Sweet Halloween roll
- Average
- 1 h 40 min
Many, many years ago in Ireland, a stingy drunk named Jack found himself face to face with the devil himself. However, he was so clever that he managed to trap him, so in exchange for his freedom, the devil promised Jack that he would never take his soul. Jack continued his dissolute life, and when he died, he was not admitted to heaven. He then went down to hell, but Beelzebub, laughing, reminded him of their pact and sent him away, granting him only a coal to light his way, having to wander without rest for eternity... Jack stuck the coal in a pumpkin, and since then, he goes around scaring everyone, on the night of Halloween. But we tried to make old Jack good, and the sweet Jack O’Lantern tartlets are the result! Egg-free, without artificial colors or decorations, these spooky treats made of crumbly hazelnut shortcrust pastry contain a velvety pumpkin milk cream filling. The decorations? All-natural, with cinnamon and mint leaves! So, would you have ever thought that Jack could become so good?
To prepare the sweet Jack O’Lantern tartlets, start by making the cream to fill them. Peel the pumpkin, cut it into cubes 1, and transfer it to a saucepan. Add the condensed milk 2, the dried ginger 3,
the cinnamon powder 4, a pinch of salt, and cook for about 20 minutes over moderate heat, stirring often 5. Once the cream has thickened and the pumpkin is tender, blend everything 6 until you get a very smooth mixture.
Transfer the cream to a small bowl 7, let it cool, and in the meantime, prepare the shortcrust pastry. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle, pour in the all-purpose flour, hazelnut flour 8, starch, and cinnamon 9.
Then add the cold butter cut into small pieces 10 and set the machine to low speed. Once you get a sandy mixture, add the condensed milk 11 and continue to mix for a few minutes 12.
Transfer the dough to a work surface 13 and knead it with your hands for a few minutes, just long enough to compact it 14. Take 2/3 of the dough, place it on a sheet of parchment paper and flatten it with your hands 15.
Place another sheet of parchment paper on top 16 and roll out the dough with a rolling pin 17 until it is about 1/6 inch thick 18.
Butter the tartlet molds using a brush 19 and cut out disks about 4.75 inches in diameter from the shortcrust pastry sheet 20; you can use a pastry ring or a small bowl for this operation. Transfer the shortcrust pastry disk to the 4.5-inch diameter mold and press lightly with your fingers to adhere it well, then trim the excess dough with a knife 21.
Prick the base of each tartlet with a fork 22, place a disk of parchment paper and cover with ceramic baking beads (you can also use dried legumes for this operation) 23, and proceed with blind baking. Bake the tartlets in a preheated static oven at 350°F for about 15 minutes, then take them out 24, remove the ceramic beads, and continue baking for another 5 minutes.
In the meantime, take the shortcrust pastry scraps and knead them together with the previously set aside dough. Roll out the dough again between two sheets of parchment paper until it is about 1/6 inch thick and cut out disks about 3.15 inches in diameter 25. Transfer them to a baking tray lined with parchment paper and carve out both the mouth 26 and the eyes 27. Bake these as well in a preheated static oven at 350°F for about 15 minutes.
Once the tartlets have cooled, fill them with the cream 28 and place a cookie on top of each tartlet 29. Decorate with a mint leaf, a cinnamon stick 30, and serve your sweet Jack O’Lantern tartlets!