Atwood Cafe: Pumpkin Mousse Tart Recipe


Crust Ingredients:
2 cups gingersnap crumbs
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 t ground cinnamon
1/4 lb (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling Ingredients:
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin puree
1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
3/4 t kosher salt
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t ground nutmeg
3 extra-large egg yolks
1 pkg (2 t) unflavored gelatin
1 t grated orange zest
1/2 cup cold heavy cream
2 T sugar

Decoration Ingredients:
1 cup (1/2 pint) cold
heavy cream
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 t pure vanilla extract
optional Orange zest

Crust Procedure:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine the gingersnap crumbs, sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter in a bowl and mix well. Pour into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press evenly into the sides and then the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes and then cool to room temperature.

Filling Procedure:
1. For the filling, heat the half-and-half, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until hot, about 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks in another bowl, stir some of the hot pumpkin into the egg yolks to heat them, then pour the egg-pumpkin mixture back into the double boiler and stir well. Heat the mixture over the simmering water for another 4 to 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly. You don't want the eggs to scramble. Remove from the heat.
2. Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Add the dissolved gelatin and orange zest to the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Set aside to cool.
3. Whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture and pour it into the cooled tart shell. Chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Decoration Procedure:
For the decoration, whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Pipe or spoon the whipped cream decoratively on the tart and sprinkle, if desired, with orange zest. Serve chilled.




Restaurant: Atwood Cafe, 1 W Washington St, Chicago, IL, USA
Recipe Type: Authentic
Submitted By: Chef Derek Simcik
Recipe Author: Chef Derek Simcik
Recipe Source: http://www.atwoodcafe.com/recipes.php?recipe_id=30
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