This makes a great filling for my orange-inflected sufganiyot, and serves as my offering for Thanksgivukkah.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup light cream or half and half
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons pumpkin puree
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
3 tablespoons plus 3 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preparation:

In a small saucepan, warm the milk over low heat until it is just hot enough to steam. While the milk is warming, whisk together the egg yolks, pumpkin, sugar, flour, spices, and cornstarch until the mixture is completely smooth.

Once the milk is steaming, add half of it, whisking constantly, to the pumpkin mixture. Add the milk and pumpkin back into the hot milk, continue stirring, and heat it for 1-2 minutes, until the custard reaches 170F on a digital thermometer and is very thick. Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla extract, and chill the pumpkin pastry cream before using it.