Crunchy Topped Pumpkin Brûlée Recipes

CRUNCHY-TOPPED PUMPKIN BRûLéE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325°F. Grease 6 (6-oz) ramekins or custard cups with butter; place in 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish. In large bowl with wire whisk, beat egg yolks about 1 minute or until slightly thickened. Beat in sugar, cream, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice until smooth. Divide mixture evenly into ramekins.
• Place baking dish on rack in center of oven. Add warm water to dish until halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake uncovered 50 to 55 minutes or until set. Carefully remove baking dish from oven; place on wire rack. Cool 20 minutes.
• Remove ramekins from water. Cover each with plastic wrap; refrigerate at least 2 hours to chill.
• Before serving, remove plastic wrap from ramekins; top each with about 1/2 tablespoon granola mixture.

PUMPKIN CREME BRULEE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the cream, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves over medium heat, stirring occasionally, just until it comes to a boil. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside to infuse at least 15 minutes. In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the granulated sugar. Whisking constantly, gradually pour in the hot cream mixture. Whisk in the pumpkin puree. Pour the mixture into 4 ovenproof ramekins and arrange in a hot water bath. Bake in the center of the oven until almost set but still a bit soft in the center, 30 to 40 minutes. The custard should "shimmy" a bit when you shake the pan; it will firm up more as it cools. Remove from the water bath and let cool 15 minutes. Tightly cover each ramekin with plastic wrap, making sure the plastic does not touch the surface of the custard. Refrigerate at least 2 hours, and up to 24 hours.
• When ready to serve, preheat a broiler to very hot (or fire up your kitchen torch). Uncover the chilled custards. Pour as much coarse sugar as will fit onto the top of 1 of the custards. Pour off the remaining sugar onto the next custard. Repeat until all the custards are coated. Discard any remaining sugar. Place the ramekins on a baking sheet or in a roasting pan and broil until the sugar is melted and well browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Let cool 1 minute before serving.