Happy Thanksgiving!!

Hooray for Thanksgiving! We hope you all have a lovely day filled with family, friends and super good food!!

XXXOOO,

Ty, Megs and the little turkey

And just in case you are still looking for a fabulous Thanksgiving dessert--here you go! Leave it to Ina to come up with something delicious!

Pumpkin Banana Mousse Tart - Barefoot Contessa

Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 14 crackers)

½ cup sugar

¼ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ lb. (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

½ cup half-and-half

1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree

1 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed

¾ tsp. kosher salt

½ tsp. ground cinnamon

¼ tsp. ground nutmeg

3 extra-large egg yokes

1 package (2 teaspoons) unflavored gelatin

1 ripe banana finely mashed

½ tsp. grated orange zest

½ cup cold heavy cream

Decoration:

1 cup (1/2 pint) cold heavy cream

¼ cup sugar

¼ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Orange zest (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

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 heat proof 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 mixture into the egg yolks to heat them, the pour the egg-pumpkin mixture back into the double broiler 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 heat.

Dissolve the gelatin in ¼ cup 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 decoration, whip the heavy cream in the bowl of an electric mixer fitter 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.

This tart can be made a day or two ahead and kept refrigerated. Decorate it with whipped cream an hour or two before serving.