Pumpkin Cheesecake Tart with Honey Swiss Meringue
Photo: Jody Horton; Styling: Heather Chadduck Hillegas
Begin with a toasted pecan crust, layer with cream cheese and a classic pumpkin filling, and then gild the lily with a creamy meringue.
How to Make It
Step 1
Prepare Tart Crust: Process pecans in a food processor 10 to 12 seconds or until finely ground.
Step 2
Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer 1 minute or until creamy. Gradually add powdered sugar and salt. Add egg, beating just until blended; stir in vanilla. Stir together flour and processed pecans; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed until mixture is no longer crumbly and forms a ball, pulling away from sides of bowl. Press dough on bottom and up sides of a 9-inch deep-dish tart pan with a removable bottom. Chill 1 hour or until firm.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 350°. Line crust with aluminum foil, and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake 20 minutes. Remove weights and foil; bake 12 to 14 more minutes or until crust is light brown. Cool completely on a wire rack (about 30 minutes). Increase temperature to 425°.
Step 4
Prepare Cream Cheese Layer: Beat cream cheese, sugar, and egg at low speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Stir in orange zest. Spread over bottom of crust.
Step 5
Prepare Pumpkin Layer: Whisk together pumpkin and next 5 ingredients until smooth; pour over cream cheese layer in crust. Cover tart edges with aluminum foil.
Step 6
Bake at 425° for 15 minutes; reduce temperature to 350°, and bake 45 to 55 more minutes or until a knife inserted in center of pumpkin layer comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack, and cool completely (about 1 hour). Cover and chill 8 to 12 hours.
Step 7
Gently blot any moisture that collected on top of tart during chilling with a paper towel. Spread Honey Swiss Meringue over tart. Brown meringue using a kitchen torch, holding torch 1 to 2 inches from meringue and moving torch back and forth.
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thinkdaily's Review
This tart turned out perfect. I didn't have any issues with the meringue. The crust came out perfect but I would recommend not using all of it. It makes a thick crust. I think you could make a 10 inch tart instead of a 9 inch, which may take care of the crust issue. I cut the tart at room temp so didn't have any issues but if trying to cut it right out of the refrigerator, I could see it being difficult based on the thickness. Also, though it doesn't really indicate when to remove the pan, I removed it after chilling time. The filling tasted great. The orange zest provide a nice flavor to the cheese cake. I gave it 4 stars because of the crust.
NattyJo's Review
This recipe was ok. The crust ended up being really thick and hard. I had to use a steak knife to cut through it... The filling was pretty good, but the pumpkin over-powered the cream cheese flavor. The meringue was a disaster. No matter how long and hard I whisked/beated the mixture, the peaks would not form. I'm guessing it was because the honey made it too heavy. But the mixture tasted good even though it was runny, so I just drizzled it over the cheesecake.
KnittingSis's Review