All too often we forget about the “assist.” I won’t even go into how this applies at work – that would be a white paper, not a one page blog post. But I am talking about at home – particularly around the holidays. Last year stress was at an all-time high. We had two major events we were planning, one of them taking us away for almost 3 months – and work was its normal state of chaos. The holidays were just a blur – and I remember vowing that I would never try to cram everything in ever again. I remember having to explain to my daughters why we would not have time to make the holiday treats – they were crushed. There was just too much going on, and it wasn’t until I was on an airplane flying far, far away, that I was able to take a breath.
This year my older daughter decided to take matters into her own hands. A few weeks ago she sat me down to talk about our “holiday strategy” this year. I loved it. She wanted to help plan out everything we wanted to do, so we would have time to get that holiday baking in, and we would not be stressed. We decided on a plan of attack, and the execution has been flawless. We are already so far ahead of where we were last year – it is amazing. All it took was a little planning, and some help. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you work together.
Thanksgiving was a quiet day for us – this was the first year ever that it was just the 4 of us. We decided that for dessert we would get together with our friends from the street – fortunately there were enough of us that we got to do a lot of baking, which meant experimenting in the kitchen. Every once in a while a recipe comes along that really knocks my socks off. This is one of those recipes. It wasn’t until after I took a bite of this tart that I decided it MUST go into the blog – for nothing else than to document the fact that this was a home run winning recipe. After all, that’s what this blog was intended to be – a way to document recipes for years to come. I definitely adapted this one, but Bon Appetit deserves the credit here – thanks for yet another assist – I couldn’t have done it without you!
Ingredients
Crust
- 1¼ cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/3 cup melted butter
Filling and Assembly
- Pinch of cream of tartar
- 1¼ cups granulated sugar, divided
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup canned pumpkin purée
- 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons finely grated peeled ginger
- ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- 3 large eggs
- Whipped cream (for serving)
Special Equipment
- A 9-inch springform pan
Preparation
In a small bowl, combine the crumbs and sugar; add butter and blend well. Press onto the bottom and up the sides of an ungreased 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes or until crust is lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack before filling.
Whisk pumpkin purée, brown sugar, flour, ginger, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Gradually add caramel and eggs, whisking until well blended. Scrape filling into prepared crust.
Bake tart, rotating halfway through, until filling is set around edges and center barely jiggles, 30–35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in pan.
Serve with whipped cream.
For a printer-friendly version of this recipe, please click here: Pumpkin-Caramel Tart
First Look, Then Cook 
Sounds good will have to try it.
I can completely relate to that chaos. Our world is turning upside down as I type. We too will be forgoing a lot of our traditional treats and traditions this year. We just can’t do it all and sometimes we have to know where to draw the line. I am very much looking forward to that sigh of relief. Your tart looks amazing! I’m glad you had an enjoyable holiday. Cheers Dawn!