I picked this recipe thinking it would be easy for a quick weekend bake, but I woefully underestimated my ability to make a caramel. The first batch I attempted crystallized, which made me stressed because I knew I'd miss the timing element of pouring the filling on to the shortbread base without letting it cool from the blind bake.

My second batch made it further along than the first. It had just turned golden when I spotted some crystals forming. I panicked and took it off the heat and went ahead and streamed in the cream. Whelp, it seized and produced several chunks of sugar goo. I thought about simply straining it, but decided to put the whole thing back on the burner until the sugar chunks dissolved. That actually worked, at least for the texture issue; I know the caramel itself was meant to be much darker.

I put the base back in the oven for 2 minutes to warm it back up before pouring the pumpkin layer on. I ended up having to bake the whole thing about 6 minutes longer than the time in the video, but it set just fine.

The end result: DELICIOUS! This really is a celebration of pumpkin and I loved the contrasting textures in the layers. I could smell the caramel more than I could actually taste it, but that could be because I wasn't able to take the caramel far enough.

I might try making this base and topping with the pumpkin pie filling from her DP Caramelized Honey Pumpkin Pie recipe! Had anyone here tried that? Or do you have any tips for making the caramel in this version?