I like pumpkin. And I can’t wait for its season to come and I am happy like a child when I go to the market and see the stalls full of pumpkins of all shapes, sizes and tastes. I cook pumpkin in many ways, from pumpkin soup, to pie and pudding. This time I wanted to get a gluten-free pumpkin puree tart, a smooth, creamy tart made from healthy ingredients that enhance each other. So, I went for it and got the result below.
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 100 grams of rice flour
- 50 grams of coconut flour
- 50 grams of tapioca starch
- 100 grams of coconut oil
- An egg
- A pinch of salt
- 3 tablespoons of cold water
For the filling:
- 500 grams of pumpkin puree
- 200 grams of cream or fat coconut milk
- 1 tablespoon sugar (or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon of tapioca starch
- 1 teaspoon of agar-agar
- 1 grated tablespoon of ground cinnamon
- 1 sachet of vanilla sugar (or a teaspoon of vanilla essence)
- A pinch of salt
Recipe Method
From these amounts, I made 2 mini-tarts of 15 and 18 cm, but you can also make a larger one, about 25 cm.
To begin with, I took care of the pumpkin puree. I recommend you to prepare it at home, it is very simple. The hardest requirement here is to have enough strength to hack the pumpkin 😊. The puree is made from pumpkin baked in the oven on medium heat, until the fork goes into it. This operation takes around 30 minutes, depending on the type of pumpkin. I baked the pumpkin the day before.
If you have the pumpkin baked or still decide to use canned puree, you can now deal with the crust.
Here’s how I did it: in a large bowl I mixed the flours with the salt, and in another bowl, I beat the egg, then put the liquid coconut oil and mixed with a manual whisk until I got a cream. You can also use a mixer. I poured the cream over the flour mixture and I stirred with a spoon until I got a sandy dough. I also put cold water, after which I abandoned the spoon and kneaded the dough with my hands. Make no mistake, it doesn’t bind, it’s still sandy. But, held in the hand, it remains in a lump, which crumbles to the touch.
I tipped the “sand” into the pan, then, patiently and with the help of my fingers, I spread it on the bottom of the pan, going up 2-3 cm on the wall of the pan. Leveled the edges nicely, also with my fingers, and put the pan in the fridge for 20-30 minutes.
I turned on the oven and set it to 175 degrees Celsius. After it warmed up, I took the pan with the crust out of the fridge, poked the dough with a fork in a few places, and put it in the hot oven for 20 minutes. Then, I took it out of the oven and let the crust cool a bit, while I prepared the filling.
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I prepared the filling in a blender, like this: I put the baked pieces of pumpkin and the coconut cream in the bowl. I mixed until I got a thick, viscous puree. Then, I added the rest of the ingredients and mixed until homogenized.
I poured the filling into a saucepan that I put on the stove, on low heat. I stirred continuously with a silicone spatula, taking care to loosen the composition from the bottom of the saucepan. There is a risk of it catching and smoking. So, I didn’t stop with the stirring. When it started to boil, I left it on the fire for another 1-2 minutes, stirring continuously, then I turned off the heat and turned the filling into the cooled crust.
I let it cool a bit for 30 minutes, then put the tart in the fridge. After 2 hours it was already set, but I recommend a minimum of 4 hours before cutting it. It cuts beautifully, the crust has a crumbly texture, and the filling is creamy with hold.
You can keep this gluten-free pumpkin puree tart in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 1 to 2 days. If you want to keep it longer, it is best to put it in an airtight container, otherwise it will dry out.
