Say hello to fall with these Pumpkin Pie Mousse Cups! This light and fluffy mousse recipe is made with real pumpkin, for an authentic pumpkin spice taste. It’s served in a cute edible pumpkin-shaped bowl, too!
🎃 Light & fluffy pumpkin mousse
This delicious homemade pumpkin pie mousse is perfect for the transitional time between summer and fall. It’s full of great autumn flavors, but the light and fluffy texture doesn’t feel too heavy for these in-between days when temperatures are still warm.
What’s in pumpkin mousse?
This mousse is made with white chocolate, heavy cream, real pumpkin puree, LOTS of pumpkin pie spice, and whipped cream. The cream gives it a wonderfully light texture, while the white chocolate and a touch of gelatin keep it stable at room temperature. Tip: If you want to increase the pumpkin spice vibe, you can substitute pumpkin spice coffee creamer for the heavy cream, and it works beautifully.
If you find the thought of making mousse intimidating, this is the perfect recipe for you! It’s actually a cheater’s mousse. Traditionally, mousse is made with whipped egg whites or yolks or both, and it’s a little fiddly and time-consuming. This version retains all of the great texture of traditional mousse, but with less work and precision required. Score!
If you love the sound of this mousse, you have to try our popular Pumpkin Chocolate Mousse Cake, which features pumpkin, butterscotch, and salted caramel mousse layers on chocolate cake. It’s truly spectacular, and a real hit with anyone who makes it.
Table of Contents
🧾 What You’ll Need
Ingredients
This fabulous fall dessert is perfect for getting your pumpkin spice fix! Here’s what you’ll need:
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- White chocolate chips: When possible, I recommend using real white chocolate chips, or chopped white chocolate bars. Real white chocolate contains cocoa butter, and it has a deliciously smooth texture that improves the final product. Anything labeled “white chips” or “white baking chips” is not real white chocolate, and although you can use it in this recipe, the end result might be a little stiffer and less creamy.
- Heavy cream: When it comes to cream, the more fat, the better! This is why I recommend using “manufacturing cream” or “heavy cream” instead of “whipping cream,” when possible–they have higher fat contents, which makes whipped cream more stable and will improve the final product. If whipping cream is what you have, you can still use it with good results.
- Pumpkin puree: Make sure you are buying pumpkin puree and not pumpkin pie filling. Pie filling has added sugar and other ingredients, and it won’t work for this recipe.
- Pumpkin pie spice: You can’t have pumpkin pie mousse without pumpkin pie spice! This blend of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice adds the perfect touch of warmth and coziness to the recipe. See the FAQ below for tips on making you own pumpkin pie spice.
- Orange gel food coloring: Adding a few drops of orange food coloring gives the pumpkin mousse that traditional pumpkin orange color. You can omit the food coloring if you prefer.
- Unflavored powdered gelatin: Gelatin helps this mousse set firmer, and stay set at room temperature. If you don’t eat gelatin, you can omit it without any other changes. The mousse’s texture will be softer, and it should be kept refrigerated at all times, but it will still work out just fine.
- Candy coating: If you want to make the edible pumpkin candy bowls, you’ll need orange candy coating, like these orange Wilton Candy Melts. I also like to add a bit of yellow and brown coating to the orange, to make it more of a deep pumpkin color.
- Sprinkles or other decorations:Top with a sprinkle of cinnamon, a pinch of gingersnap crumbs, a dash of fall sprinkles, or pumpkin mellowcremes.
Equipment
You just need a few kitchen tools to put together this pumpkin mousse cup recipe! (Links are affiliate links and I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases.)
- Mini Bundt Pan: This mini bundt pan is the perfect shape for making the edible pumpkin candy cups.
- Cupcake Scoop: I like to use a scoop to fill the cups–it makes sure each one has the same amount of mousse.
- Pastry Brush: A pastry brush or paint brush that has only been used for food) is useful for making the candy cups.
