SALTED HONEY PUMPKIN CRÈME BRÜLÉE

Floral honey is a much softer pairing for sea salt than caramel, imbuing its delicate, ornamental qualities to sweet cream and pumpkin. Crème brûlée is not as froufrou as you may think—a few easy-but-required steps are all that’s needed, and I’ve outlined them below. What’s more, crème brûlée is a make-ahead dessert, freeing up oven space for any holiday entertaining you may do. I’ve kept the baked custards (without the crunchy sugar top) tightly covered with plastic wrap in the refrigerator for 3 days, and neither taste nor texture suffered.

Serves 4

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

½ teaspoon ground dried ginger

¼ teaspoon sea salt, plus more for sugar top

⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream

½ cup pumpkin purée

¼ cup honey

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 325ºF.

In a large bowl or extra-large liquid measuring cup with a pouring spout, whisk together eggs, vanilla, ginger, salt, and nutmeg. In a medium saucepan, whisk together cream, pumpkin, and honey; heat over medium until it’s too hot to leave your finger in comfortably (look for a few bubbles around the outside). Using a fine mesh sieve, strain a couple tablespoons hot cream mixture into egg mixture to temper; whisk together. Strain remaining hot cream mixture into egg mixture; whisk together.

Boil a kettle of water. Place 4 (4-ounce) ovenproof ramekins in a large glass dish or deep baking sheet. Divide cream mixture between ramekins (approximately ½ cup in each ramekin) using a ladle or the measuring cup spout. Carefully pour hot water around ramekins, being sure not to splash water in the cream mixture, until it reaches ⅓ to ½ way up the sides of the ramekins. Open the oven door and gently place glass dish or baking sheet in oven. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until cream mixture only slightly jiggles when tapped. Remove ramekins from water and cool to room temperature on a wire rack; transfer to refrigerator to cool completely (about 5 hours or overnight).

To brûlée, sprinkle 1 to 2 teaspoons sugar and a pinch of salt over custards; caramelize sugar using a kitchen blowtorch or place ramekins on a large baking sheet and broil until sugar is caramelized to your liking. Serve.