This Pumpkin & Bourbon Brulee Tart recipe is an excerpt from Ana Rusu’s cookbook New Vegan Baking. Ana is the pastry chef, recipe developer, and food photographer behind the plant-based platform Herbs and Roots. Ana is known for her creative, modern takes on classics and her food styling. Ana lives in Bucharest, Romania.
Table of Contents
This quintessential autumn treat is beloved by everyone for obvious reasons. It’s creamy, rich, and spiced with a cool crew of spices. For this recipe, I used my classic shortcrust recipe and by adding a touch of bourbon to the filling and syrup, I gave the pie an instant upgrade that I found perfect. To give it even more personality, I used a butane torch to caramelize the top, creating an exquisite crunch. If you don’t own a butane torch, simply skip this part, as this tart comes served with a dollop of whipped cream and a drizzle of maple and bourbon syrup that will ensure a show-stopping pie either way.
Ingredients You’ll Need
Short crust
- All-purpose flour
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Lemon
- Sea salt
- Vegan butter
- Oat milk
Pumpkin filling
- Oat milk
- Vegan cooking cream
- Brown sugar
- Sea salt
- Cornstarch
- Pumpkin puree
- Ground cinnamon
- Ginger
- Cloves
- Nutmeg
- Maple syrup
- Bourbon whiskey
For serving
- Maple syrup
- Bourbon whiskey
- Caster/superfine sugar
- Vegan whipped cream, sweetened
- Nutmeg
How To Make This Brulee Tart
Step 1: Crafting the Crust: Blending, Shaping, and Preheating
To make the crust, add the flour, sugar, lemon zest and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the cubed butter to the flour mixture and pulse a few times, until just combined and the mixture resembles a coarsemeal. Add the ice-cold milk and mix briefly, about 5 seconds, or until a soft dough starts to form. Transfer the dough to a floured working surface and shape it into a thick disk. Dust with flour on top and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375°F (180°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position.
Step 2: Shaping and Baking the Tart Crust
Roll the dough to a thin round, approximately 13 inches (32 cm). Lay the dough loosely into a 9½-inch (24-cm) fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press firmly against the pan so the finished edge is slightly higher than the pan. Trim the excess using a knife and freeze for 10 to 15 minutes.
Place pie weights (or dried beans) on top of the Short Crust to prevent it from rising. Bake the short crust for 20 minutes, or until the edges start to brown slightly. Leave the crust in the pan to cool completely.
Step 3: Creating the Pumpkin Filling
To make the filling, add the milk to a saucepan and reserve 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of it in a cup. Add the cooking cream, sugar, and salt to the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Mix the reserved milk with the cornstarch until well dissolved.
Add the cornstarch mixture to the boiling milk and cream, and cook on low for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring continuously so it doesn’t stick to the pan until thickened. Add the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, and cook for another minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add the maple syrup and whiskey. Mix until well combined. Pour the hot filling into the pre-baked short crust and let cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
Step 4: Finishing Touches: Caramelizing, Plating, and Serving
When ready to serve, prepare the garnishes. In a small bowl with a pouring spout, mix the maple syrup and bourbon whiskey. Set aside.
Blot the top of the Pumpkin Filling dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the caster/superfine sugar all around the surface, then, using a butane torch, heat the sugar until melted and caramelized.
Slice the pumpkin tart and plate it on serving plates: add a dollop of whipped cream on the side of each slice, and top with the maple and bourbon syrup. Sprinkle with a dash of ground nutmeg and enjoy! Keep the pumpkin tart refrigerated, for up to 5 days, in an airtight container.
