| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 2 hr 35 min |
| Prep: | 25 min |
| Inactive: | 2 hr |
| Cook: | 10 min |
Ingredients
- 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (14 crackers)
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 1/2 cup half-and-half
- 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree
- 1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 extra-large egg yolks
- 1 package (2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin
- 1 ripe banana, finely mashed
- 1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest
- 1/2 cup cold heavy cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- Orange zest (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, cinnamon and melted butter in a bowl and mix well. Pour into an 11-inch tart pan with a removable bottom and press evenly into the sides and then the bottom. Bake for 10 minutes and then cool to room temperature.
- For the filling, heat the half-and-half, pumpkin, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a heatproof bowl set over a pan of simmering water until hot, about 5 minutes. Whisk the egg yolks in another bowl, stir some of the hot pumpkin into the egg yolks to heat them, then pour the egg-pumpkin mixture back into the double boiler and stir well. Heat the mixture over the simmering water for another 4 to 5 minutes, until it begins to thicken, stirring constantly. You don’t want the eggs to scramble. Remove from the heat.
- Dissolve the gelatin in 1/4 cup cold water. Add the dissolved gelatin, banana and orange zest to the pumpkin mixture and mix well. Set aside to cool.
- Whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture and pour it into the cooled tart shell. Chill for 2 hours or overnight.
- For the decoration, whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until soft peaks form. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue to whisk until you have firm peaks. Pipe or spoon the whipped cream decoratively on the tart and sprinkle, if desired, with orange zest. Serve chilled.
Reviews
I’ve been making this for Thanksgiving for over 10 years. It’s everyone’s favorite. The combination of pumpkin, banana, and orange is fantastic. It’s not a difficult recipe, just a few steps to follow, but totally worth it. One tip – I let the pumpkin mixture cool for 20 minutes, then pop it in the fridge for 10 before adding the whipped cream. Perfection.
Followed recipe to the T… lots of work for an eh it’s OK dessert
My mother makes this every year for Thanksgiving, and it’s one of the highlights of the meal. Every year, she calls a few days ahead of the holiday to tell us she’s not making the tarte this year. And every year, we say, “C’mon, woman!” and she relents and makes the tarte. I have also made the lazy person’s version by just making the filling and buying a pie crust, and it’s still unbelievable. I even used a regular (non graham cracker) pie crust, and I think I might even like it better! Don’t hesitate. Make this. It’s phenomenal.
I just made the filling, without the banana, for a great pumpkin mousse. It put it in ramekins without the crust. Delicious
People rave about this when I make it, but I use less than half of the orange zest so it’s not overwhelming. It’s sooo much better and more interesting with layers of flavors than regular cloying pumpkin pie, which I can’t stand.
If this recipe didn’t taste good, something must have done wrong in making it. It’s delicious!! So much lighter than pumpkin pie and way more flavorful.
Yuck. Really don’t know how this got any good reviews. It’s disgusting. I’ve made tons of Inas recipes and all marvelous. The consistency is revolting in your mouth. The taste is not yummy. For the crust, you’ll have enough graham cracker mix for 2 tarts.
I like the flavor of regular pumpkin pie, but I’ve never liked the texture. Too thick and dense for a dessert that already has so much flavor jam-packed into it. This is the PERFECT texture and lightness, especially after a very large Thanksgiving dinner. I will make this again and again, and my family will thank me for it.
I have been making Ina’s amazing pumpkin banana mousse tart for years! It is my daughter’s favorite and Thanksgiving wouldn’t be the same without it! Who would want regular pumpkin pie after they tasted this! Perfection!
Not my favorite. 🙁 It is sort of time consuming to make, and my family wasn’t crazy about it. I use a smallish banana, but could still taste it. I didn’t like that flavor with the pumpkin, especially with the autumn flavors of Thanksgving. I also think the crust was too thick. I almost substituted gingersnaps (which would have been a nice accompaniment to pumpkin, I think.) But I wanted to make the recipe “as is” so I could judge accurately it on its own merits.
Also, the texture for me was more wet than real mousse is…maybe I did something wrong. With the gelatin, I expected it to be more like a chiffon pie from the 60s (I love those!) I love Ina (so many chef shows don’t have such a talented cook!) but this is a miss for me. My guests (even those who don’t like pumpkin pie) adore something called Ultimate Pumpkin Pie from epicurious site. Luckily I had one of those as a backup.
My guests ate this, and they didn’t complain, but there were no raves. I like raves!