Recipe: Salted Chocolate Pumpkin Tart
The smooth sweetness of pumpkin purée works beautifully in baking bringing richness depth and gentle warmth. This salted chocolate pumpkin tart is simple to make yet feels like a true showstopper. The ganache is silky and deeply chocolatey tempered by a touch of sea salt and set atop a quick buttery biscuit base. It is inspired by flavours I return to again and again in late Autumn when comfort is key.
Ingredients
For the base
225g digestives
85g melted butter
For the filling
200g pumpkin purée
180g milk chocolate
Generous pinch sea salt
20g butter
20ml warm milk
25g white chocolate
Method
To make the base crush the digestives into fine crumbs then stir in the melted butter. Press the mixture firmly into a greased loose bottomed tart tin. Chill for about 20 minutes while you preheat the oven to 160°C fan. Bake the base for 15 minutes then leave it to cool completely.
For the filling melt the milk chocolate then stir it into the pumpkin purée with the butter and the warm milk which helps prevent the chocolate from seizing. Mix until smooth and glossy. Pour over the cooled base and level the surface.
Melt the white chocolate and spoon it into a small piping bag. Pipe circles on top of the tart then use a skewer to drag gently from the centre outward to create a feathered cobweb pattern. Chill the tart for several hours until firm.
A Seasonal Note
This tart belongs to Samhain the Celtic season of deepening darkness inwardness and the final harvest. Pumpkin carries the sweetness of the season while chocolate and sea salt bring grounding comfort. It is a rich warming bake that mirrors Samhain’s quiet shift into the darker half of the year.
