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Pumpkin custard tarts
Makes 6 Desserts and puddings
Ingredients
- 300g pumpkin, peeled and cut into 2cm-wide pieces (you need 150g cooked flesh)
- 25g soft brown sugar
- 500g shop-bought dessert pastry
- 1 egg
- 135g condensed milk
- ½tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼tsp ground ginger
- ¼tsp ground allspice
- 1 egg beaten with ½tsp water to glaze
To serve
- icing sugar and ground cinnamon, un-sifted, to scatter lightly whipped cream
Method
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/ Gas 6. Spread the pumpkin over a large sheet of tin foil and dust with 1tsp of the brown sugar.
Wrap the foil around the pumpkin, leaving a small hole at the top for steam to escape, and bake for 45 minutes, until very soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick. If using individual tins, you’ll need to divide it into 6 evenly sized pieces first. Line the tins with the pastry, pressing it into the sides, and trim any overhang with a sharp knife.
Cut leaf shapes from the trimmings to use as decoration later, then set aside on a plate in the fridge to chill.Use a fork to make a pattern around the edges of each tin then chill for 30 minutes.
Place the cooled pumpkin in a blender with the remaining sugar, egg, condensed milk, spices and a pinch of salt and whizz into a purée. Brush the pastry edges and leaves with egg wash. Ladle the pumpkin mixture into the pastry cases and stick the leaves around the edges.
Bake for 5 minutes, then reduce the heat to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4 and continue to bake for a further 15 minutes or until risen, firm and golden.
Leave for 10 minutes then gently ease the tarts out of their tins using the tip of a spatula. Scatter over the icing sugar and ground cinnamon using your fingers, and serve the tarts warm or cold with cream.
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