Pumpkin Tartlets

After making the pumpkin cheesecake bites, I had a lot of leftover pumpkin filling and cream cheese filling. I mixed them together to make pumpkin tartlets. This was our dessert after dinner on Thanksgiving. It has a chocolate short dough crust, a pumpkin cheesecake filling, and a chantilly cream sprinkled with cinnamon.

One problem I encountered was that the short dough was too crumbly to work with. I think it may have been because I substituted 1 Tbsp. cornstarch for flour instead of 2.  I added ice water like you would with pie crust dough. It was still too hard to roll out so I just pressed it into the tartlet pans. The crust did turn out tasty though. It had a chewier layer on top where it met the filling and a crumbly cookie layer on the bottom. 

Pumpkin Tartlets- Makes 4 Tartlets (5 " in diameter)

Chocolate Short Dough 
Inspired by Baking At Home With The Culinary Institute of America

-8 Tbsp. unsalted butter, room temperature

-1/4 cup sugar

-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

-1 egg yolk

-1 1/3 cups cake flour (if using all purpose, substitute 2 Tbsp. flour with 2 Tbsp. cornstarch)

-3 Tbsp. cocoa powder

1. Cream butter, sugar and vanilla in a bowl on medium speed of stand mixer using paddle attachment.  Add in egg yolk and mix just until blended. In a small bowl, sift together flour and cocoa powder. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix on low speed just until blended. Mixture should be crumbly. Add a little ice water until it forms a dough. Press together into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 20 minutes until cold. 

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray tartlet pans with non-stick spray. Roll out dough on floured surface two inches larger than the pan. Lift and position dough into pan and trim off the overhang by rolling it with a rolling pin.


Pumpkin Cheesecake Filling

Inspired by Hoopfinity's Happenings

-1 can pumpkin pie mix (15 oz. already sweetened and spiced) or make your own- see pumpkin cheesecake bites recipe

-1/3 cup evaporated milk

-1 egg (room temperature)

- 1 block cream cheese (8 oz.), softened

-1/2 cup sugar

-2 egg whites, room temperature

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

- 1 Tbsp. all purpose flour

1. In a medium bowl, with an electric mixer, combine pumpkin pie filling, evaporated milk and egg until smooth and creamy. In a large bowl blend cream cheese, sugar, egg whites and vanilla with an electric mixer. Gently fold the pumpkin mixture into the cheesecake mixture.

2. Spoon  pumpkin cheesecake batter onto chocolate short dough. Bake in 375 degree F preheated oven for 30 minutes or until filling and crust are set. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Chantilly Cream

Inspired by Baking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America

- 1/2 cup heavy cream, chilled

-1/8 cup confectioner's sugar

-1/4 tsp. vanilla extract

- cinnamon (optional)

1. Chill a mixing bowl and beaters.

2. Using an electric mixer or stand mixer with whisk attachment, whisk heavy cream until medium peaks form. Add confectioner's sugar and vanilla and whisk until stiff peaks form.  Scoop the cream into a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe onto cooled pumpkin cheesecake tartlets. Sprinkle with cinnamon.