Pumpkin Brulee

I'm always looking for ways to take an old favorite and tweak it a little to make it maybe more healthy or tasty or both.  It's my turn again to make dessert for the family's Monday night get together and my Mom and Dad requested pumpkin pie.  Pumpkin is very good for you, loaded with vitamins and beta carotene.  The filling for a pumpkin pie is really just a pumpkin custard, so I often make the filling and bake it in custard cups eliminating the fat and calories of a crust. But for the family get together I thought I'd fancy it up a bit and  give the individual custard portions a brulee topping.

One large can of Libby's pumpkin makes nine servings of one cup each. You can see the white sugar on the custard with the pecan half.  Don't put the pecan half on the top until you have completely melted all the sugar and there is no white showing. The pecan will burn right away.

 

It takes a good minute to caramelize all the sugar. You have to move the torch around a lot so you don't burn the sugar - even though that's what brulee means in French.  You just want all the white color gone from the sugar.

The sugar is all caramelized and I've added the pecan for decoration (and to hide where I stuck a table knife in the middle to check for doneness)  Of course, the caramelized sugar is the same color as the pumpkin so you don't see it like you would on creme brulee. It will be a nice surprise when the family starts to spoon out the first bite.

A note on the recipe:  I use Libby's pure pumpkin and add my own sugar, eggs and spices. It's a simple recipe and always works very well.  The only alteration I make is to halve the amount of ground clove.  The recipe calls for half a teaspoon and I cut it to one quarter of a teaspoon. Otherwise, I follow the recipe on the label.  I plugged the recipe into an online calorie counter and here's the nutritional info. The eggs and milk contribute to the fat content, but I like the fiber number per serving. I love that high Vitamin A number and the calories at 268 for a one cup serving are not half bad.  You could make the recipe out of the smaller can and use 1/2 cup custard cups and save even more calories.  I did not include the pecan in the calorie count. And you know I will be adding real whipped cream to the top.

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size

11 serving (286.2 g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories

268268

Calories from Fat

4444

% Daily Value^*

Total Fat

4.9g4.9

8%8

Saturated Fat

2.7g2.7

14%14

Cholesterol

96mg96

32%32

Sodium

338mg338

14%14

Total Carbohydrates

51.2g51.2

17%17

Dietary Fiber

2.7g2.7

11%11

Sugars

45.1g45.1

Protein

7.1g7.1

Vitamin A 220%220	•	Vitamin C 6%6
Calcium 16%16	•	Iron 6%