ST. LOUIS - Ritz-Carlton executive pastry chef Simone Faure would like to practice a little voodoo on her pumpkin flan, but the U.S. Food and Drug Administration says she has to use plain vanilla.

The flan is one of more than a dozen pumpkin desserts Faure oversaw for a recent special Pumpkin Extravaganza Brunch in St. Louis. But the flan has special significance to her for a couple of reasons: She learned to make it from a mentor, James Satterwhite, another Ritz pastry chef; and his original recipe called for an ingredient that reminded her of the many generations of family history in her native New Orleans.

That ingredient was tonka bean, which is currently banned for use in food in the United States. But Faure knew she had seen - and smelled - the unusual bean when she was growing up.

"My grandmother practiced voodoo, and when I found out what the bean looked like, I remembered that it was something she had back in New Orleans," Faure said. "It's incredibly aromatic - like a vanilla bean, but much stronger and more complex."

Faure provided her current recipe for the flan, which uses vanilla extract instead of tonka bean, as well as recipes for two other pumpkin desserts.

Read more in Thursday's Life section.