Pumpkin Mousse Recipe
This light and fluffy mousse is made with roasted pumpkin for a rich, concentrated pumpkin flavor. No eggs (and no cooking) required– just a touch of sweetness and a warm blend of pumpkin pie spice. Top with homemade whipped cream or pumpkin spice whipped cream for the perfect finishing touch.
THE EASIEST PUMPKIN MOUSSE RECIPE YOU’LL EVER MAKE
When it comes to desserts, easy is the name of my game. Of course, every once in awhile I’ll break out some actual skills and encourage you to do the same (looking at you, angel food cake and cinnamon babka), but I prefer my recipes to have pantry ingredients, use common tools/equipment, and achieve the same desired results with a simplified technique.
That’s where this fresh pumpkin mousse (which has sort of a shortcut method) shines.
A quick peek at the options on the internet will show you that there are many shortcut methods out there, but most of them utilize cream cheese. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that choice, I knew I could get this mousse done without reaching for cream cheese and keeping the flavor as purely pumpkin as possible.
To achieve my desired results, I leaned into the popularity and simplicity of my chocolate mousse recipe. In the absence of eggs, there’s no cooking involved, no thermometers to break out, and a light and fluffy texture that is just going to rock your pumpkin-loving socks.
While mousse purists might shout that this easy pumpkin mousse recipe isn’t an authentic mousse recipe since we’re not making a gelatin or thick cooked egg base, it achieves the same things: pure pumpkin flavor, a light and airy texture, and the perfect make-ahead treat when you need to save time and/or oven space like on Thanksgiving when this dessert would make a great addition to your spread.
HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED
You only need 5 ingredients for this mousse, and if you want to top it with homemade whipped cream (or pumpkin spice whipped cream!), all of the ingredients you need you will already need to use. Talk about a kitchen win!
PUMPKIN PUREE: we’ll get 99.9% of our pumpkin flavor from fresh canned pumpkin. In my testing, I found that cooking out some of the moisture of the pumpkin rather than simply squeezing it out (like I do in my pumpkin ice cream) made for a better balance of moisture and a more robust pumpkin flavor (roasted pumpkin, anyone?).
HEAVY CREAM: this is the same as heavy whipping cream. This will be the bulk of the volume and texture for this mousse. You only need 1 cup, so if you grab a pint of heavy cream, you can use the other cup for the whipped cream topping.
POWDERED SUGAR: this is where we get the sweetness for our pumpkin mousse. I lean into powdered sugar as opposed to granulated sugar because I prefer the way it blends and it keeps things nice and light. I also make my whipped cream with powdered sugar, so you can use it for that component, too.
PUMPKIN PIE SPICE: this is where the remaining 0.1% of pumpkin flavor comes from! Just a bit more spice to round out the flavor and really deliver a punch of pumpkin.
VANILLA EXTRACT: this is not typically an ingredient I use in pumpkin recipes, but since part of the base is whipped cream, vanilla gives a nice balance to the overall flavor of the mousse. Be sure it’s pure vanilla and not imitation.
HOW TO MAKE PUMPKIN MOUSSE
I promise you that this recipe is quite simple. While it is no cook, there is a baking component to remove any additional moisture from the pumpkin. Be sure you’re building that time into your prep!
MAKE THE MOUSSE
Roast the pumpkin: spread the pumpkin purée evenly onto a prepared baking sheet with a spatula or the back of a spoon, then bake it for about 25-30 minutes. It will dry out, firm up, and turn darker in color. Allow it to cool completely before proceeding with the rest of the instructions.
Prepare the whipped cream: you can do this while the pumpkin cools, or you can do it after the pumpkin is already completely cool and ready to use. There’s no harm in letting that pumpkin sit! You’ll be whipping the heavy cream and powdered sugar until medium peaks. You can set it aside until the pumpkin portion is ready.
Blend the pumpkin with spices: you might be wondering why we’re adding the vanilla and spices to the roasted pumpkin rather than just beating it into the whipped cream, but we’re ensuring that pumpkin is spiced, flavored, and nice and smooth. Beating it separately from the heavy cream will help smooth out any of the lumps that formed from roasting and scraping.
Combine the whipped cream + pumpkin: gently beat the pumpkin into the whipped cream, then fold with a spatula until the mixture is completely homogenous. There should be no more orange or white streaks, and the color should be a nice even light orange with specks of spice.
TOPPING OPTIONS
Portion + top with whipped cream: while the whipped cream is optional, it’s such a nice touch! You can make regular whipped cream or a pumpkin spice version. If you’re feeling really fun, you can make a coffee whipped cream for a PSL kind of vibe! You can pre-portion out the mousse into dessert cups or just serve from the main bowl.
This homemade pumpkin mousse has the same light mouthfeel you love from traditional mousse with detectable specks of texture from the spices and actual pumpkin. It makes a great dessert for a buffet style spread, especially for a holiday, and it keeps in the refrigerator for a few days so you can save time on prep day.
Pumpkin Mousse Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350º (177ºC). Line a small baking sheet with parchment (or spray lightly with nonstick spray), then spread the pumpkin purée evenly onto the baking sheet with a spatula or the back of a spoon.
- 1 cup pumpkin purée1
- Roast the pumpkin for 25-30 minutes until it has started to firm up, dry out, and turn darker orange. Remove from the oven and set it aside to cool for about 20 minutes. You can speed up this process by putting it in the refrigerator.
- Meanwhile, prepare the whipped cream: pour the heavy cream and powdered sugar into a medium size bowl (if you plan on using a handheld electric mixer) or the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.
- 1 cup (240mL) heavy whipping cream,6 Tablespoons (45g) powdered sugar
- Whip the heavy cream on medium-high speed until it becomes thick and frothy, then increase the mixer speed to high and beat the mixture until it becomes thick and billowy and the mixer leaves a distinct trail with its revolutions (medium peaks). Stop the mixer and set the whipped cream aside until you are ready to add the pumpkin.
- When the pumpkin has cooled, scrape it off of the baking sheet and into a small bowl. Add the pumpkin pie spice and the vanilla, then stir or beat the mixture on low speed until it is smooth and all of the spice is incorporated and the pumpkin is smooth.
- 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice,½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- Add the pumpkin to the whipped cream, then beat everything together on medium-low speed until there are no more orange streaks. Stop the mixer, then use a spatula to fold the mousse together a few more times to be sure everything is well-combined. It is ready to use immediately, but you can also chill it before serving.
- Portion into dessert cups and add toppings (I suggest homemade whipped cream or pumpkin spice whipped cream or even coffee whipped cream for a PSL vibe) before serving. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. See notes3 for freezing instructions.
Notes
- Pumpkin: I always measure pumpkin purée with a measuring cup as the moisture content can wildly change the weight measurements, depending on the brand.
- Make ahead: you can prepare the components of this mousse up to 1 day in advance. Cover and store the cooked pumpkin and whipped cream in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Freezing: freezing and thawing leftover pumpkin mousse will diminish some of the “fluff” factor. Thaw in the refrigerator and rewhip in increments of 15 seconds to desired consistency.
