Pumpkin Meringue Tart | The Ultimate Pumpkin Pie

I am not a huge pie person… That being said, I LOVE Pumpkin Pie. I look forward to Thanksgiving and the Autumn season in general mainly because of my love of a good, spiced pumpkin pie. I started brainstorming, and due to my obsession with meringue in general, I thought it would be such a fun idea to top a pumpkin pie with meringue. With a crust similar to a shortbread, this transforms into a Pumpkin Tart – which is definitely my ultimate version of Pumpkin Pie! The fluffy Swiss Meringue acts similar to a whipped cream, and I swear, it’s even better (I never thought I’d say that)! I also torch this Meringue, giving it such a cozy Fall dessert feel. I truly love this Tart, and haven’t seen anything like it! I hope you decide to give this dessert a go. You will find that every step is quite simple, from the delicious Tart dough, to the spiced Pumpkin filling, and finally that creamy Swiss Meringue. I have a video on YouTube where I show you how to make this Pumpkin Tart, so check that out as well 🙂

Tart Dough Ingredients:
2 + 1/2 Cups All-Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Icing Sugar
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 Cup Cold Butter *cubed
1 Egg Yolk *Save the white for later*
2 + 1/2 Tbsp Cold Water
1/2 Tbsp Extract (I used Rum, you can use Vanilla)

Tart Dough Instructions:
Mix the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until combined.
Add the butter and pulse until it is cut into the flour, and looks powdery, and feels cold.
Add the yolk, water, and extract, and pulse or mix on high, until a dough forms. This won’t take long at all, it will look sandy at first, and then quickly ball together like dough. I would say this took no longer than 1 minute to form a dough.
Lightly flour a clean surface and work the dough for a few seconds, just to ball it together and form into a smooth, round, disk.
Wrap this disk of dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for 45 minutes (even over night if making ahead).

Tart Assembly:
After the 45 minutes, lightly flour a clean surface, as well as rolling pin, and the top of the dough, and roll it out. Make sure you roll this dough to be about 2 inches larger than your Tart Pan (or Pie Pan).
Carefully place the dough onto the Tart Pan (you can see how I did this in my video), and press the dough inside the pan. You can remove the access dough by rolling over the top with the rolling pin. *Do not throw away extra dough, you can make a mini pie 🙂
Once you have your dough formed inside the pan, you will then score the dough with a fork. I do this about 50 times or so, this insures the dough can let air pass through when we blind bake it.
Now the Tart goes into the freezer for 15 minutes. During this time you can set your oven to 375 Degrees F.
Once the 15 minutes have passed, “blind bake” this crust for 25 minutes. We do not need to cover this with foil and weigh it down with beans or pie weights. Since we scored, and froze the dough lightly, it will be fine to bake like this, and fuss-free!

During this time we can prepare the easy Pumpkin “Pie” filling, then continue with the Tart once baked… 

Pumpkin Filling Ingredients:
2 Large Eggs + 2 Egg Yolks *Save the whites for later
1/2 Cup White Sugar
1/4 Cup Brown Sugar *packed
2 Cups Canned Pumpkin Puree
1/2 Tbsp Extract *I used Rum, you can use Vanilla
3/4 Cup Heavy Whipping Cream (35%)
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 Tsp Ginger
1 Tsp Nutmeg (You can substitute this spice or any spice with all-spice or cloves, etc…)
1/2 Tsp Salt

If you are not a fan of spiced pumpkin pie, you may want to decrease the spices in this recipe, but I love spiced pumpkin, so I found the quantity of spices to be perfect! 

Pumpkin Filling Instructions:
Whisk the eggs, sugar, and extract until smooth and creamy (about 2 to 3 minutes).
Once creamy, add the canned pumpkin puree, cream, spices, and salt to the mixture, and mix for another 2 minutes or so. This mixture should be creamy. Set aside until ready to use.

Filling and Baking the Pumpkin Tart:

Once the pie has blind baked for 25 minutes at 375 Degrees, remove from the oven, and increase the temperature to 425 Degrees. During this time the crust will slightly cool.
Once the oven is ready, add the spiced Pumpkin Filling to the crust, you can fill all the way to the top of the crust, as the mixture will not over-flow when cooking. I have a Tart pan with a removable bottom which makes this Tart come out easily once cooked. If you have a similar pan, I always place this on another pan to cook, that way I don’t accidentally pop the Tart out of the pan while transporting this Tart in and out of the oven.
Place the Tart into the oven for 15 minutes at 425, and then after that, lower the oven to 375, and cook for another 35 to 40 minutes. You can test the pie by placing a tooth pick about 2 inches in from the side, if it comes out clean, it’s done. It will likely be golden browned and slightly puffy, once cooled down, it will lightly sink down, but it will look beautiful – I have never experienced any cracks, leaky tops, or other defects, so this is a great Pumpkin filling recipe!
Let the pie cool at room temperature for about 1 to 2 hours, and then place in the fridge for about 1 hour to cool further.

During this time we can make the Swiss Meringue topping. Lucky for us, we saved our egg whites!

Swiss Meringue Ingredients:
1/2 Cup Egg Whites *From Approx. 3 to 4 Eggs
1 Cup White Sugar

Swiss Meringue Instructions:
Have a sauce pan ready with water, I usually fill it up about 1/4 of the way, and place on the stove on a medium to low heat.
In a metal bowl (I use the bowl from my stand mixer, that way it’s a 1 bowl recipe), add the egg whites, and sugar – luckily we saved the egg whites from the 3 yolks we have used in this recipe, perfect for this Meringue!
Mix to combine – this will look slimy, and it will feel grainy, since it is not yet cooked.
Place this bowl over the water bath we’ve created (or double broiler), and continuously stir with a spatula for about 6 to 8 minutes, or until this mixture no longer feels grainy to the touch, but rather silky. If you have a thermometer, once it reaches 170F you are finished.
Take the now cooked egg and sugar mixture and whip to medium to stiff peaks, or as thick as you would like. I usually do this on a high speed of about 8 for 8 minutes.
You are now done, and have a delicious Swiss meringue! Easier than you thought! 😉

I see a face in this Pumpkin Tart hehe

Once your pie has cooled off, or even over night, you can now top with the fluffy Meringue. I like to spoon it on, swirl it a bit, and then torch it with a kitchen blowtorch. You can of course pipe it on if you prefer, but I like the look of it mounted on.
You are now ready to eat! In my YouTube video HERE, I ate the tart as soon as it was piped, and I also ate it the next morning, straight from the fridge, which firms up the meringue topping as you can see from pictures, or even in that video. As you can see, this wasn’t very difficult at all, and you now know how to make a beautiful tart dough, pumpkin filling, and Swiss meringue to sink your teeth into! I love this recipe, and it is perfect for this Fall season, Thanksgiving, or even Halloween, so I am happy to share it with all of you. I know you will love it as much as my family and I do, so let me know if you give this recipe a go! 🙂

P.S – If you do not have a blowtorch, do not worry, you can still make this and serve it without torching… It would look like this: 

Love: Lisa @LaDolceLisa
To watch my video on how I make this Pumpkin Meringue Tart, click HERE!