Gluten Free Pumpkin Brûlée Tarts
This recipe is a different take on the classic American pumpkin pie. They are little tartlets that are filled with pumpkin that is sweetened and spiced using the classic pumpkin spice and then it is topped with a crunchy caramel similar to that of a Crème Brûlée. I always love the combination of rich caramelised flavours with warm spices, especially in the autumn winter months.
Ingredients
- Gluten free shortcrust pastry recipe
- 280g Pumpkin pure (canned or homemade)
- 2 Eggs
- 100g Light brown sugar
- 60g Caster sugar
- 1tbsp Butter
- 1⁄2tsp Nutmeg
- 1⁄2tsp Clove
- 1tsp Cinnamon
- 2tsp Ginger
- 6tbsp Cream
- 2tbsp Gluten free all-purpose flour
- 1tsp Vanilla extract
- 200g Granulated sugar
- Flaky sea salt
Method
- Follow the instructions to make the shortcrust pastry dough in the recipe linked here.
- Grease 10 5inch tart cases. Roll out the dough and line the tart cases. Place your pastry lined tart cases into the freezer while you make the filling.
- Preheat your oven to 180°C.
- In a bowl, whisk together your caster sugar, brown sugar, eggs, and butter. Add in your spices, vanilla extract and cream and continue to whisk. Finally add in your pumpkin puree and flour and mix until completely incorporated.
- Set your pumpkin filling aside for the moment.
- Take you tart cases out of the freezer and dock the base of each tart using a fork.
- Pop your tart cases into the oven to blind bake for around 7-10 minutes or until it begins to brown.
- Take your tart cases out of the oven and fill 5mm from the top with the pumpkin filling. If you don’t leave the 5mm you may not have space for the caramel.
- Place in the oven for at 180°C for around 5 minutes and then reduce it to 160°C and bake for a further 10-15 minutes or until the pumpkin filling is set.
- Allow to cool completely.
- up to 4 hours before you intend to serve the tarts you can top them with the caramel. This time is really dependent on how humid your climate is. You don’t want to do it too early or the caramel will not have a crack as the moisture from the air will soften it.
- To make the caramel pour the 200g of granulated sugar into a wide saucepan ensuring it is spread evenly across the bottom. Place the saucepan over medium heat and allow to turn into a light amber. The caramel will continue to cook when you take it off the heat so don’t take it off when it reaches the full caramel colour, otherwise you will end up with burnt caramel. You can stir it at the very start and at the very end but try not to stir it too much as this can cause crystallisation.
- Pour the caramel on top of the tarts and then sprinkle with flaky sea salt immediately.
- Allow to stand for 20 minutes for the caramel to set.
- Serve optionally with some vanilla ice cream.
About This Recipe
As a Scottish person I have never really used pumpkin in a sweet dish, however I was encouraged to give it a go by one of my sister’s friends. I was definitely not disappointed! This recipe is a different take on the classic American pumpkin pie. These little tarts have a pumpkin filling that is spiced using the classic pumpkin spice and then it is topped with a crunchy caramel similar to that of a Crème Brûlée. I had considered broiling sugar on top the way you would when making Crème Brûlée however I decided against this method as burn pastry isn’t very nice.
Of course, if you are here in the uk it can be quite hard to get a hold of pumpkin puree. But not to fret, making your own pumpkin pure is very easy! You just need to bake your pumpkin like you would a potato, blend it and then press it through a mesh sieve to remove any lumps. You could probably even microwave the pumpkin in chunks to cook it (but don’t quote me on that).
FAQs
Question: My caramel tastes bitter, what has happened?
- This means you have burnt the caramel. Caramel is quite temperamental, so you need to be keeping a very close eye on it and its colour changes. Because of how hot sugar gets it will continue to caramelise even once you have taken it off of the heat. For this reason, you actually need to take it off the heat just before it reaches the full caramel colour. This colour should be a light amber
Question: How do I know when my filling is cooked?
- If you lightly touch the top, it should feel slightly sticky and firm. You will definitely know when it is done as it goes from quite a liquid state to what looks like almost a cross between a cake and set custard.
If you have any more questions feel free to email me them at loveglutenfree.kitchen@outlook.com
Love Gluten Free
Hey! I’m Caroline, I love baking and cooking and finding new ingredients to create better gluten free alternatives. In 2015 I found out I had coeliac and since then it has been my mission to find great ways to make gluten free food better.
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Love Gluten Free 