pumpkin mousse.

so, for one of my classes i have to run a restaurant with 2 other people. we have create the whole menu, so clearly i was in charge of the dessert ;) since it's fall, we decided on a pumpkin mousse! i decided to make it just to make sure the recipe we found was a good one, and it is!

i found the recipe here. this recipe make it into a trifle, but i just used the pumpkin mousse. it only uses 1 1/4 cups of heavy cream and a little over 3/4 cups of sugar.

first, you want to make an ice bath, or, in non-baker terms, a bowl of water with ice and water. put a bowl in it so you are prepared. then, whisk the yolks, 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, and 3/4 cup cream together in a medium saucepan. heat while stirring continuously with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon over medium-low heat, until thickened and the mixture coats the spatula -- about 10 minutes. pour the mixture into the bowl in the ice bath. the recipe doesn't say to do so, but i ran it through a strainer just in case some of the egg yolks had curdled. once the egg mixture is cool, stir in the pumpkin, vanilla, spices, and salt.

mix together 1 tablespoon of the rum and the gelatin together in a small bowl. heat up the rest of the rum and stir into the rum/gelatin mixture until the gelatin dissolves completely. stir into the pumpkin mixture gently.

now, whip the rest of the heavy cream (1/2 cup) to stiff peaks.

fold the cream into the pumpkin mixture with a rubber spatula so you don't lose any of the volume in the cream.

cover with plastic wrap so it touches the mousse. this will prevent it from forming a weird film on the top of the mousse. put into the fridge for about 8 hours, or until you just can't wait any longer to eat it (not long at all in my case ;) ) i used a plastic bag with a star tip (for piping fancy stuff) to pipe the mousse into a bowl. this makes it look for upscale, for maybe a dinner party or something. if not, just spoon it into a bowl or your mouth.

ENJOY!

xoxo sarah :)