Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

First and foremost- Don't be intimidated! Crème Brûlée was one of the first things I ever learned how to cook, and it's surprisingly easy and oh-so-impressive!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Heavy Cream

¼ Cup Sugar

(additional sugar will be needed for caramelizing)

¼ Cup Brown Sugar

8 Large Egg Yolks

1 Cup Canned 100% Pure Pumpkin

½ Teaspoon Vanilla

½ Teaspoon Cinnamon

Directions for Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cut tops off each pumpkin and save for presentation. Scrape out the seeds and fibers from pumpkins. Place pumpkins on a baking sheet, cut sides up, and roast, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool.

In saucepan, combine cream and sugars, stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside for later use.

Whisk eggs with an electric beater on high for 2 minutes (will be lemon colored). While the mixer is running on low speed, slowly keep adding the cream mixture in small batches until all of the cream mixture has been added to the eggs (do not add all of the cream mixture to the eggs at once). Add the remaining ingredients, mix.

Spray the inside of the pumpkins with a non-stick cooking spray and divide the mixture evenly among the cooled pumpkins.

Place the filled pumpkins in a large roasting pan and set on the oven rack in the 350 degree F. oven. Pour hot water into the pan to reach halfway up the pumpkins. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center of the pumpkin crème brûlée comes out clean. Place reserved pumpkin tops on a baking sheet the last 20 minutes of baking. Cover and chill all for 2 hours. Remove from refrigerator and place about 1 teaspoon sugar evenly on top of each pumpkin crème brûlée. To caramelize the sugar, use a kitchen torch; broiling may burn pumpkins. 

For leftover batter, place in ramekins and bake with the same instructions. Pumpkin Crème Brûlée in ramekins can be broiled in the oven to melt the sugar on top.



For dinner parties, serve these on a platter or place at each table setting for a nice surprise as soon as your guests sit down.

From ordinary pumpkins......

To extraordinary pumpkin crème brûlée!

Enjoy!