📋 INSTRUCTIONS
Here’s a quick overview of how to make pumpkin mousse, and you can find the full printable instructions in the recipe card below. I love to serve this mousse in edible candy bowls, so I’m including instructions for making those as well. This is, of course, totally optional, and you can skip them if you’d like!
How to make pumpkin pie mousse cups
- Combine white chocolate chips and heavy cream in a large bowl. Microwave, stirring frequently, until the white chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Add pumpkin puree, salt, pumpkin pie spice, and orange food coloring to the bowl, and whisk them in.
- Set the pumpkin/white chocolate bowl aside to cool until it’s only slightly warm, stirring occasionally.
- While you wait for it to cool, prepare the gelatin. Whisk together powdered gelatin and cold water in a small bowl, and set it aside for about 5 minutes to let the gelatin absorb the water.
- When the white chocolate is at room temperature, microwave the bowl of gelatin for about 10 seconds, until it is melted and fluid, but not hot.
- Whisk the melted gelatin and white chocolate mixture together.
- Whip the remaining cream to medium peaks. Fold half of the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture.
- Once it’s incorporated, gently fold in the remaining whipped cream.
How to make candy pumpkin bowls
- Place candy coating in a medium bowl. I like to use mostly orange wafers, with a few yellow and brown, to make more of a “pumpkin” color. You can stick with plain orange if that’s what you have on hand.
- Microwave in 30-second increments until the coating is melted and smooth. Stir frequently so the candy coating doesn’t scorch.
- Dollop several large spoonfuls of melted candy coating in the bottom of one of the mini Bundt cavities. Brush the coating up the edges of the pan with a pastry brush. Cover any thin spots with a second layer of coating.
- Refrigerate the pan to set the coating, for 10-15 minutes. Gently remove the shells from the pan.
- Place the candy bowls on a baking sheet covered with parchment.
- Warm up the remaining candy coating, and dollop a spoonful into the hole in the center of each bowl, until the hole is filled. Chill the bowls until set. Your candy bowls are now ready to be filled with mousse!
- Divide the pumpkin spice mousse between the edible candy bowls, filling each with a generous cup of mousse, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours to firm up the gelatin.
💭 Variations
Here are a few ideas for customizing this pumpkin mousse recipe:
- Switch up the candy bowls: you can make round bowls using balloons (following this method) if you don’t have a bundt pan.
- Flavor the candy bowls: you can buy pumpkin spice flavoring oil to add to your candy coating if you want to double the pumpkin spice flavor of this dessert. Don’t try and use extract in the candy coating — extracts are water-based and will cause the coating to seize.
- Skip the candy bowls: the edible bowls are completely optional! You can scoop this mousse into jars, cups, or bowls and serve them that way instead.
- Add it to a cake: this mousse also makes a terrific cake layer. Check out our pumpkin mousse cake recipe for tips and instructions for using it in a cake.
💡 FAQs
Some readers have found that it can be difficult to remove the bowls. This does happen occasionally, and there are a couple things I’ve found that help: make sure the chocolate is very chilled when removing the bowls. If you’ve chilled the bowls for 10-15 minutes and they won’t come out, try giving them an additional 10-15 minutes and try again. If the bowls are still being very stubborn, give them a few minutes to sit on the counter at room temperature. As they begin to warm, the chocolate will loosen.
No, you don’t. The gelatin helps the stability of the mousse, especially if it will be at room temperature for significant amounts of time, but it is optional. If you omit the gelatin, I recommend keeping the mousse refrigerated until shortly before serving time. I have not tried this recipe with agar-agar and can’t advise as to whether that is a good substitute.
Yes, definitely! Just watch the texture: if your homemade puree is pretty watery, I recommend letting it drain for 15-20 minutes to remove excess water, otherwise the mousse texture will be affected. If the puree texture is similar to that of canned pumpkin, you’re good to go.
Pumpkin pie spice is easy to make at home. To make the 2 tsp this recipe requires, mix together 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp ginger, and 1/4 tsp each nutmeg and allspice. If you don’t have all of these spices, I recommend replacing whatever you’re missing with extra cinnamon.
