Bert Greene’s Pumpkin Crème Brûlée

While I generally like crème brûlée’s rich vanilla egginess unadorned by other flavors, this one melds soft pumpkin with gentle spices, topping it with crackly caramel. The recipe is the late cookbook author Bert Greene’s version. I first made this dessert for Thanksgiving in 1981, when I gave thanks daily for returning to the U.S. From England, and I’ve made it for almost every Thanksgiving since.