Bourbon Pumpkin Flan

It’s no secret that I love pumpkin everything. Sweet or savory, it’s a safe assumption that I will enjoy whatever pumpkin treat comes my way. So when I was contacted about restaurants under the Darden Restaurant umbrella featuring pumpkin desserts for the month of October, I was happy to taste test!

I was sent a $30 gift card so that I could go to Red Lobster, Olive Garden, and Longhorn Steakhouse to try their pumpkin desserts. Here are the yummy offerings:

Red Lobster: Pumpkin Pie in a Jar – layered pumpkin and cream cheese mousse with a graham-cracker crust, topped with sugared pecans

Photo courtesy of Red Lobster

LongHorn Steakhouse: Pumpkin Spice Lava Cake – warm pumpkin spice cake filled with a cream cheese icing and drizzled with Maker’s Mark^® bourbon-caramel sauce and candied pecans

Photo courtesy of LongHorn Steakhouse

Olive Garden: Pumpkin Cheesecake – pumpkin cheesecake topped with whipped cream, caramel sauce and ginger cookie crumbles

Photo courtesy of Olive Garden

They are as delicious as they look! I unapologetically scarfed down each and every one. They are super rich so I’m sure you should probably share them. But hey, I’m not going to judge.

I was given a second $30 gift card to GIVE AWAY so that one reader can go try one (or all) of these desserts for themselves! More on that after the recipe! {THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED}

I made my own pumpkin dessert inspired by a mixture of the three above: Bourbon Pumpkin Flan with Graham Cracker Crumbs. This recipe incorporates the Bourbon in the Pumpkin Spice Lava Cake, the creaminess of the Pumpkin Cheesecake, and the graham cracker “crust” of the Pie in a Jar. I adapted this recipe from a Bon Appetit Pumpkin Flan recipe.

Ingredients:

• 6 large eggs
• 6 large egg yolks
• 1 3/4 cups sugar, divided (I used Sugar In The Raw for a deeper caramel flavorMi)
• 1 tablespoon bourbon
• 2 1/3 cups heavy cream, divided
• 1 cup milk
• 5 whole cloves
• 3 whole star anise
• 1 cardamom pod, cracked
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin purée
• 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
• freshly ground nutmeg

This recipe uses a lot of “whole” spices instead of the ground spices you usually see. In case you don’t know what you’re looking for, here’s some short information on them:

• Whole Cloves are actually dried flower buds. Those little guys pack a lot of flavor in so that’s why the recipe calls for so little. Cloves are commonly used in pumpkin pie spice but are also found in a bunch of savory dishes, especially in Asian, Afriancan, and Middle Eastern cooking.
• Whole Star Anise is the dried fruit of an evergreen plant found in China. It has a kind of licorice flavor to it and is found in Chinese Five Spice powder.
• Cardamom Pods are native to India and have a wonderful floral flavor to them that pairs nicely with pumpkin. There are both green and black cardamom pods (I used green in this recipe)
• Cinnamon Sticks are dried tree bark that has a warm spiciness to it. Cinnamon is commonly found in pumpkin spice mixes.
• Nutmeg is the seed of a tree that actually becomes both ground nutmeg and mace (mace is just the reddish outer layer ground). Nutmeg once ground loses its potency quickly, so that is why I suggest using a microplane to freshly grind nutmeg.

Begin by making your custard. Whisk the eggs, egg yolks, and 3/4 cups sugar in a large heatproof bowl.

Add 2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup milk, the whole cloves, star anise, cinnamon sticks, and cardamom pod to a large saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer.

Once simmering, remove from heat. Add the ground ginger and whisk to combine. Add a small amount of the hot liquid into the egg mixture and whisk to combine (This is so you can bring up the temperature of the egg mixture without “scrambling” it). Add the rest of the hot liquid and whisk to combine.

Allow to sit and steep for 30 minutes then strain.

Whisk in vanilla extract and pumpkin purée. Chill for 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Have 12 ramekins out and easily accessible. When you have about 30 minutes left before the flan is chilled, add 1 cup sugar and 1/4 cup water to a small heavy saucepan over low heat, mixing until sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil without stirring until the syrup is deep amber, brushing down sides of pan with a wet pastry brush and swirling pan occasionally, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat. Stir in 1/3 cup heavy cream; the caramel will bubble quite a bit so be prepared. Add the bourbon and stir to combine. Divide caramel evenly among ramekins; chill until set (~20 minutes).

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Remove the ramekins and the custard from the refrigerator. Divide the custard evenly among the ramekins. Place the ramekins in a large pan with sides. Add hot water to pan so that it comes halfway up sides of ramekins.

Bake at 350° until center is just set, 35-40 minutes. Chill until cold.

Invert onto plates. Sprinkle with the graham cracker crumbs and top with some freshly ground nutmeg.

This made my apartment smell SO good! And it tastes just as good too! The creamy pumpkin flan works really well with the bourbon caramel. The bourbon isn’t overwhelming at all, it just adds another level of flavor.

And I loved the crunch from the graham crackers on top.

To make it really decadent, add some whipped cream on top!

On to the giveaway. To enter, use the widget below. Good luck! {THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED}

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