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
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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. pumpkin purée
- 1 tsp. real vanilla extract
- 1 tsp. pumpkin 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 – melted – I used Stonewall Kitchen Sea Salt Caramel Sauce for this dessert
Instructions
- Crumble gingersnaps in a food processor on a purée setting until you have 1 cup of crumbs. Add 3 tbsp. melted butter, 1 tsp. sugar and 1 tsp. cinnamon. Pulse to incorporate. Distribute crumbs evenly into serving glasses. Pour 1 tbsp. salted caramel into each glass over crumbs in a thin layer. Refrigerate while making mousse.
- In a large mixing bowl, add 8 oz. cream cheese, ½ cup brown sugar, ½ cup white sugar, 15 oz. pumpkin purée, 1 tsp. vanilla extract and 1 tsp. pumpkin spice. Beat with an electric mixer until smooth. In a separate bowl, whip 8 oz. heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture.
- Spoon into a pastry-piping bag. Allow to "set" in the refrigerator for at least an hour. Fill your glasses and serve.
Laurie Siegmund
Ok, I know that I already made these for an event. I mentioned that everyone raved about them but, to be honest, I didn’t event taste one because I don’t love sweets. I made them again tonight for a dinner party and just had to taste it. Wow, it was delicious. I knew to dig right to the bottom of the glass for the gingerbread and salted caramel goodness. My guests took the two leftovers home as we are not sweet eaters. I didn’t save a bit of the gingerbread crumbs for the topping but I drizzled a bit of the salted caramel sauce on top of the whipped cream. You never disappoint Genevieve! I tell all of my friends to find and follow!
Genevieve Morrison
Awww, thank you so much Laurie! Xoxo!
Laurie Siegmund
Well these were a hit today at a Lady’s luncheon that I catered. It was for 25 ladies and I made the recipe X4. There was one LG. Ziploc left over. The hostess was so elated that she had it to take home. Many rave reviews! It’s a keeper and perfect for the Holidays coming up.
Genevieve Morrison
Oh how nice! I’m so happy it worked out! Thank you for letting me know! Xoxo
Laurie
Thank you!
Laurie Siegmund
Hi Genevieve. I am making this for a ladies Fall luncheon on Sunday. It says that it serves 6. What size of serving dishes did you use. I didn’t want to serve in the mini cups so I got 7 oz. I am serving 25 ladies. Thank you!!
Genevieve Morrison
The servings are about 5-6 ounces. My glasses hold ½cup but I overfilled them, so my servings were about 6 ounces when filled. I think you should be perfect with glasses that hold 7 oz. You’ll just want to multiply the recipe by 4.
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 🤔