly stand behind and have made countless times.

Growing up, cheesecake was never really my thing. I liked it just fine, but always felt like it was too rich and I could never eat more than one or two bites. My sister on the other hand could probably polish off an entire cake to herself if she was in the right mood. Her cheesecake obsession is what led me to making pumpkin cheesecake for Thanksgiving about 3 or 4 years ago when she texted me asking (aka demanding) that I make it. I obliged and in the end, I was left with an incredible dessert that not only made my sister happy, but led me to finally become a huge cheesecake fan.

The thing with cheesecakes is that they can be a bit intimidating to make due to the time and patience that goes into baking each one, especially if you don’t want to end up with the dreaded cheesecake cracks. Below are my tips for cheesecake success.

• The ingredients - cream cheese, sour cream, eggs - all need to be at room temperature, which I suggest pulling out of the fridge 4-5 hours before you plan on baking.

• When making the batter, more attention is needed in order not to over mix it. This is a given for most recipes like cakes and cookies, but especially important with cheesecakes because if you over mix and add too much air, the cheesecake will rise too quickly in the oven and then fall… and crack. Not good!

• A water bath needs to be prepared - this is optional, but I strongly recommend it. The first time I made cheesecake with a water bath was also the first time I didn’t have a crack in my cheesecake. That alone was enough for me to convert to this method, but it offers much more than making your cheesecake more attractive. A water bath ensures even baking and gives the cheesecake the creamiest, most amazing texture. Essentially, the cheesecake is enjoying a day at the spa and comes out of the oven smooth and moist.

• And lastly, the baked cheesecake needs to cool properly, which in this case means gradually. This entails having the cheesecake sit in the oven with the door cracked and the heat turned off for one hour, then sitting at room temperature until completely cooled, and then finally, refrigerated for at least 4 hours before even cutting into it.

Pretty much, if someone shows up to Thanksgiving or any party for that matter, with a homemade cheesecake, please give them a big hug and say “thank you”. The good news is that cheesecakes can be made days in advance (4-5 days) and can be left, covered, in the refrigerator. This is why it’s perfect for Thanksgiving, because you can check off dessert days before worrying about the turkey or sides.

Let’s go back to the water bath method for a minute. If you’re having trouble visualizing exactly what it’s supposed to look like, here’s a video that should give you some clarity. And if you’re like me and worried about water getting into your springform pan despite having the foil wrapped around it, there’s the option of using slow cooker liners. You simply wrap the liner around the springform pan, tie the excess bag in a knot, and then wrap foil around it. I got this idea from the blog, Life, Love and Sugar, and if you click here, you’ll see step-by-step photos on how to do it.

I know this all sounds stressful, and believe me, I get it, but if you follow the tips and steps I provided, baking a cheesecake isn’t all that bad. And if you do get a massive crack in your cheesecake, just cover the dang thing with a ton of whipped cream and no one will care, I promise.

P.S. If you also want to decorate your cheesecake with sugared cranberries like I did, simply dip the cranberries in egg whites (pasteurized if you’re nervous about raw egg) and then gently roll them in granulated sugar. Try to get one even coating of sugar so that you can still see the color of the cranberries. It’s easiest to do one at a time.

Pumpkin Cheesecake

Recipe adapted from Paula Deen

Yields (1) 9 or 10 inch cheesecake

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

• 3 tbsp. light brown sugar

• 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

• 6 tbsp. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:

• 3 (8 oz.) packages of full-fat cream cheese, room temperature

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

• 1 (15 oz.) can of pumpkin puree, I prefer Libby’s brand

• 1/4 cup full-fat sour cream, room temperature

• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

• 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (sold at grocery stores, or you can make your own)

• 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

• 3 large eggs + 1 large egg yolk, room temperature

Directions

Make the crust:

1. Move the oven rack to the lower-middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the bottom of a 9” or 10” springform pan and line with parchment paper.

2. In a bowl, mix the graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter and transfer to the pan. Using the back of a measuring cup, firmly press the crust mixture into the bottom of the pan as well as the sides. Try to get the crust as evenly spread as possible. If the sides aren’t perfect, no worries.

3. Bake in the oven for 9-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool while preparing the filling.

Make the filling:

1. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment (or in a large bowl if using a hand mixer) beat the cream cheese on medium speed for 2 minutes, and then add in the sugar and cream together until no lumps remain. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

2. Add the pumpkin puree, sour cream, vanilla extract, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and flour. Slowly mix together on low, and begin to gradually add the eggs, one at a time. Once the eggs are incorporated, turn the stand mixer/hand mixer off. Finish mixing the filling using a spatula, making sure to get anything that may be down at the bottom of the bowl (this area usually gets left untouched when using a mixer). Pour the cheesecake filling into the pan and spread it evenly.

Prepare the springform/water bath

1. Boil a full kettle of water for the water bath. While the water is heating up, carefully place the springform pan in the slow cooker liner (this is an optional step, but if partaking, I provided a link above that has a visual for this), and then finally, tightly wrap the pan in 1-2 pieces of foil. Place the wrapped springform pan inside of a roasting pan. Once the water is boiled, you can either 1) pour in the water while the roasting pan is in the oven or 2) pour in the water with the roasting pan out of the oven. Either works, just try not to have the oven door open for too long if you choose option 1.

2. Bake the cheesecake for 55-70 minutes. The center of the cheesecake will still have a wiggle to it, but the outer edges will be set. Turn off the oven, crack the door slightly, and leave the cheesecake in there for one hour.

3. Remove the cheesecake from the oven and allow it to cool completely on a cooling rack before transferring it to the refrigerator. Chill the cheesecake for at least 4 hours before eating it. When ready to serve, run a knife around the edge of the pan and remove the springform pan piece. Serve with whipped cream, ice cream, or a drizzle of caramel. Cheesecake will last up to 5 days in the refrigerator - just cover it with plastic wrap.