pumpkin crème brûlée

I’ve made a lot of desserts with pumpkin in it this year, and surprisingly, I’m not sick of it yet like I’m sick of turkey. Pumpkin just has this warm, comforting feeling that I don’t think I can get enough of. It has that homey reminder, probably because the time we consume the most amount of pumpkins is around holiday time and that’s usually spent with family.

Let me tell you — this dessert is not something you want to miss out on making (or eating, for that matter). The combination of pumpkin in a crème brûlée is to die for. It’s like eating a pumpkin pie without the crust, but trust me, you won’t miss the crust on this because you have the caramelized sugar crust on top to break into. This was such a huge hit with my family during Thanksgiving this year. I even let each person caramelize their own sugar with the torch. They all got a kick out of the interaction & they were all wondering why I didn’t make more. Hehe, it’s always best to have people wanting more but not giving them too much so they’ll have a craving year-round. Maybe I’ll make more next year ;)

This recipe is basically the same as the crème brûlée recipe but with pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and light brown sugar added in.

Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

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Yield: 6 individual servings

Ingredients:

2 cups of heavy cream

1 tbsp. vanilla bean paste (or 1 whole vanilla bean)

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 cup of granulated sugar (for the topping)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Have a saucepan of boiling water ready.
In a small saucepan, add the cream and vanilla bean paste, stir to mix and set the pan over medium-low heat.
Warm the cream until bubbles form around the edges and steam begins to rise to the surface.
Remove from heat and let steep for 15-20 minutes.
While the cream mixture is steeping, in a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and sugar until the mixture is light orange. This will take about 5 minutes of heavy whisking.
Once the mixture is light orange, gradually pour the cream into the egg mixture, whisking until blended. At this point, you will see a lot of white foam form at the top. Take a spoon and skim off the foam.
Divide the custard among the ramekins and place the ramekins on a baking pan.
Pull out the middle rack of the oven and place your baking pan on top. Then very carefully, pour boiling water to fill the pan almost halfway up the sides of the ramekins.
Cover the pan loosely with foil and slowly push the rack back into the oven.
Bake until the custards are just set around the edges, about 30-35 minutes, but could be longer depending on how many ounces your ramekins are. Mine were a little deeper so it took about 50 minutes to bake.
Transfer the ramekins to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight. They will keep up to 3 days.
Before serving, sprinkle a heavy layer of granulated sugar on top of the custard. Using a kitchen torch, melt the sugar. Move the flame gradually in small circles over the surface of the custard, heating the sugar until it is evenly melted and golden. The sugar will harden in a few seconds and your pumpkin crème brûlée is ready to eat!