(Almost) No Bake Pumpkin Tart

A slice of the pumpkin tart finished with a lattice design and whipped cream sits on a white plate with an orange and green gourd behind it as well as the pumpkin tart itself

5 from 1 vote

I don't know how to make an easier dessert than this No Bake Pumpkin Tart. It takes almost no time and can be made by seasoned bakers as well as beginning bakers with ease. If time is your problem, this is your dessert.

Prep Time45

Total Time45

Course: Tarts

Cuisine: American

Keyword: easy to make, Pumpkin desserts, Pumpkin tarts,

Servings: servings

Calories: 422kcal

Author: Helen S. Fletcher

Equipment

9" tart pan with removable bottom
⅛" plain piping tip
⅜"open star piping tip
Piping bags

Ingredients

Pretzel Crust

3 cups salted waffle pretzels (125 grams)
½ cup pecans (60 grams)
¼ cup powdered sugar (35 grams)
½ cup butter, melted (114 grams or 1 stick)

Pumpkin Filling

1 ½ teaspoons gelatin
1 tablespoon water
¾ cup heavy cream, cold
1 ¾ cup canned pumpkin
⅓ cup powdered sugar (45 grams)
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ginger
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon cloves

Whipped Cream Decoration

1 ¼ cups heavy cream
¼ cup powdered sugar (35 grams)

Instructions

Pretzel Crust

If using a different shape pretzel it may take more or less of them. It is best to weigh them and then it doesn't matter what shape they are. If you don't have a scale then process the pretzels until they are finely ground and measure 1 ¼ cups.
Spray a 9"x1" tart pan with a removable bottom. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Combine the pretzels (or pretzel crumbs), pecans and powdered sugar. Process them until they are fine crumbs. Transfer to a bowl.
Pour almost all of the butter in and toss with a fork until the crumbs are all coated and they begin to look like crumbs. Take a bit and press it between your fingers. If is sticks together well you don't need extra butter. Otherwise, add it to the crumbs and toss again. If in doubt, use all of the butter.
Press half the crumbs (about 160 grams) firmly into the sides of the tart pan. Press the remainder of the crumbs firmly into the bottom of the pan connecting with the crumbs on the side.
Bake the crust for 12 to 14 minutes until lightly browned and crisp when cold. Cool completely before continuing.

Pumpkin Filling

Add the gelatin to the water in a very small bowl. Stir well to make sure they are completelyl mixed. Set aside.
Fit the mixer with the whisk attachment, add the cold cream and whisk until it begins to hold its shape. Set aside.
In a medium size bowl, whisk all the remaining ingredients together. Microwave the gelatin for about 5 seconds until it is liquid. Whisk it immediately into the pumpkin mixture.
Fold in the whipped cream. Pour into the crust. Spread it out evenly, smoothing the top. Refrigerate overnight to set up.

Releasing the Tart

Place the tart on a short can. Gently pull the sides of the tart pan down. If they don't release easily, go around the edges of the pan with a hot hair blower briefly. Place the tart on the table.
Place a metal spatula between the bottom of the tart and the metal bottom of the tart pan. Go all the way around to make sure the bottom is free. Transfer to a cardboard cake circle or onto a cake plate.

Decorating the Tart

Add the cream and powdered sugar to a mixing bowl fitted with a whisk attachment. Whip to medium peaks.
Using a small round pastry tip in a pastry bag ( I used an Ateco 801 which is about ⅛") , fill it with some of the cream, pipe 5 horizontal lines across the tart.
Turn the tart 90° so the lines are now vertical. Pipe 5 lines on the diagonal to create a lattice design.
Using a ⅜" open star tip (I used an Ateco 825 open star), pipe a wreath around the edge of the tart. Refrigerate until serving.
The tart can be made and frozen without the decoration. Leave it in the tart pan, freeze it hard, then wrap it well in foil and freeze for several months.
Thaw it in the refrigerator. Follow the instructions above for releasing the tart when thawed. Decorate as called for.
The tart should be kept in the refrigerator and will keep for 3 or 4 days.

Notes

There is always an abundance of photos to guide you in the post above.

As always, I recommend using a scale for accuracy and consistency. Flour, in particular, is difficult to measure by volume. For my recipes, I use 140 grams per cup of unsifted all-purpose, bread or whole wheat flour and 125 grams of cake flour. Others may use different weights so use whatever they suggest.

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The tart can be frozen for several months, without the decoration, if kept in the tart pan and wrapped well in foil. Thaw in the refrigerator and decorate up to 1 day ahead of serving. Serve directly from the fridge.

Heavy cream is preferable as it needs no stabilization. At my bakery, we froze cakes finished with whipped heavy cream, as well as filled and decorated with no problem when thawed. See my post on Salvaging Over Whipped Cream, Heavy Creams The Work Horse of Creams, as well as Freezing Cream.

This tart uses canned pumpkin puree. There is some confusion between pumpkin puree and pumpkin pie filling. The pumpkin puree is just that and usually comes in 15 ounce cans. The pumpkin pie filling has additional ingredients so all that is need is a crust. It usually comes in 30 ounce cans. Also, if you made the Really Easy Pumpkin Muffins and froze the leftover puree you can use that. I used frozen puree. It will be a little looser but that is fine.

Make sure to use a very small bowl to soften the gelatin. There will be only about 2 tablespoons.

Nutrition