This irresistible pumpkin tart with meringue consists of a silky smooth pumpkin custard filling baked in a delicious almond flour crust with a crown of fluffy meringue. This tart is the perfect Thanksgiving dessert and comes together quickly and easily.
Table of Contents
If you love pumpkin pie but aren't a fan of rolling out homemade dough, this perfectly spiced pumpkin tart is the dessert for you! For more Thanksgiving desserts, check out our Pumpkin Bread Pudding and Southern Sweet Potato Pie recipes next!
While I am a sweet potato girl at heart (it must be the Mississippi in me!), I show pumpkin its fair share of love in the kitchen as well. This pumpkin tart is a great alternative to traditional pumpkin pie and the flavors are irresistible.
Table of Contents
Why You Will Love This Pumpkin Tart
- Easy alternative to pumpkin pie. This pumpkin tart is made with a press-in almond flour crust and bakes up much quicker than traditional pumpkin pie. If you love pumpkin, don't miss our one bowl pumpkin banana bread!
- Filled with cozy fall flavors. Pumpkin pie spice and cardamom, with its complex flavor profile, add the perfect amount of spice to this tart. Brown sugar adds delicious caramel-like sweetness.
- Perfect for holiday dinner parties. With its toasted meringue topping, this pumpkin tart makes a pretty and showstopping addition to your holiday dessert table with minimal effort.
Important Ingredient Notes
A complete list of ingredients, measurements, and detailed printable recipe instructions can be found in the recipe card located at the bottom of this post.
Crust
- Almond flour. I love almond flour for this tart crust because it gives it a delicious nutty flavor and the perfect texture to stand up to the custard filling. Be sure to use fine-ground almond flour. Bob's Red Mill is my go-to brand.
- Egg. If you've never baked with almond flour before, you may wonder if the egg is necessary in the crust. Don't be tempted to leave it out! Because almond flour has no gluten, the egg helps bind the crust and keeps it from crumbling.
Filling
- Pumpkin. Be sure to use 100% pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling, which has sweeteners and other ingredients added. Check out our brown butter pumpkin chocolate chip cookies next!
- Brown sugar. I love light brown sugar for this pumpkin tart because it adds the perfect touch of caramel-like sweetness. Be sure to pack your brown sugar into the measuring cup.
- Spices. Pumpkin pie spice and cardamom add the perfect amount of warm spice to the pumpkin filling. Feel free to flavor the filling with your favorite cozy fall spices.
- Vanilla extract. You want to use good-quality pure vanilla extract for this recipe and not imitation vanilla flavoring. Watkins Vanilla Extract is a favorite of mine for baking.
How to Make This Recipe
- Prepare your pan. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Spray an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom generously with baking spray and set it aside.
- Make the crust. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the almond flour, sugar, and salt through a fine mesh sieve to remove any clumps in the almond flour. Whisk together the melted butter, egg, and vanilla in a separate mixing bowl and add it to the flour mixture. Mix the dough until all of the flour is moistened.
- Par-bake the crust. Press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of your prepared tart pan. It takes me about 10 minutes to make the crust uniform. Bake the crust for 7 minutes in the preheated oven. ower the oven temperature to 350°F.
- Make the custard filling. Add all of the pumpkin filling ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. For an extra-smooth filling, strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve, carefully pour it into the prepared crust, and smooth it out into an even layer.
- Bake and chill the tart. Bake the tart for 35 to 40 minutes until the center is set or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the tart to cool completely then chill it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
- Make the meringue. Add the egg whites and salt to the scrupulously clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Make sure any surface (including your hands) the egg whites come in contact with is very clean and free of oil.
- Beat the egg whites on low until frothy then add the cream of tartar. Beat on medium until smaller bubbles form then gradually add the sugar and beat on medium-high until glossy and stiff peaks form. Beat in the vanilla extract.
- Add the meringue. You have a couple of options when it comes to adding the meringue to your pumpkin tart. One option is to spoon the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and pipe meringue around the edge of the tart. Another option is to spoon dollops of meringue on top of the tart and use the back of the spoon to create swoops and peaks in the meringue.
- Toast the meringue (optional step). Either use a kitchen torch to carefully toast your meringue or place the tart under an oven broiler for a minute or two to lightly toast the meringue. Slice and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Can I make this pumpkin tart with a traditional tart crust?
Absolutely! This tart can be made with a traditional sweet tart crust (pâte sucrée) or even a cookie or graham cracker tart crust.
What is the difference between a pumpkin pie and a pumpkin tart?
While pumpkin pie is made with a thin, flaky pie crust that is rolled out and fitted into a pie dish, pumpkin tarts are made with a press-in crust that is a bit thicker and more crumbly than regular pie crust. The layer of filling in a pumpkin tart isn't as thick as in pumpkin pie, which allows it to bake more quickly.
