Recipe # 1 - Pumpkin Spice Crème Brûlée

If you like delicious... this is your dish. Dave and I made these for a Halloween party.  We could barely get them to the party without drooling on them ourselves.  The people brave enough to try them said, "These are better than pumpkin pie!"

The Good: The recipe is easy to make, delicious, festive and definitely unique.
The Bad: The recipe takes a lot of preparation time. It is difficult to pour the water into the roasting pan without it spilling into the pumpkins.
The Ugly: If you don't already have all of the spices it can become a bit costly to make this recipe.

Suggestions before starting:
Always mix liquids with liquids first, solids with solids first and then combine. It allows for your spices to be mixed evenly and mixing is so much easier.
We put the empty pumpkins into the roasting pan, poured the water into the pan so we could empty the pumpkins that got water in them without ruining the crème and then put the filling in them.
Due to time constraints we used ice cream caramel topping in order to do our caramel quicker.  It turned out just fine but of course was runnier and not crunchy like what the recipe calls for.
Allow plenty of time for this recipe!

And now for the recipe from Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients

• 2  cups  whipping cream (no substitutes)
• 3    egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 2    eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2  cup  sugar
• 1/2  cup  canned pumpkin
• 1  teaspoon  ground cinnamon
• 1  teaspoon  ground ginger
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground cloves
• 10    baby pumpkins*
• 1/4  cup  sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a small saucepan, heat whipping cream over medium heat just until bubbly. Remove from heat; set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine egg yolks, eggs, the 1/2 cup sugar, pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves. Beat with a whisk or rotary beater just until combined. Slowly whisk the hot whipping cream into the egg mixture.
3. Use a small serrated knife to cut off the top 1/2-inch of the baby pumpkins. Discard the tops. Use a spoon to scoop out the seeds.
4. Place the pumpkins in a roasting pan. Divide custard mixture evenly among the pumpkins. Place roasting pan on oven rack. Pour enough boiling water into the roasting pan to reach halfway up the sides of the pumpkins.
5. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until centers appear nearly set when gently shaken. Carefully remove pan from oven. Remove pumpkins from water; cool on a wire rack. Cover and chill for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.
6. Before serving, let custards stand at room temperature for 20 minutes. **Meanwhile, for caramelized sugar: in a heavy 8-inch skillet, heat the 1/4 cup sugar over medium-high heat until sugar begins to melt, shaking skillet occasionally to heat sugar evenly. Do not stir. Once sugar starts to melt, reduce heat to low; cook 3 to 5 minutes more or until all of the sugar is melted and golden brown, stirring as needed with a wooden spoon.
7. Quickly drizzle caramelized sugar over the custards. (If sugar starts to harden in the skillet, return to heat, stirring until melted.) Serve immediately. Makes 10 filled pumpkins or 6 custard cups.