Pumpkin Cheese Tart

Pumpkin Pie is the famous traditional dessert for Thanksgiving dinner in America and Canada. I am not a big fan of Pumpkin Pie because of its custardy texture. I rather bake a cake or Pumpkin Cheesecake and everyone loves this over Pumpkin Pie. Yesterday I made something bit different, Pumpkin Cheese Pie in a tart pan with fresh roasted pumpkin puree, low fat cream cheese and spices that turned out delish. This tart is a cross between cheesecake and pie.

I bake almost everything from scratch. There is canned pumpkin and ready made pie crust available in the market, but nothing beats when pie is made with fresh roasted pumpkin puree, aromatic spices and hand made crust.    



 Normally I use food processor for the pastry  dough. So while getting ready for the dough I just realized my 16 years old food processor broke a few weeks back and I haven't bought a new one yet. I didn't have any choice but to use mini food chopper. I just divided ingredients in half and processed 2 times. It worked great.  

Ingredients for the crust~
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup cold butter
5-6 tbsp ice cold water

For the filling~
1 cup homemade pumpkin puree 
1 8 oz. 1/3 less fat cream cheese, sofented
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup brown or white sugar
1 large egg
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1 pinch of each ground clove and nutmeg

Method~
It's very important to keep ingredients for the crust as cold as possible. Mix the first 3 ingredients in a large mixing bowl and then transfer in the food processor or mini food chopper. Add in the butter and use pulse button to process until mixture becomes coarse meal. Now pour 1 tbsp. cold water at a time until dough starts to stick together. Dough should be not too tough but just firm. The whole process will be about 30-40 seconds.

Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Try to make round firm ball, then flatten to form a disk. See pictures below. Wrap it up with a clear plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly oil a 9 inch tart pan with removable bottom. Roll out the disk on a lightly floured surface to 12 inch round circle. Transfer to the tart pan. Pat the rolled dough onto the bottom and up the sides of the tart pan. Trim the overhangs and save for cutouts. Pierce the dough all over with a fork so crust won't puff up while baking. Put the tart pan onto a baking sheet. Bake the crust for 15 minutes until golden brown. Remove from the oven cool it on a wire rack. Now roll the extra dough and cut with small cookie cutter to decorate the pie. Bake cutouts for 8-10 minutes.

Mix cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Stir in the pureed pumpkin, spices and egg. Mix until smooth. Pour mixture into tart shell. Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes to set. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream. Enjoy! Happy Thanksgiving!