Sweet Pastry

1 egg
1/3 cup powdered (icing) sugar 2 teaspoons ground almonds Pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup (57g) butter, softened
1 cup plain flour, sifted
In a large bowl break the egg and beat it with a fork. Add the sugar, ground almonds, ground cinnamon and the salt to the beaten egg. Beat with a wooden spoon/spatula until the mixture turns pale yellow and frothy. Cut the butter into very small pieces and set aside.
Pour all of the sifted flour into the egg mixture and mix quickly with the spatula. Then rub the flour with your fingertips until the mixture resembles wet sand – only just sticking together.
Place the mixture onto a well-floured bench, dot with the chopped butter and knead with your hands to combine the butter. Form the dough into a ball, wrap with cling wrap and allow to chill for at least 30 minutes in the fridge.
Preheat oven to 160°C, butter and flour a 20cm pie dish. On a well floured bench roll our your prepared dough to around 1/2 cm thick, then carefully place into the prepared dish. Line the pastry with crumbled baking paper and pour in either rice or pie weights - blind bake the pastry for around 15 min, or until the edges are starting to golden. Allow to cool completely before removing the baking paper - otherwise you’ll tear the pastry.

Tips & Tricks

You can roll the pastry out between two sheets of baking paper before chilling – this will save time when you line your tart tray.
This pastry will keep in the fridge for around a week and about a month in the freezer.

Pumpkin Filling

300g pumpkin, skinned and roughly chopped
2 tablespoons maple syrup
100g condensed milk
2 tablespoons vanilla essence
5 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons creme fraiche
3 eggs
1 tablespoon corn flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Adjust oven to 180°C. Place the chopped pumpkin and maple syrup into a roasting dish and bake for around 20 minutes or until the pumpkin is cooked - remove and mash into a fine puree and allow to cool slightly.
Adjust oven to 160°C. In a large bowl, combine the condensed milk, vanilla essence, brown sugar, creme fraiche, eggs, cornflour, ground cinnamon and nutmeg and whisk to combine until smooth. Once smooth add the pumpkin and whisk again until smooth and creamy. Place the pie dish onto a flat baking tray (it will make it easier to take in and out of the oven) pour the pumpkin mixture into your pie dish and carefully place into the oven. Bake for around 45 min or until the middle has set. Allow to cool before placing into the fridge to set, serve with either vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.