Pumpkin Tartlets with Mascarpone

12.13.2012

Pumpkin Tartlets with Mascarpone

One of the big projects I’ve been wanting to tackle is to re-do (mostly re-photograph) some of my really, really old recipe posts. It was just one of those things that I made and posted on my old blogspot site (before I deleted it and moved everything to tumblr) so I would remember how I did certain things. I wasn’t focused on photographing recipes because the focus of my blog didn’t really start out that way. The baking/cooking and recipe posting just kind of happened.

My first re-do is a pumpkin tart recipe I posted a few years ago. I made a much needed improvement to it by adding a fluffy mascarpone frosting on top of the classic pumpkin tart.

I mean, tartlets.

Yep. It’s definitely better this way.

For eight 3” tartlets:

Pâte Brisée:

2 c. unbleached all purpose flour
1/2 c. butter cut into 1/2” pieces
1 egg
2 1/2 tbsp. heavy cream

Filling:

1/2 c. heavy cream
1 egg.
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. pumpkin puree

Mascarpone topping (from Martha Stewart):

1 c. heavy cream
8 oz. mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1/2 c. confectioners’ sugar, sifted

For the pastry, hand-mix the ingredients and add water if the dough does not stick together. Grease a 9” tart pan; Roll out the dough and line the dough in the pan. Refrigerate while the filling is being prepared. Preheat the oven to 350F. Whisk together the heavy cream and egg until soft peaks form. Add in the sugar, salt, and the spices. Gently mix in the pumpkin puree. The filling should have a creamy consistency (think almost melted ice cream). Bake for about an hour until the center is firm and moves slightly. Allow it to cool (or refrigerate) for at least an hour.

For the frosting, whisk heavy cream in a standing mixer until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, whisk together mascarpone and confectioners’ sugar until it is smooth. Gently fold in the whipped cream into mascarpone mix.