Pumpkin Pie Creme Brulee

I have a fun new recipe for you :)

This is one that I tried out over the weekend:

Pumpkin Pie Creme Brulee.

It's a fun twist on traditional pumpkin pie. 

For the crust:

• 32 butter crackers (such as Ritz)
• 1/2 cup pecans
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more if needed
• 2 to 3 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar

For the custard:

• 3 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 vanilla bean
• 8 large egg yolks
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 cups canned pure pumpkin
• Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. 

To make the crust: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the crackers and pecans until finely ground. Add the melted butter and brown sugar and pulse to combine. Press the mixture into the bottoms and 1/2 inch up the sides of ten 6-ounce ramekins. Put the ramekins in a large baking dish or roasting pan and bake in the oven, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool.

To make the custard: Combine 2 cups cream, the cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise; scrape out the seeds with a knife, then add the seeds and pod to the saucepan. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat.

Whisk the egg yolks with the granulated sugar in a bowl until the sugar is dissolved. Add the remaining 1 1/2 cups cream and the milk to the saucepan. Slowly whisk in the yolk mixture, then strain the custard through a sieve back into the bowl. Whisk in the pumpkin.

Divide the pumpkin mixture among the ramekins. Pour hot water into the baking dish, about halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake until the custard is starting to set but is still a little wiggly in the middle, 55 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the oven; remove the ramekins from the water bath and let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.

Lightly sprinkle the custard with turbinado sugar. Heat the sugar with a butane torch until caramelized. To get a thicker caramelized sugar crust, repeat, using just a light sprinkling of sugar each time. Let cool.

In the end, they taste like miniature, creamy, pumpkin pies.

My kids loved that they each got their own, and of course, we had to add extra sugar on top :)  My cousin (who hates pumpkin pie) liked it.  My husband loves pumpkin pie, so he was skeptical, but he liked it too.  My honest opinion?  It tasted a lot like pumpkin pie.  I like creme brulee better than I like pumpkin pie, so I think I like the traditional creme brulee better.  But, for a holiday twist on pumpkin pie, this recipe is a must :)

(You can find the recipe HERE)