Pumpkin Tart with a Chocolate Crust

When I bought some tart pans a few months ago, I searched Pinterest for a few good tart recipes. Sadly, most of the recipes I came across were "fall" recipes (pumpkin, maple, etc.) After several months of waiting, I'm finally able to make use of my tart pans. The first recipe I wanted to try was this pumpkin tart with a chocolate crust (from the Martha Stewart website.)

Sadly, I discovered that I had a lot to learn about tarts! First, I found this dough to be a bit troublesome; it seemed far too dry when I first mixes it (though once the butter "melted" it did form a nice dough.) However, that was not my biggest problem. When I baked the dough and removed it from the oven, I removed the hot pan holding the bottom piece of the tart pan. This caused the sides to slide away from the pan and land on my forearm. The hot pan burned my arm and caused me to drop the crust (which shattered into hundreds of pieces!

After making a second crust (and baking it with a cookie sheet underneath), I finally made the pumpkin filling and finished baking my tart. When it finished cooling, I added the decorative spider web. Although it was a bit of work (especially since I had to make two crust), I am quite happy with the final product - hopefully it will taste as good as it looks and smells!

---

Chocolate Tart Crust

1 c. all-purpose flour
¼ c. plus 1 T. sugar
¼ c. unsweetened cocoa powder
½ t. salt
½ t. cinnamon
½ c. (1 stick) cold butter
1 egg
4 oz. semisweet chocolate

Mix flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon. Divide butter into small pieces and cut into dry mixture until butter pieces are the size of peas. Add the egg and mix until it forms dough. Roll the dough to approximately 1/8 inch on a well-floured surface. Press the rolled dough into a 10-inch tart pan (with a removable bottom.) Use a fork to prick the crust bottom, and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Bake for 15 minutes at 350°F. Carefully remove from oven and add finely chopped chocolate over the warm crust. Spread with a spatula until completely melted and smooth.


Pumpkin Filling
1 can (15 oz) Pumpkin (not pie filling)
¾ c. light brown sugar
8 oz. sour cream
3 large eggs
1 t. cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
¼ t. nutmeg
¼ t. salt
2 oz. semisweet chocolate (optional)

Combine all ingredients except for chocolate and stir until smooth. (Pass mixture through a sieve if large chunks remain.) Pour into chocolate crust and bake at 350°F for 40-50 minutes. Let cool on a rack for at least 30 minutes. Melt chocolate in a double boiler until the chocolate is smooth and creamy. Pour into a plastic bag with a small hole cut in a bottom corner. Pipe a spider web design on the top of the cooled pumpkin. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour (up to 1 day.)