Pumpkin Chocolate Tart

I'm bringing bloggin' back/Them other bloggers don't know how to act...

I missed you guys! But I'm back. Just not as much as before. And by "before" I mean over the summer when I was blogging every day, not "before" as in the last four months when I wasn't blogging at all.

So let's get to it! This here's a tart I made for my first San Diego Thanksgiving. It was a big hit with Snowman and the other guests, but I didn't love it. It was good, but lacking somehow. I actually attribute this to the fact that I didn't have any creme fraiche, so I jerry-rigged some with sour cream and buttermilk. I'm a big fan of the store-bought pie crust, but this one I actually made fresh. To me, the best part, by far, was the homemade spiced whipped cream. I added a pinch of nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves to echo all the flavors in the tart. It's such an easy way to elevate your whipped topping! This recipe comes from Martha Stewart Living. Long may she live!

FOR THE TART SHELL:
1 cup flour
1/4 cup + 1tbsp sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup unsalted butter pieced
1 egg
4 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Add butter; mix on low speed until butter is the size of small peas, about 5 minutes. Add egg; mix until ingredients come together to form a dough.

Preheat oven to 350". On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to just thicker than 1/8 inch. Brush off excess flour; transfer dough to a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press dough into bottom and up sides of pan; trim excess flush with edge. Lightly prick bottom of dough all over with a fork. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes. [I am an absolute moron when it comes to rolling out pie crust, so I didn't really roll this one out. I just pressed it into the shell with my hands. This worked out fine, just be sure you really press it fully up the sides, or the filling will overflow and burn.]

Bake shell until firm, about 15 minutes. Immediately sprinkle chocolate over bottom of shell; smooth with a spatula.

FOR THE FILLING:
15 ounces pumpkin puree
3/4 cup firm pack light brown sugar
8 ounces creme fraiche [As mentioned, I made my own. I do not recommend this method!]
3 eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
2 ounces semisweet chocolate

Preheat oven to 350". In a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, creme fraiche, egg, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves until smooth. Pass mixture through a fine sieve set over a clean bowl; discard solids. Pour filling into prepared into prepared crust.

Bake until filling is set, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let at least 30 minutes.

Set a heatproof bowl, or the top of a double boiler, over a pan of barely simmering water. Melt chocolate in bowl, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Dip a spoon in melted chocolate, drizzle chocolate over tart, forming decorative stripes. Refrigerate until well at least 1 hour and up to 1 day. [If you do not have a plastic squeeze bottle (like you see at BBQs for sauce), you really should get one! It makes drizzling anything so easy and very artistic.]

Grade: B