With its creamy texture, gingersnap crumble crust and layer of salted caramel, your Halloween or Thanksgiving guests will swoon over this heavenly pumpkin cheesecake mousse!
I love it for a few reasons. First, and most importantly, it’s shockingly delicious. Second, a little bit goes a long way, so I can serve them in dainty glasses away from the dinner table.
I like to serve them after I’ve told my guests to return to the “parlor” (the section of my studio apartment with the couch) after dinner is finished.
I just quickly fix a round of after-dinner cocktails, then pull these already prepared out of the fridge and serve on a little tray without having to clean and reset the dinner table for dessert.
I hope you love this pumpkin cheesecake mousse as much as I do!
Help Yourself to a Little More Cozy, Autumn Inspiration
- Pumpkin Spice Carrot Cupcakes
- Instant Pot Pumpkin Risotto with Caramelized Onions
- How to Create a Gorgeous Autumn Crudités
- Super Simple Mini-Pumpkin Pies
For more inspiration, follow me on INSTAGRAM, on PINTEREST, TIKTOK and FACEBOOK! And if you ever make any of my tasty drinks or treats, take a picture and tag me. I want to see!
Pumpkin Cheesecake Mousse
Equipment
- food processor
- 2 large mixing bowls
- electric hand mixer
- pastry-piping bag and tip
Ingredients
For the crumble crust:
- 1 cup gingersnap cookie crumbs
- 3 tbsp. butter – melted
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
For the mousse:
- 8 oz. cream cheese – whipped (or very soft)
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup white sugar
- 15 oz. can – pumpkin puree
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract – real – not imitation
- 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice – or mix 3 tbsp. ground cinnamon, 2 tsp. ground ginger, 2 tsp. ground nutmeg, 1 ½ tsp. ground allspice and 1 ½ tsp. ground cloves
- 8 oz. heavy whipping cream
- 6 tbsp. salted caramel – I used Stonewall Kitchen Sea Salt Caramel Sauce for this dessert
Instructions
- Crush gingersnaps in a food processor, or put them in a freezer bag and roll them with a rolling pin (or just smash them with your fist) till they’re crumbs. Add melted butter, sugar and cinnamon. Pulse to incorporate. Press the mixture into the bottom of whatever pretty glass you’re serving your mousse in. Pour the salted caramel to cover the top of the pressed crumbs in a thin layer and place in the fridge.
- In a large bowl, beat the cream cheese, brown sugar and sugar until creamy with an electric mixer. Add in pumpkin, vanilla and pumpkin spice. Beat until fully blended. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Mix the cream into the pumpkin mixture.
- Spoon into a pastry bag, and fill your glasses.
- You’ll want to serve these desserts within an hour of pouring them into glasses, so if you don’t want to be mixing pumpkin mousse right before your party, simply make it the day before and spoon it into an air tight plastic bag. Pipe it into your glasses a half hour to an hour or so before your guests arrive the next day.
Erin
I made this for Halloween tonight, since the normal activities are out the window. It was DELICIOUS- I dropped some off at my grandparents house too!
I do have one question- my came out much more …liquid-y?? I couldn’t pipe the mix into a swirl, there was very much just a controlled pour going on. Do you know why that could be? (That said: the recipe is still delicious!!!!! And I’m absolutely gonna make this for thanksgiving too!!)
Genevieve Morrison
So happy you liked it! Hummmm… if it was a little liquid-y, it could have been maybe the cream wasn’t whipped enough? Or possibly, did you happen to use whipped cream cheese? It’s a little tough to tell. But I’m so happy you liked it, regardless!
Erin
I didn’t have whipped cream cheese, so I used regular- would that have done it?
Genevieve Morrison
Nope. You used the right cream cheese. Maybe the cream wasn’t whipped enough? That’s the only thing I can think of 🤔