Pumpkin Tarts are a perfect fall dessert recipe! Made as individual desserts, a buttery crust is filled with pumpkin spice pastry cream for a light yet rich dessert. Great for fall, autumn and Thanksgiving.
Put the flour, sugar, pumpkin spice blend, and salt in the food processor with the chopping (regular) blade and pulse a few times to mix.
Scatter the butter chunks across the flour, replace lid, and pulse until the flour looks like a coarse cornmeal.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk, heavy cream, and vanilla extract.
Turn the food processor on so it is running, remove the feeding tube in the top, and slowly pour the egg mixture in. Let the food processor continue to run or about 10-15 seconds until the dough is primarily in one large ball.
Remove the dough from the food processor and place on a large piece of plastic wrap. Flatten slightly into a disk shape, cover completely, and chill for 1 hour.
Make your Pumpkin Pastry Cream while waiting for the dough to chill. The cream can also be made in advance and chilled. It is easier to put into the tart shells when it is not super cold, so remove and let sit for 30 minutes later before filling if it is chilled.
When your dough has chilled, remove the dough and let sit on the counter for 10 minutes to slightly soften. This will make it easier to work with.
Roll out the dough to about 1/8 inch thick (a little thicker is fine if preferred).Place over the tar molds and let the dough fall into the pans and press up against the sides. (I try to do multiple with the same roll for speed and rolling the dough less, but it is a little trickier).
Patch up any holes or cracks as needed and place the tart pans in the freezer for 30 minutes to minimize shrinking.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
After freezing, put the tart pans on a baking sheet and cover with foil. Fill the pans with pie weights, dry beans, or even cleaned rocks to weight the dough down for a blind bake.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes until the crusts are a light golden brown.
Remove from the oven, let cool completely and remove the weights and foil.
Fill with the pastry cream. Refrigerate 30 minutes or until ready to serve. Decorate when ready to serve.
Notes
This can be done by hand instead of using a food processor by cutting the butter into the dough with a pastry cutter or fork and mixing in the other steps.