Buzz
Fire brings fun. So does pie. And when you gently set your pumpkin pie on fire, the fun is just taken to the next level. Honestly, any custard pie seems made for a brûlée finish, but pumpkin is the seasonal star, so that's where our focus lies.
Picture this: Thanksgiving dinner is winding down. You're stuffed, drowsy, but it's pie and coffee time. You summon your energy. Then, like a Thanksgiving miracle, an autumn angel presents a tempting choice: would you prefer your pie with whipped cream, a caramelized sugar crust, or both? How loved would you feel in that moment? Very loved, I imagine.
Sure, you could brûlée the entire pie in advance, but there’s something magical about the table-side torching. People love fire. Plus, the crunchy sugary crust is at its peak just minutes after torching. You could even make it a fun interactive moment, letting guests sprinkle their own sugar or even wield the torch themselves—so long as they aren’t too tipsy.
This simple upgrade takes almost no effort and doesn’t require altering your recipe. Just bake your pie as you normally would, sprinkle a generous layer of table sugar on top, then torch it until the sugar bubbles and darkens, forming a caramelized, almost burnt crust that crisply shatters when you cut into it with your fork. After torching your pumpkin pie, try the same technique on other custard desserts. A brûléed cheesecake—pumpkin or otherwise—would be absolutely delicious.
