Homemade Pumpkin Mousse (Easy, No Gelatin)

This easy homemade pumpkin mousse is a gorgeous treat after a fall feast! It’s a light, fluffy option when you’re craving pumpkin pie flavour.

Photos by Kelly Neil

If you love pumpkin pie, you will LOVE this light pumpkin mousse! It tastes like light fluffy pumpkin pie filling! That being said, we want you to know, this recipe contains raw egg yolks. Though the risk is minimal, we don’t recommend pregnant, very young, or elderly people eating this pumpkin mousse recipe.

Traditional French mousse is made with both raw egg yolks and raw egg whites, however, we substituted whipped cream for whipped egg whites. We highly recommend using room temperature egg yolks as they make for a lighter mousse than eggs that are cold from the fridge.

The mousse itself is unbelievably easy to prepare and you can use fresh or canned pumpkin. We used canned pumpkin purée here (not pumpkin pie filling). If you’d like to make your own from scratch, check out this post called How To Make Homemade Pumpkin Purée.

We upped the spiciness level of the mousse with 2 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. If you want yours a little less spicy, reduce the amount to 1 ½ teaspoons. Also, keep in mind the mousse must chill before serving, at least two hours, so plan accordingly.

For garnish, we topped our pumpkin mousse with candied pecans and crumbled gingersnap cookies. We used this recipe for Candied Walnuts With Cinnamon & Brown Sugar, however, we substituted pecans and white sugar for this post.

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Method
• Tips & Notes
• Substitutions
• Recipe

Ingredients

• Egg Yolks—We use large eggs in this recipe and the egg yolks weigh between 15 to 20 grams each.
• Powdered Sugar—Also called icing sugar or confectioners sugar. Use a sieve to sift the sugar into the eggs yolks to avoid lumps.
• Pumpkin Purée—This is not pumpkin pie filling. We haven’t tested it, but you could probably use pumpkin pie filling in place of the purée and pumpkin pie spice. Again, we haven’t tested this.
• 35% Whipping Cream—We whip the heavy cream to soft peaks. That means the cream holds its shape, but is still soft, flows a bit, and is not stiff. We haven’t tried this either but you could try using Cool Whip in place of heavy cream.
• Pumpkin Pie Spice—The quintessential autumn spice blend. Available in most grocery stores in the spice section of the baking aisle.

Method

Combine the egg yolks and powdered sugar together in a mixing bowl. Using a sieve to sift the sugar, reduces the risk of lumps. We find it easiest to press the sugar through the sieve using the back of a spoon.

• 

• 

Using a hand or stand mixer, whisk the two together on high speed.

• 

• 

When it seems like the ingredients are well mixed, stop and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.

• 

• 

Continue to mix the egg yolks on high speed until the mixture is pale yellow and creamy, about 1 minute.

• 

• 

Add the pumpkin purée, pumpkin pie spice, and salt to the bowl. Again, stop halfway and scrape down the sides of the bowl.

• 

• 

Continue to mix until the pumpkin is well combined, about 1 minute.

• 

• 

Add the heavy cream and vanilla to a second mixing bowl (or, transfer the pumpkin mixture to another vessel then wash and dry the first bowl). Whisk the cream on high speed.

• 

• 

You want to reach the soft peak stage, where the cream holds its shape but isn’t stiff, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Spoon the pumpkin into the bowl of whipped cream. Gently fold the pumpkin and cream together. Be gentle so the cream doesn’t deflate too much.

Keep folding the pumpkin and cream together until no white or orange streaks remain.

Spoon the mousse into four small bowls or glasses. Place the mousse in the refrigerator to chill for 4 to 5 hours before serving.

When ready to serve, top the pumpkin mousse cups with more whipped cream, a sprinkle of candied nuts, or crumbled gingersnap cookies.

Tips & Notes

About Consuming Raw Egg Yolks

If you are worried about consuming raw egg yolks, you could try cooking the the pumpkin mixture. We haven’t tested this, however, we think the best way to do so is to cook the pumpkin-egg yolk mixture over medium-low heat until it reaches a temperature of 170ºF (77ºC). Once the mixture reaches temperature, remove it from the heat and let it cool completely before folding it into the whipped cream.

Eggs are considered safe to eat once they reach 160ºF (71ºC), but most classic custards are cooked to 170ºF (77ºC). Anywhere in that range is fine.

About the Pumpkin Mousse

This mousse is light and fluffy. It is not stable enough to use as pie filling.

How To Store

Because this recipe only makes four servings, we cover the mousse dishes loosely with plastic wrap and keep them in the fridge until ready to serve. We haven’t tried freezing the mousse.

Pumpkin mousse will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days.

Substitutions

Substitutes For Pumpkin Pie Spice

We love homemade spice blends! If you can’t find, or don’t like pumpkin pie spice, consider trying homemade chai spice or this apple pie spice mix.

Mix Ins & Variations

• Fold in ½ cup of chocolate or butterscotch chips when you fold the pumpkin and whipped cream together.
• Top the mousse with a drizzle of caramel or salted caramel sauce, or chocolate sauce.
• Make a streusel topping for garnish.
• Crushed meringues would be very pretty as a topping!
• Crumble brown sugar shortbread cookies, gluten-free gingerbread cookies, or brown butter sesame seed cookies would be cute tucked on top as a garnish.
• Sprinkle mini marshmallows on top before serving.

More Easy Pumpkin Desserts

Brown Butter Pumpkin Bread Pudding
Pumpkin & Chocolate Marble Loaf Cake
Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

If you make this recipe, let us know by tagging @baked_theblog + #bakedtheblog on Instagram! We love to feel like we’re in the kitchen with you.