What is the difference between pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling?
Canned pumpkin puree contains 100% pureed pumpkin while pumpkin pie filling has added ingredients such as sweeteners, spices, and thickeners.
Variations and Substitutions
- You can mix things up by using pureed sweet potato or butternut squash instead of pumpkin puree for the filling.
- Fine-tune the sweetness in the pumpkin filling by using dark brown sugar for a more robust, caramel-like sweetness or granulated sugar for a lighter, vanilla-like sweetness.
- Get creative with the spices in the filling by throwing in your favorites like cloves, allspice, or nutmeg for a flavor twist.
Make-Ahead and Storing Instructions
This pumpkin tart is the perfect make-ahead holiday dessert! You can make this tart up to two days in advance and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Hold off on making and adding the meringue until you are ready to serve to avoid deflating and weeping.
Special Equipment
You do need a couple of pieces of special equipment for this tart that you may not already have on hand:
- 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Make sure you use the correct size tart pan as the crust and filling measurements will not work well for a smaller or larger pan. Also, be sure the tart pan has a removable bottom for easy removal.
- Piping bag. You may use a disposable or reusable piping bag. Of course, a piping bag isn't needed if you are not piping your meringue.
- Piping tips. You may use a star or round piping tip for piping your meringue.
More Thanksgiving Desserts You Will Love!
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📖 Recipe
Pumpkin Tart with Meringue
This irresistible pumpkin tart with meringue consists of a silky smooth pumpkin custard filling baked in a delicious almond flour crust with a crown of fluffy meringue. This tart is the perfect Thanksgiving dessert and comes together quickly and easily.
Ingredients
Tart Crust
- 2 ½ cups fine-ground almond flour
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup melted butter - unsalted
- 1 large egg
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Pumpkin Filling
- 1, 15-ounce can pumpkin puree - such as Libby's
- 2 large eggs
- 2 large egg yolks
- 1 cup light brown sugar
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup whole milk
- 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cardamom
Meringue
- 4 Egg whites
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 375°F. Spray an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom generously with baking spray and set it aside.
- In a medium mixing bowl, sift together the almond flour, sugar, and salt through a fine mesh sieve to remove any clumps in the almond flour. In a separate small mixing bowl, whisk together the melted butter, egg, and vanilla then add it to the flour mixture. Mix the dough with a wooden spoon until all of the flour is moistened and it starts to clump together.
- Gently press the crust into the bottom and up the sides of your prepared tart pan, trying to make it as uniform as possible. It takes me about 10 minutes to make the crust neat. Bake the crust for 7 minutes in the preheated oven. Lower the oven temperature to 350°F.
- Add the pumpkin puree, eggs, egg yolks, brown sugar, heavy cream, milk, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, cardamom, and salt a to a large mixing bowl and whisk until smooth. For an extra-smooth filling, strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve or pour it directly into the prepared crust, and smooth it out into an even layer.
- Bake the tart for 35 to 40 minutes until the center is set or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Allow the tart to cool completely on a wire rack then chill it in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
- Add the egg whites and salt to the scrupulously clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat the egg whites and salt on low (2-3 on a stand mixer) until frothy then add the cream of tartar. Beat on medium (4-6) until smaller bubbles form then gradually add the sugar, a tablespoon a time, and beat on medium-high until glossy and stiff peaks form. Beat in the vanilla extract.
- Top the chilled tart with meringue by either spooning the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a star tip and piping meringue around the edge of the tart or spoon dollops of meringue on top of the tart and use the back of the spoon to create swoops and peaks in the meringue.
- Either use a kitchen torch to carefully toast your meringue or place the tart under an oven broiler for a minute or two to lightly toast the meringue. Alternatively, you can skip toasting the meringue and enjoy right away.
Notes
- Feel free to swap the almond flour tart crust for your favorite traditional sweet tart crust, or even a cookie or graham cracker crust.
- You may substitute dark brown sugar or granulated sugar for the light brown sugar in the pumpkin filling.
- Get creative with the spices in the filling by throwing in your favorites like cloves, allspice, or nutmeg for a flavor twist.
- Make sure any surface (hands included) that the egg whites come in contact with are very clean and oil-free.
- You can make this tart up to two days in advance and store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve. Hold off on making and adding the meringue until you are ready to serve to avoid deflating and weeping.
- Leftover pumpkin tart can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice | Calories: 233kcal | Carbohydrates: 25.5g | Protein: 5.4g | Fat: 13.1g | Saturated Fat: 5.5g | Cholesterol: 103mg | Sodium: 278mg | Potassium: 164mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 21.7g | Calcium: 72mg
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