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Pumpkin Mousse with Toffee Crunch and Cran-Raspberry Sauce

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These delicious mini Pumpkin Mousse with Toffee Crunch & Cran-Raspberry Sauce will be the highlight of any Thanksgiving dessert table!

Pumpkin Mousse

I have been waiting all year for Fall to arrive in Los Angeles, along with “The Great Pumpkin” from Charlie Brown. Or maybe I am just looking for an excuse to make something with pumpkin. Either way, this recipe is in my standard fall rotation. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Today’s Recipe: Pumpkin Mousse with Toffee Crunch

Making this treat in mini dessert glasses helps everyone with portion control, and looks oh so impressive. You can buy the mini dessert glasses at Bed, Bath & Beyond.

Making Pumpkin Mousse
Start the recipe by making a simple toffee brittle, then mixing whip cream with pumpkin and spices. You can make the cran-raspberry sauce in advance and freeze. The leftover sauce is also great on ice cream.

Making Pumpkin Mousse

Assembly of these festive desserts is a bit messy but well worth the effort. I suggest using a piping bag to fill the glasses with pumpkin. Make your own by using a plastic bag with a corner cut off.

Note: You can make Pumpkin Mousse with Toffee Crunch ahead of time and freeze it, which makes this great for transporting to a party. You can also double the recipe and make it in a trifle bowl.

No matter what shape dish you put this dessert in, it always looks beautiful.

Pumpkin Mousse with Toffee Crunch and Cran-Raspberry Sauce

Recipe reposted from October 12, 2012

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Pumpkin Mousse with Toffee Crunch and Cran-Raspberry Sauce

These delicious mini pumpkin parfaits will be the highlight of any Thanksgiving dessert table. This recipe will make approx. 15 mini desserts depending on the size of your glasses. If using full portions (4 oz.) it will make 6 desserts.
Course Dessert

Ingredients

Toffee Crunch

  • Vegetable oil
  • 1 package baking toffee bits such as Heath or Skor, in the baking section next to chocolate chips
  • 8 teaspoons packed dark brown sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoon unsalted butter melted

Mousse

  • 1 3/4 cups chilled heavy whipping cream
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1 1/4 cups canned pure pumpkin
  • 2 tablespoons dark rum
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice

Cranberry Sauce

  • 1 package fresh or frozen cranberries 12 oz
  • ½ cup water
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup raspberry vinegar
  • 1 package frozen raspberries 12 oz

Instructions

For Toffee Crunch:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line rimmed baking sheet with foil; brush generously with vegetable oil. Toss toffee bits, sugar, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Add butter and toss to coat. Place mixture in center of prepared sheet; pat to single layer. Bake until toffee bits are soft (but retain shape), about 8-10 minutes. Watch closely as this will burn quickly. Cool crunch completely on sheet. Transfer to work surface; chop coarsely, saving bigger pieces for topping the dessert.

For Pumpkin Mousse:

  1. Whisk 3/4 cup whipping cream, sugar, and egg yolks in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Stir over medium-low heat until thickened to pudding consistency, about 10 minutes (do not boil). Transfer mixture to large bowl. Mix in pumpkin, rum, vanilla, ground cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, salt, and allspice. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, stirring occasionally, about 40 minutes.
  2. Beat remaining 1 cup cream in another large bowl until cream holds peaks. Fold remaining whipped cream into pumpkin mixture. Cover and refrigerate mousse at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

For Cran-Raspberry Sauce:

  1. Bring water and sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add cranberries and vinegar and return to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in raspberries during the last few minutes. Pour sauce into a bowl, cover and cool completely at room temperature. Refrigerate until you are ready to assemble dessert. This can be made in advance and frozen. Defrost before assembling dessert.

To Assemble Dessert:

  1. In each mini dish, add approximately 1 teaspoon of cranberry sauce. Pipe or drop dollop of mousse in each goblet, then add 1 teaspoon of toffee crunch. Top with more pumpkin mousse. Cover; refrigerate or freeze overnight. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Garnish with big Toffee Crunch pieces.

Quote of the Week

“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.” – 
Jim Davis

I second that.

…and then she paused for thought.  

Yum

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Look at all the pumpkin!!! I haven’t gotten enough of pumpkin yet this fall, but did go to Waffle on Sunset Strip this past Saturday, and had pumpkin waffles with pumpkin mousse. I desperately wanted to re-create the whole dish too, and the pumpkin mousse was eluding me! It eludes me no longer! Thank you!!

    I notice quite a few peeps from Camp Blogaway.. What event were you at?

    Reply

  3. Cathy, I have a question: when you say to use toffee bits, is that plain toffee (not covered in chocolate, right?) because you mention Heath, but I thought that only comes with chocolate.

    Reply

  4. I’m having a sugar high reading the recipe, but I LOVE pumpkin anything!! I think I will have to make my chicken with pumpkin recipe tomorrow!! All the dishes looked so beautiful. I need to take a class with Denise Vivaldi and learn how to do all that….

    Reply

    • Thanks Kristi! It started out as one recipe and morphed into another at the last minute. And you know that can make the recipe a hit or miss. At the party is seemed to be a hit, so I was very happy! 🙂

      Reply

  8. I am still feeling the taste of your creamy mousse on the tip of my tongue with that lovely hit of dark rum…and the cranberry and raspberry sauce with that gorgeous toffee crunch…WOW! What a clever girl! P.S. I adore your photographs!

    Reply

  11. OMG – I so have to make this!! I can never get enough pumpkin, and the toffee crunch and sauce sound like the perfect mousse companions. YUM!

    Reply

  12. Cathy, I love this recipe! Wishing people weren’t already “signed up” to bring pies to my Thanksgiving, b/c I would have had a go at this. I’ll have to do it for another fall party. YUM!

    Reply

  13. How in THE WORLD did I miss this recipe!! Oh my goodness this is fall all wrapped up in a beautiful package!! Love that you can freeze it as well – what could be better??? Well, aside from having it in front on me right now with a spoon!

    Reply

  15. I’m doing a “tiny” Thanksgiving this year for two people and I want everything “contained”. Turkey stuffed portabello mushrooms, mini baked sweet potatoes (in skin), and now this. Thanks GREG

    Reply

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