I have to admit I have never seen the point of Halloween! Brought over from the States when I was a kid and I’m afraid in the 60’s we took little notice of it. But I accept the fact that it has grown into a phenomenon. So, I doff my cap to the celebration and introduce you to a typical Halloween dessert

Servings

6/8

 

Cook:

One hour and 30 minutes

Prep. time:

40 minutes

 

Difficulty:

Fairly Simples! But takes a bit of patience!

Ingredients

For the Pastry

150 gms of Plain Flour

25 gms Caster Sugar

125 gms Butter

1 tbsp of water

For the Filling

750 gm Pumpkin

1 ½  teaspoons ground cinnamon.

½  teaspoon ground ginger

¼  teaspoon ground or freshly grated nutmeg

2 ground cloves (crush between two teaspoons)

Pinch fresh ground pepper.

240 ml heavy cream.

60 ml milk

2 Eggs

25 gms butter, melted

Step by Step Instructions

Step 1

To make the pastry, place the flour and sugar in a bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. TIP Put your fingers in cold water before mixing.

Add the water and mix together until you have a soft dough. Wrap in clingfilm and put in the fridge for 30 minutes

Place the pumpkin in boiling water and simmer for 15 minutes

Step 3

Preheat the oven to 190 C/Gas 5. Line the pastry case with foil and ‘baking beans’ and bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and beans and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes.

Step 2

Roll out the dough on a floured surface to form a round disc slightly larger than a 24 cm baking tray with removable bottom. Squeeze the pastry into the decorative edge of the tray. Prick the pastry with a fork and return to the fridge for a further 30 minutes.

Step 4

Increase oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Push the cooled pumpkin through a sieve into a large bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the sugar, salt, nutmeg and half the cinnamon. Mix in the beaten eggs, melted butter and milk, then add to the pumpkin purée and stir to combine. Pour into the tart shell and cook for 10 mins, then reduce the temperature to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Continue to bake for 35-40 mins until the filling has just set. Allow to cool. Mix a little caster sugar with the remaining cinnamon and dust over tart before serving

Bon Appétit !