Hello everyone!
I hope you all had a fun Halloween weekend.
This past weekend whizzed by and I meant to post this recipe many days ago, but have been incredibly busy over the last few days. If any of you are following me on Twitter, you may have noticed my occasional references to studying over the last several weeks. To make a long story short, I’m taking the GRE test (for nursing school applications) tomorrow morning at 7:30 am sharp and have been trying to squeeze in last minute preparation for the past couple weeks. For the last couple days, I’ve been hunched over my books and spending hours doing practice tests and drills. I’m looking forward to having it past me, so I can have more free time and hopefully blog on a more regular (aka: less bizarre) schedule.
We also had my grandfather’s memorial service on Saturday afternoon in DC (day of the famous Colbert/Stewart rally!), so I’ve been spending a lot of time with family and friends in my spare time.
Ok…enough blabbing. On to the exciting stuff!
This custard is the perfect thing to make if you’ve been craving pumpkin pie lately, but didn’t want all the fuss and time spent making a homemade crust. It is also a lot lighter and healthier! Don’t get me wrong, I love a great pie crust, but I completely forgot about the importance of crust when I was eating this.
While it takes almost no time to put together, it does take a long time to bake custard in the oven. Be prepared for it to take the full cooking time, unlike me, who kept flicking the oven light on and off impatiently. I also made this at night around 10:30 pm, which I wouldn’t recommend.
Simple Pumpkin Pie Custard
Makes 3 Ramekins
1/2 cup skim milk
1 whole egg
1 1/2 egg whites
2 1/2 tablespoons granulated sugar
heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pureed pumpkin
3 tablespoons maple syrup, divided
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Pour 1 tablespoon of maple syrup into each ramekin, swirl to cover the bottom.
- Whisk together egg, egg whites, and sugar. Add pumpkin, vanilla, salt and spices. Gently whisk in milk. Pour equally into ramekins.
- Place ramekins into baking dish and fill with boiling hot water until 1/4 of the side of the ramekins are covered.
- Bake for 60-70 minutes. They are done when the middle of the custard is set and does not wiggle when lightly tapped. Let cool completely, cover and store in refrigerator. These tasted delicious cold or heated slightly in the microwave!
Grab a spoon and dig in!
This was comfort food at its very best. I actually recommend doubling the recipe, because they will disappear incredibly quickly. I can’t wait to make more of these over the Thanksgiving holidays!
Back to the books!
Those look really good. Especially since I usually only get the pumpkin pie taste on Thanksgiving.
I hope your test went well!
I love this idea of a crustless pumpkin pie. I’m currently trying to write a magazine article for “healthy” holiday desserts and so far I’ve come up clueless (I guess I like my butter and heavy cream too much?). This might just be just the place to start. I bet it’s amazing too, isn’t it? I’m such a sucker for pumpkin pie.
this sounds amazing! I can’t believe how little sugar there is in it. I can’t wait to try this! I don’t even reallyl ike pie crust so this will be perfect! Do you think if I used almond milk I should cut back on the sugar?
The maple syrup compensates for it! Almost like flan. Sweetened almond milk, right? I haven’t tried it with that, but maybe you should cut it down to a little under two tablespoons. That might be a good compromise. Let me know how it works out!
PS. Double it!
I just made another one of these custards last weekend, but it was much richer with cream and whole eggs – although I still felt pretty good (healthwise) about the fact it was missing a crust. Tempted to try this lighter version!
Oh really? This one does have one whole egg, but the rest are whites. The skim milk lightens it up a lot and I promise you won’t miss the cream. My only regret was that I should have made more of them, hehe.
<3 Laura
Totally delicious looking and GLUTEN FREE! I must make these over Thanksgiving
So glad you like it (and can eat it)!
Let me know what you think of the recipe, if you make it.
<3 Laura
I didn’t grow up celebrating Thanksgiving, and I hate pies, so I don’t really have a fave Thanksgiving dessert. But the weird thing is, I LOVE making pies…they are so…relaxing. And the making of the crust is my fave part! I think I’ll make this some day for my parents, though. They really don’t need that crust.
Oh perfect for this time of year. Love the individual idea, those that want cream can have and people like me don’t have to have it.
I think if I were to ever make that, I’d dump a whole bunch of sugar on top and brulee it
haha way to make it healthy, Monique 
Good luck on the GRE!!! I didn’t find it all that complicated, the math was pretty easy (says the English major who passed out of math/science in college haha oops). But seriously, good luck! You’ll do GRE-at. bad pun.
Ugh! I’m so frustrated, I took it today and found out my scores within like 20 seconds of it being over, but for some reason, I didn’t do nearly as well in either section as I had been during studying. Oh well, at least I don’t need to retake it.
Brulee sounds awesome! Didn’t you see my bad pun title? Haha
<3 Laura
These sounds delicious! I think the 60 – 70 minute wait would be well worth it
Looks make that “this sounds delicious”…I couldn’t resist correcting my own typo
My sister is a HUGE pumpkin pie fan but always leaves the crust. This recipe would be just perfect for her!!
It was worth it in the end! But I kept wanting to try them
You hate pies?!?! I don’t think we can be friends anymore. Kidding! I actually like making crusts too, but sometimes I get lazy. Love the comment about your parents, they might deserve crust every now and then
Really?! This would be perfect, because you get that pumpkin pie craving satisfied, but don’t end up stuffed. Let me know if you try it! Thanks for visiting
<3 Laura
That really sounds amazing!
Thank you!! I’m so glad you posted this challenge, it was a lot of fun. Can’t wait to see what everyone else came up with
<3 Laura
[...] Laura: Pumpkin Pie Custard [...]
This sounds delicious! I will take pumpkin any which way this time of year
Thanks Evan! I wholeheartedly agree with that statement
[...] #1: Simple Pumpkin Pie Custard [...]
Thanks Kristin! Haha. This is one of my favorite recipes on the blog–and it really is very healthy and full of protein/fiber. It is so good! I almost prefer it to the pie crust version
Let me know if you try it out!