- 1 1/4 cups white sugar
- 2 tablespoons water
- 5 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 pinch ground allspice
- 1 pinch ground mace
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
- 1 3/4 cups low-fat milk
- 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped out and reserved
- 2 tablespoons hulled toasted pumpkin seeds (optional)
- Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
- Set eight (5 1/2 ounce) ramekins into a large baking dish.
- Stir together 1 1/4 cups sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat; cook and stir until dark amber, about 10 minutes.
- Quickly divide the caramel among the ramekins; set aside.
- Whisk eggs, cinnamon, salt, cloves, ginger, allspice, mace, and 1/3 cup sugar together in a large bowl. Stir in pumpkin puree until smooth.
- Heat milk in a saucepan over medium-low heat until it starts to gently bubble and steam. Remove from heat.
- Place vanilla bean seeds and pod in milk. Allow to soak for 10 minutes. Slowly strain hot milk mixture into the egg mixture and whisk to form a thin custard.
- Divide the custard evenly among the ramekins, leaving about 1/4 inch at the top of each.
- Fill baking dish with hot water to reach halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the baking dish with heavy-duty aluminum foil.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the flan is just set, 45 to 50 minutes.
- Remove ramekins from hot water to cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least four hours.
- Run a knife around the inside edge of each ramekin and place an overturned plate on top. Invert and release the flan. Garnish and serve.