Pumpkin Tart with Toasted Hazelnuts
- 2/3 cup sugar
- 1 cup butter
- 1 cup white flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup ground flax seeds or almonds (optional)
- 1/3 cup toasted hazelnuts, ground finely (for almond crust, substitute finely ground toasted almonds)
- 1 tbsp Cointreau or sherry or almond extract
- 1/2-3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tbsps white flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 tsps cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 cups pureed pumpkin
- 9 ozs evaporated milk (can use up to 12 if you like a very creamy filling)
Ingredients 1-7 are for the crust.
Beat sugar and butter until creamy. Add flour, flax, and hazelnuts or almonds. Note: My fast method is to put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until the dough clumps. If the mixture is very dry and crumbly even after pulsing, add a little more extract, sherry, or water, just one tablespoon at a time.
Dough will be soft (depending on how cold the butter was to start), but with floured hands, form into two logs and wrap in wax paper. Chill dough 30-60 minutes (or longer).
Preheat oven to 375ºF. Roll out dough between two pieces of wax paper according to the size of your tart pans (this is enough dough for two tart pans about 9 inches in diameter). Remove paper and if necessary, patch any holes and push dough along the edges. Trim with knife for tidy edge. If the dough is very cold, it may be quite stiff and you may want it slightly malleable. Dock the crust with a fork and bake in oven until the dough is just barely golden.
Ingredients 8-17 are for the filling.
Mix dry ingredients together. Beat eggs and pumpkin until well blended and then add all dry ingredients. Gradually add evaporated milk. Pour into the prepared, pre-baked tart shell. Bake at 325ºF for 20-30 minutes, until filling has puffed up slighted perhaps slightly cracked. The deeper the custard layer, the longer the baking time. Remove from oven and cool before removing from tart pans.
