Pumpkin Crème Brulee

There is a great restaurant in Richmond, Virgina called Ipanema. They are best known for their pies, but when Greg and I were there a few weeks ago I also got coffee crème brulee. Greg hates coffee, so he didn’t get to appreciate how nice it was. But after we got back I was determined to make a batch in a different flavor. I scanned a few cookbooks, and found a recipe for pumpkin crème brulee in Vegan Desserts. I have looked through Vegan Desserts several times, but I think is the first time I actually used it. Confession: I am a cookbook hoarder. I buy them all the time, and they pile up on my shelves and look adorable. But I don’t use them near enough. Hopefully MoFo will help me remedy this.
Anyways, back to the sugar. The crème brulee was really nice. The custard was like warm pumpkin pie with a nice crunchy topping. I think my kitchen torch was a little low on fuel, because I was having trouble getting the sugar to caramelize. I know that I could have broiled it in my oven. But the drawer was full of pans and I just couldn’t bring myself to empty it all out. I would definitely make this again if I were having people over for dinner, so that we could all have nicely plated single serving desserts.
Are there are things that you all use your kitchen torches for? I have used it to toast marshmallows and now for this dessert, but I feel like I need to find more ways to make it useful. Otherwise it's just taking up space that I could put another cookbook on.