Pumpkin Chocolate Tart

Dear Friends and Readers,

It's that time of year again.  The one where we work like mad cleaning our houses, cook and bake for days, open our doors and welcome loved ones into our homes.   It's so easy this time of year to get busy and stressed out, caught up in those black Friday ads, and forget why we sit down and celebrate this holiday.  So, here's a little education for you, courtesy of National Geographic.  

During the fall of 1621, four settlers were sent to hunt for food for a harvest celebration. The Wampanoag heard gunshots and alerted their leader, Massasoit, who thought the English might be preparing for war. Massasoit visited the English settlement with 90 of his men to see if the war rumor was true. Soon after their visit, the Native Americans realized that the English were only hunting for the harvest celebration. Massasoit sent some of his own men to hunt deer for the feast and for three days, the English and native men, women, and children ate together. The meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat, far from today's traditional Thanksgiving feast.

They played ball games, sang, and danced. Much of what most modern Americans eat on Thanksgiving was not available in 1621.

Although prayers and thanks were probably offered at the 1621 harvest gathering, the first recorded religious Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth happened two years later in 1623. On this occasion, the colonists gave thanks to God for rain after a two-month drought.

I cannot imagine the living conditions back then.  Life could not have been easy for the pilgrims.  Put yourself in their shoes.  A group of people who left their home, watched others die on the long ocean journey, only to lose even more of them after reaching their destination.  Then to find themselves living in a new place, alone, having to build a new life.  How scary it must have been.  Yet, they had neighbors.  The first real residents of the United States.  Native American Indians taught them, helped put food on their table, hunted with them, and in some instances, protected them.  We should all be so lucky to have neighbors like that.

So, this year, forget the stress, and welcome others not only into your home, but into your heart.  Give thanks for your blessings, and remember how it all started, making this a truly "American" holiday. 

Wishing you a Happy Turkey Day, 

Jaime 

Ingredients
1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree
3/4 cup firmly packed light-brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 cup Ghiradelli 60% Cacao chips

Crust
1 cup all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup Ghiradelli unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 large egg
1/4 cup Ghiradelli 60% Cacao chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, cinnamon, and cloves. Add butter; mix on low speed until butter is the size of small peas, about 5 minutes. Add egg; mix until ingredients come together to form a dough.

On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to just thicker than 1/8 inch. Transfer dough to a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Press dough into bottom and up sides of pan; trim excess flush with edge. Lightly prick bottom of dough all over with a fork. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.
Bake shell until firm, about 15 minutes. Immediately sprinkle chocolate over bottom of shell; smooth with a spatula.

While the crust is baking, in a medium bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, heavy cream, eggs, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and cloves until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.

Bake until set, about 40 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool at least 30 minutes.

Set a heatproof bowl, or the top of a double boiler, over a pan of barely simmering water. Melt chocolate in bowl, stirring occasionally; remove from heat. Dip a spoon in melted chocolate, then drizzle chocolate over tart, forming decorative stripes. Refrigerate until well set, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.