Autumn Tarts

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Pumpkin Bourbon Tart

1 10- or 11 -inch tart shell, partially baked 2 eggs, slightly beaten 2 cups thick pumpkin puree (or 1 16-ounce can pumpkin) 3/4 cup brown sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves or allspice 10 ounces evaporated milk (1 12-ounce can minus 2 ounces) 2 ounces bourbon

Preheat oven to 425°F. Mix ingredients in order listed. Pour into tart shell. Place tart in oven; immediately reduce heat to 350°. Bake 30-45 minutes, or until knife inserted in filling comes out clean. Cool completely, and serve with whipped cream, if desired. Makes enough filling for 1 tart plus 2 or 3 custard cups of flavorful puree.

Maple Pecan Tart

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 2 eggs 1 /3 cup light corn syrup 1/3 cup maple syrup 1/3 cup whipping cream 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

Whisk together eggs and brown sugar. Whisk in syrups, then cream, butter and salt. Place rack in upper third of oven and preheat to 325°F. Spread pecans in crust. Rewhisk filling and ladle over pecans. Bake 40 minutes. Cool on rack 30 minutes, then remove tart and ring. Allow tart to cool completely before serving. Serve with whipped cream if desired.

Cranberry Tart

1 10-inch tart shell, completely baked and cooled* 2 envelopes unflavored gelatin 1/2 cup cold water 6 cups (3 12-ounce packages) fresh cranberries 1 3/4-2 cups sugar, to taste 1 cup red currant jelly 2 tablespoons cognac

Soften gelatin in water. Combine cranberries, sugar, jelly and cognac in saucepan, and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Do not overcook or mixture will become too watery; cranberries should be soft but not bursting. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Stir in gelatin and let cool completely. Pour cranberry filling into tart shell, and chill for at least 1 hour.

*To completely bake shell, follow directions for blind baking, but bake 20-25 minutes.

MACHINE-AGE DOUGH

WHEN GREAT-AUNT ALICE GAVE you a food processor for your birthday and listed its virtues, she concluded, "And it makes a real nice pie crust, too." Admit it: Outwardly you were gracious; inwardly you snickered. Chopping onions, perhaps, and shredding cabbage, of course, but making a pie crust? Never.

Call Great-Aunt Alice and apologize.

A food processor allows you to make exactly the kind of crust you want while cutting the hassle by about 90%. Moreover, it makes a better crust than most of us do by hand. It doesn't roll the doughnut, of course (one would think the manufacturers would have added this feature by now), but that's a minor chore compared to cutting the fat into the dry ingredients. That's what the processor does superbly-in a fraction of the time, before the butter warms or your arms tire. If you have time to chill all the ingredients, so much the better. If not, make sure that the butter and the water are ice cold.

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