Ingredients

1 baked Shortcrust Pastry shell (page 23)

Pumpkin puree

500 g (1 lb 2 oz) grey pumpkin (kabocha squash), or similar

Spiced caramel

2 g salt

2 g cinnamon

2 g nutmeg

1 g clove

1 g ground ginger

270 g (9% oz) Dulce de Leche

Pumpkin custard

280 g (10 oz) Pumpkin pure

65 g (2% oz) Brown butter (page 111)

240 g (8½ oz) pouring cream

115 g (4 oz) golden caster (superfine) sugar

8 g salt

200 g egg yolk

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (360°F)

2. Cut the pumpkin into large wedges and remove the seeds. Place on a baking tray (sheet) lined with baking paper, then bake for 45 minutes, or until soft. Once the pumpkin is soft, remove from the oven and allow to cool. Then remove the skin and place in a blender and blitz until smooth for approximately 3 minutes. Set this mix aside.

3. Reduce the oven heat to 125°C (255°F) to preheat for baking the tart.

4. Next, mix the spices and salt into the dulce de leche with a spatula, and spread over the base of the pastry shell.

5. Pumpkin custard: Add the pumpkin puree, brown butter, cream, sugar and salt to a large saucepan and bring to a simmer, then remove from heat immediately. To temper the egg yolks, add them to a mixing bowl and whisk in a small amount of the hot pumpkin mixture until well incorporated. Add the remaining pumpkin mixture and blend with a hand-held blender until shiny and smooth to prevent any air from being incorporated into the mix, keep the head of the blender underneath the surface. Decant into a jug to use straight away you want to keep it as warm as possible to ensure the mixture cooks evenly in the oven.

6. To bake: Place the prepared tart shell into the oven and pour the custard over the caramel layer. Bake for 30 minutes or until the custard is slightly wobbly in the centre, then remove from the oven and allow to cool.

7. Once the custard has completely cooled, remove the tart from the tin and portion the into slices with a hot, sharp knife.