As a child of summer, I often get caught in the nostalgic and melancholic spirit of autumn. However, with its abundance of colours, warming flavours, woollen scarfs and cinnamon air, it’s hard not to fall in love with this season’s wonders.

This festive pumpkin tart is a true celebration of everything autumn. With a spicy cocoa & nuts base and a smooth and warming filling, it combines the contrasting temperament of the seasons, picking up the best from all sides.

To make is extra special, this glorious tart is also totally gluten, sugar and dairy-free. So feel free to indulge yourself to the fullest 🙂

The recipe is simple and open for your own interpretation.

For the base: 

1 and 1/2 cup oats, ground 

1/2 cup ground almonds 

3 – 4 tbsp. coconut flour 

3 – 4 tbsp. cocoa 

1 tsp. cinnamon 

1/2 tsp. ginger 

pinch of black pepper 

2 – 3 tbsp. pumpkin puree (from the pumpkin your have roasted for the filling) 

6 – 8 dates

1 tbsp maple syrup or honey

2 – 3 tbsp. coconut oil

For the filling 

1 small to medium pumpkin or butternut squash. Here I used a medium sized squash to make about 3 cups of pumpkin puree after roasting. 

1/2 can of light coconut milk 

1/2 tsp. agar agar 

3 tbsp maple syrup or honey 

vanilla 

cinnamon 

and all the love you want to put into this tart 

 

First you can start with roasting the pumpkin. This can take a while so you can let the house be filled in with the sweet fragrance of autumn and pour yourself a glass of spicy red wine ( like I did…).

While the pumpkin is roasting you can make the base. Combine all dry ingredients. ISteel a tiny bit of the almost ready pumpkin  from the oven and blend it with the dates and honey. This yummy paste will add a bit of texture to your “dough”. Add the paste to the dry ingredients, add the coconut oil and mix well. If you feel mixture is too dry add a bit of orange juice. Shape into a ball and put it in the fridge for about 15 min.

While the base is chilling, you can take care of your pumpkin. Take it out of the oven and let it cool down.

Take the base out of the fridge and spread it thinly over a tin. I use a classic tart tin with removable bottom. A work of a genius!

Once you have firmly spread the base over the tin, pop it in the oven for about 7 – 10 min. at a low temperature. Take it out and let it chill.

In a pan pour the coconut milk, add the agar agar and put it over medium heat. Bring to boil, reduce the heat and let it simmer for 2-3 min. Remove from the heat and let it cool down.

Your pumpkin should now be ready to get pureed. Make sure you get a smooth, creamy texture. Add the honey and spices and blend again.

Once the coconut milk with the agar agar has cooled down pour it gently over the pumpkin mixture and blend well.

Finally pour the filling over the the base and pop it in the fridge, ideally leave it overnight. Voila! Your mega yum tart is ready!

For the decoration as you can see I have gone wild. Wild to the extremes of hand crafted leaves – biscuits. These are by the way my favourite biscuits with cocoa and black pepper and I promise they will be in the spotlight of the next post.

You can also make some chocolate leaves like these below. Just pick up any leaves (clean them!) and cover their base with melted dark chocolate. Let them chill in a fridge and peel the real leaf carefully once the chocolate has hardened. Here I used basil leaves which are great for this as they are thin and easy to peel and they give the chocolate leaf a nice natural curl.

Alternatively your can simply sprinkle your tart with some cocoa powder and pumpkin seed and it will be as gorgeous.

Enjoy your autumn tart (un)wisely, with those you love xx