Pumpkin & Bourbon Brulee Tart – Recipe Card
Pumpkin & Bourbon Brulee Tart
Ingredients
Short crust
- 1½ cups 200 g all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 6 tbsp 50 g confectioners’ sugar
- Zest from 1 lemon
- Pinch of sea salt
- ½ cup 115 g vegan butter, cold and cubed
- 2 tbsp 30 ml ice-cold sweetened oat milk
Pumpkin filling
- ¾ cup + 2 tsp 200 ml sweetened oat milk
- ⅓ cup + 1 tbsp 100 ml vegancooking cream
- ¼ cup 60 g light brown sugar
- Pinch of sea salt
- 3 tbsp 25 g cornstarch
- 1¾ cups 15 oz [420 g] pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp 15 ml maple syrup
- 1 tbsp 15 ml bourbon whiskey
For serving
- ¼ cup 60 ml maple syrup
- 2 tbsp 30 ml bourbon whiskey
- 3 tbsp 35 g caster/superfine sugar
- 4 oz 100 g vegan whipped cream, sweetened
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
Instructions
- To make the crust, add the flour, sugar, lemon zest, and salt to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the cubed butter to the flour mixture and pulse a few times, until just combined and the mixture resembles a coarsemeal. Add the ice-cold milk and mix briefly, about 5 seconds, or until a soft dough starts to form. Transfer the dough on a floured working surface and shape it into a thick disk. Dust with flour on top and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 375°F (180°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position.
- Roll the dough to a thin round, approximately 13 inches (32 cm). Lay the dough loosely into a 9½-inch (24-cm) fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press firmly against the pan so the finished edge is slightly higher than the pan. Trim the excess using a knife and freeze for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Place pie weights (or dried beans) on top of the Short Crust to prevent it from rising. Bake the short crust for 20 minutes, or until the edges start to brown slightly. Leave the crust in the pan to cool completely.
- To make the filling, add the milk to a saucepan and reserve 3 tablespoons (45 ml) of it in a cup. Add the cooking cream, sugar, and salt to the saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Mix the reserved milk with the cornstarch until well dissolved.
- Add the cornstarch mixture to the boiling milk and cream, and cook on low for 7 to 8 minutes, stirring continuously so it doesn’t stick to the pan until thickened. Add the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg, and cook for another minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add the maple syrup and whiskey. Mix until well combined. Pour the hot filling into the pre-baked short crust and let cool completely at room temperature, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- When ready to serve, prepare the garnishes. In a small bowl with a pouring spout, mix the maple syrup and bourbon whiskey. Set aside.
- Blot the top of the Pumpkin Filling dry with paper towels. Sprinkle the caster/superfine sugar all around the surface, then, using a butane torch, heat the sugar until melted and caramelized.
- Slice the pumpkin tart and plate it on serving plates: add a dollop of whipped cream on the side of each slice, and top with the maple and bourbon syrup. Sprinkle with a dash of ground nutmeg and enjoy! Keep the pumpkin tart refrigerated, for up to 5 days, in an airtight container.
Reprinted with permission from New Vegan Baking by Ana Rusu. Page Street Publishing Co. 2023. Photo credit: Ana Rusu.
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About The Cookbook
These unforgettable vegan bakes celebrate the flavors of fruit, chocolate, booze, coffee, and more in approachable yet showstopping sweets sure to excite every plant-based eater’s palate. Plant-Based Baking Just Reached a Whole New Level of Flavor.
Reawaken your love for all things sweet and become a master of modern plant-based baking. Through this carefully curated and visually stunning recipe collection, Ana Rusu guides you in using vegan ingredients to create mouthwatering, ultra-satisfying baked goods and no-bake treats for you and your loved ones. Ana’s recipes pair rich flavors with delicate fruits and aromatic herbs for desserts with beautifully balanced tastes and luscious textures, such as:
- Dulce de Leche Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze
- Chocolate, Chili & Sea Salt Cookies
- Lemon Posset Tart with Raspberry and Whipped Cream
- Chantilly & Diplomat Cream with Tropical Fruit Cake
- Gluten-Free Upside-Down Sour Cherry Cake with Crème Anglaise
While the flavors may sound advanced, Ana’s recipes use simple and easy-to-follow instructions, complete with home chef tips to help inexperienced bakers achieve success. With 60 spectacular vegan treats spanning six flavor-forward chapters—Chocolate & Caramel, Fruit, Citrus, Spice, Coffee, Nuts & Seeds, and Booze—plus stunning photography with every recipe, every page will fill you with inspiration to pull out the measuring cups and bring sweetness to your day.
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More Vegan Recipes You Might Like
If you Enjoyed This Pumpkin & Bourbon Brulee Tart, You Might Like This Poppy Seed Tea Cake recipe from the same author. Click here to get the recipe
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