I know creme brûlée sounds pretty snobby, but it’s really just custard with burnt sugar…which doesn’t sound nearly as fancy as creme brûlée. Now you might be saying, Sarah, all this burnt sugar talk is well and good, but what does this have to do with my Thanksgiving feast?
And that’s it! Bruleed pumpkin will elevate any Thanksgiving dessert spread with minimal effort, which is a huge win in my book!
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 16 servings
- Category: dessert
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: american
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Yield: 16 servings
- Category: dessert
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: american
Ingredients
for the graham cracker crust
- 1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
for the pumpkin pie
- 1 cup granulated sugar, divided
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 large eggs + 1 egg yolk
- 1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin puree
- 1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- Combine all the pie crust ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. The crust will be crumbly, but hold its shape when pressed. Pour the graham cracker crust into a 9 inch pie dish and spread out evenly to coat the bottoms and sides, packing the crust in. Use a measuring cup or small bowl to pack the crust in and smooth it out along all edges of the pie tin. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl combine 3/4 cup of the granulated sugar, spices and salt. Add the eggs and egg yolk and pumpkin puree and whisk until combined. Slowly drizzle in the evaporated milk, whisking until homogenous.
- Pour the filling into the prepared pie dish and bake at 350°F for about 1 hour, or until the pie is set. Allow to cool completely. Refrigerate if you are not serving right away.
- When ready to serve, sprinkle the remaining quarter cup of the granulated sugar over the pie. Use a blowtorch to torch the sugar until bubbling, but not burnt. As the sugar liquefies and hardens it will form a sugar crust over the top of the pie. If the sugar layer seems too thin, repeat the process with more sugar.
- Serve right away with vanilla ice cream of whipped cream!
Keywords: brûléed pumpkin pie, thanksgiving pie, pumpkin pie
Leave a comment and rate this recipe!
Everything worked great except the crust. Would a pre-bake of the crust be better? The edges were fine, but the center of the crust was squishy and felt undercooked – that was after adding a lot of time to get the pie to set.
I’ve never liked pumpkin pie until now! I made this for the first time last Thanksgiving and it will be a tradition for us every year! I swapped out the graham crackers for triple ginger snaps and the flavors pair so well. I’m making this year’s pies today, wondering if this will freeze well? I was craving it all year so I wanted to make extra in case of an “emergency”.
★★★★★
Can I accomplish the brule without a torch? Thank you!
Hi Liz! you can also get it by broiling in your oven!
can you make this in a countertop convection oven ? Also can you make it ahead of time?
★★★★★
I’ve never tried it in a convection oven so I cannot personally vouch for it! You can certainly make it ahead of time! I usually make it a day in advance and leave in the fridge to set until ready to serve!
how wonderful, I’m not even done with pumpkin pie yet, we had pecan at Thanksgiving so a nice second shot with this brûlée version, so thank you, much appreciated!
★★★★★
Made this last weekend as a trial before Thanksgiving and it is every bit as amazing as it looks! Such a crowd-pleaser. I sent it to every baker I know for a fun twist on a Thanksgiving staple! Sarah – question. One of our guests is dairy-free so I was going to reserve a tiny portion of the filling to make her own pie in a ramekin. Have you experimented with any dairy-free kinds of milk and have you found any that work best?
★★★★★
I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I’ve used all sorts of dairy-free milk. My new baking favorite is extra creamy almond milk (nonflavored/no extra sugar ex. vanilla). Oat milk is good too, I think they have extra creamy as well, but it’s often just naturally very sweet. I like oat milk and find it complements some baked goods well but almond is a better neutral (esp. when trying a recipe for the first time, otherwise I have to consider how to adj. sugar).