Spiced Pumpkin Tart

This spiced pumpkin tart is just what to serve for your Thanksgiving feast finale. Whip it up in a food processor and pour into the pre-baked, gluten-free almond tart crust. Make it a day ahead to save time on the big day when your schedule is crazy and the kitchen is jumpin’.

Pumpkin Tart or Pumpkin Pie?

It might sound crazy, but I like tarts more than pies. Just a slim little piece to finish a feast like Thanksgiving. Just enough. The filling for this tart is a combination of cream cheese and pumpkin puree, eggs, plus warm spices and vanilla. Pretty simple, and oh yes, wonderful.

For spices, I use cinnamon, clove and allspice. You can add ginger, nutmeg, mace or try a blend or Chinese Five Spice. Tailor the spices to your own taste.

Adding Sweetness

The tart needs just a little sweetness, so I started with maple syrup, then tasted the puree. It was good, but needed a little more sweetness. Not wanting to add more sugar, I turned to liquid stevia for that added boost. Use either the vanilla creme by Sweet Leaf, or the pumpkin spice flavor. They are available online and at many grocers.

This is where you must taste and adjust for your own preference. We don’t like things super sweet, so this pumpkin tart is not, like many traditional pumpkin pies, sickeningly sweet.

Pumpkin Filing – Puree and Pour

Start by making an almond-coconut crust. Once the crust is ready to go (you can do this a day or two ahead), make the filling. To create the filling, simply puree all of the ingredients together in a food processor. Pour into the pre-baked almond-coconut crust and bake again, Cool, chill and serve.

For Garnish For garnish, you can softly whip heavy cream with a  little vanilla and stevia, honey or agave. For a tangier topping, try Green Valley Organics sour cream with the vanilla and a little sweetener. It’s more like a French creme fraiche. Really nice and a bit different because of the tang. You can even whisk this together by hand.

Print Recipe

Spiced Pumpkin Tart

Smooth and nicely spiced, this pumpkin tart has a gluten-free, wheat-free crust. It’s perfect for Thanksgiving dessert and can be made a day ahead. This recipe is sugar-reduced using flavored liquid stevia drops. You can use all maple syrup if preferred. Taste the filling and add more maple to your taste preference.

Ingredients

• 1 pre-baked  almond-coconut tart crust recipe on this site
• 1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree not pumpkin pie mix
• 1 8 ounce package cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons real maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons real vanilla
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 pinches ground clove
• 2 pinches ground allspice
• 25-30 drops flavored liquid stevia vanilla creme or pumpkin spice
• Garnish - see note below

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 350° (177° C). Ready pre-baked almond-coconut tart crust, placing it on a rimmed baking sheet.
2. In a food processor, puree all ingredients from pumpkin through stevia together in a food processor until smooth. Taste and add more spices or stevia if desired.
3. Pour the pureed pumpkin filling into tart crust. Fill almost to the top but leave an edge of crust showing. You may have extra filling.
4. Bake tart for approximately 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack for 1 hour, then cover and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours to completely set. Slice and serve.
5. For garnish, whip cream or creme fraiche with vanilla and sweetener to soft peaks. Serve on the side.

Recipe Notes

For topping, serve with sweetened whipped cream, sweetened creme fraiche or lactose-free sour cream such as Green Valley Organics and add a little vanilla extract. Buy 1 cup (1/2 pint) or an 8 ounce container. To sweeten and flavor use a little maple syrup, agave syrup or liquid stevia drops in vanilla or pumpkin spice.

Link for the tart crust is here