I found this recipe below in the San Francisco Chronicle (by Cindy Lee). I wanted something different instead of the traditional pumpkin pie so I baked it and brought it to my cousin’s house where we spent our Thanksgiving Day dinner. This pumpkin creme caramel taste just like the pumpkin pie sans the crust. However, I think I’ll still to my marble swirled pumpkin pie with cream cheese next year. . . I gotta have the “crust”! 
Serves 8-10
This delicious alternative to pumpkin pie was created by Cindy Lee. The best part of this recipe is that you can make it tonight and leave it chilling in the refrigerator until everybody is ready for dessert.
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 whole cloves
- 4 whole eggs + 2 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 cups Libby’s solid-pack pumpkin
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions: Put oven rack in middle position of oven and preheat to 350°. Place an 8-inch glass pie dish in oven to warm up.
Cook 1 cup sugar in a heavy saucepan over moderate heat, without stirring, until it begins to melt around the sides. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally with a spatula or wooden spoon. Wash down splattered sugar on the sides of the pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. When sugar completely melts and turns a deep golden caramel color, take pan off heat and remove pie dish from the oven. Immediately pour caramel into dish, tilting it to cover the bottom and sides of dish. Keep tilting dish so that caramel cools and thickens enough to coat the dish, then let caramel harden. Leave oven on at 350°.
In a separate saucepan, bring cream, milk and cloves to a low simmer over moderate heat, and remove from heat when cream mixture begins to bubble at the edges. Set aside.
With a spatula or wooden spoon, mix whole eggs, yolks and remaining 1 cup sugar in a large bowl until well combined, and then mix in pumpkin, vanilla, spices and salt. Using a whisk, slowly add hot cream mixture into the pumpkin mixture. (Make sure you whisk it in slowly or you will end up with a chunky custard that tastes like scrambled eggs.) Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, scraping it through with a spatula. Discard the 1/2 cup of solids that do not go through the sieve. Stir contents of the bowl to combine well, then pour mixture over cooled caramel in pie dish.
Place the pie dish in a larger, ovenproof pan with sides that are as high as the pie dish. Open oven and pull out middle rack halfway. Place pan with the pie dish on the rack and fill pan with enough warm water to reach halfway up the side of the dish. Carefully push rack back in and bake until custard is golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 1-1 1/4 hours. Remove dish from water bath and transfer to a rack to cool completely. Cover and chill until cold, at least 4 hours.
When ready to serve, take creme caramel out of the refrigerator and run a thin knife between creme caramel and sides of dish to loosen. Shake dish gently and when the custard moves freely in dish, invert a large platter with a lip over dish. Holding dish and platter securely together, quickly invert the two and slowly lift up the dish, making sure that the creme caramel is coming loose. (If your custard is not coming loose, gently wriggle your dish or you may have to run your knife around the sides again.) Once the custard comes out, caramel will pour out over and around the custard. Slice and serve.
