This Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse is an easy, no-bake dessert to satisfy pumpkin lovers.
Is it sacrilegious for a food blogger to admit in October that she doesn't really like anything with pumpkin?
There. I did it.
Pumpkin is just not my thing. However, there is the expectation that Thanksgiving dinner (which for all you non-Canadian readers is this weekend) should feature some kind of pumpkin dessert. As a child, I simply could not understand the ooh's and aah's when pumpkin pie was served with Thanksgiving dinner. Still can't.
And so, this little shot glass full of whipped pumpkin cheesecake mousse, just delicately flavoured with pumpkin is my offering for dessert, along with my Salted Caramel Apple Tart. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
Creamy Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse
Ingredients
Topping
- 1 cup chopped toasted pecans or hazelnuts
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
Cheesecake Mousse
- 8 oz pkg. reduced fat cream cheese
- ½ cup pure maple syrup
- ½ tsp each of cinnamon and nutmeg
- ¼ tsp each of ginger and cloves
- ¾ cup canned pumpkin
- 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 cups whipped heavy cream
- 2 tbsp icing sugar or granulated sugar
Instructions
- Prepare the nut topping first. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a small skillet. Stir in 2 tablespoons brown sugar and whisk until combined. Add 1 cup chopped pecans or hazelnuts, stir for 1 minute until well-coated. Remove from heat and set aside to cool.
- Cut the cream cheese into cubes and place in a mixing bowl. Whip until smooth, then add the maple syrup, spices and puréed pumpkin. Continue beating, scraping sides of bowl until well incorporated.
- Add the yogurt and whip until well mixed.
- In a separate bowl with clean beaters, whip the cream with the icing sugar until stiff.
- Gently fold into the pumpkin mixture using a rubber spatula.
- Use a piping bag (or a plastic zipper-style bag with a small hole cut in the corner) to carefully fill the shot glasses. Alternate layers of mousse and nut mixture, finishing with nuts on top. Chill until serving time.
This recipe was adapted from Two Peas and their Pod's Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse. I found it to taste too strongly of yogurt for my liking, so I adjusted the amount to make it milder, changed the topping, and served it as a shot glass dessert.
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