The candy bowls can be made up to several months (!!!) in advance. Store them in a container in a cool, dry place. The mousse can be stored for up to a week. After it sets, wrap the mousse cups with plastic wrap to prevent it from drying out or absorbing smells from the refrigerator. Add the whipped cream and decorations shortly before serving.
🧡 More Pumpkin Desserts:
If you love pumpkin as much as I do, check out my collection of pumpkin dessert recipes! Here are just a few of my favorites:
Pumpkin Spice Hi-Hat Cupcakes
3-Ingredient Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Don’t miss the step-by-step tutorial showing how to make Pumpkin Pie Mousse – check out the web story here!
Leave a Review!
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Pumpkin Pie Mousse Cups
Ingredients
- 18 oz orange candy coating melts, or a mix of orange, yellow, and brown
- 14 oz white chocolate chips, (2 1/3 cups)
- ¾ cup heavy cream, or pumpkin spice coffee creamer
- 4.25 oz pumpkin puree, (1/2 cup)
- Pinch of salt
- 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- orange gel food coloring, I use Americolor brand
- 1 TBSP unflavored powdered gelatin
- 3 TBSP cold water
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
Instructions
To Make the Edible Candy Pumpkin Bowls:
- You’ll need a clean, dry mini bundt pan made of nonstick metal or silicon. Place the candy coating in a medium bowl, and microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after every 30 seconds to prevent overheating, until the coating is melted and smooth. I like to use mostly orange coating, with a few yellow and brown wafers thrown in, to make more of a “pumpkin” color. You can stick with plain orange if that’s what you have on hand.
- Dollop several large spoonfuls of melted coating in the bottom of one of the mini bundt cavities. Use a clean, wide brush to brush the melted coating up the sides of the pan in an even layer. Avoid covering the center core with any coating. Repeat until all of the cavities are lined with coating.
- Refrigerate the pan to set the coating, for 10-15 minutes. If there are any sparse or streaky areas on the sides, go back with a second coat and fill in any gaps in the coating. Refrigerate until completely firm.
- Gently remove the bowls from the bundt pan. If the coating is cold, it should be easy to slide from the nonstick metal or pop out of the silicon mold. Trim any excess coating from around the edges of the center hole, and place the bowls on a baking sheet covered with parchment.
- Warm up the remaining candy coating, and dollop a spoonful into the hole in the center of each bowl, until the hole is filled. Chill the bowls until set. Your candy bowls are now ready to be filled with mousse!
To Make the Pumpkin Spice Mousse:
- Combine the white chocolate chips and heavy cream (or pumpkin spice coffee creamer) in a large bowl. Microwave in 30-second increments, whisking every 30 seconds, until the white chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth.
- Add the pumpkin puree, salt, and pumpkin pie spice to the bowl, and whisk them in. Add 5-7 drops of orange gel food coloring (optional) and whisk it in as well. (The color will look very dark right now, but will lighten later once the whipped cream is added.) Set the white chocolate bowl aside to cool until it’s slightly warm or room temperature, stirring occasionally.
- While you wait for the chocolate mixture to cool, prepare the gelatin. Whisk together the gelatin and the cold water in a small bowl, and set it aside to let the gelatin absorb the water.
- Whip the heavy cream to medium peaks, and set it aside for a moment.
- When the white chocolate is at room temperature, it’s showtime! Microwave the bowl of gelatin for 10-12 seconds, until it is melted. Whisk the melted gelatin and white chocolate mixture together.
- Fold half of the whipped cream into the white chocolate, and once it’s incorporated, gently fold in the remaining whipped cream.
- Divide the pumpkin spice mousse between the edible candy bowls, filling each with a generous cup of mousse, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours to firm up the gelatin. (Overnight refrigeration is fine, too!) To serve, top the mousse bowls with a swirl of whipped cream and a shake of cinnamon, a pinch of crushed gingersnap cookies, a few sprinkles, or fall candies.
Video
Recipe Notes
Measuring Tips
Our recipes are developed using weight measurements, and we highly recommend using a kitchen scale for baking whenever possible. However, if you prefer to use cups, volume measurements are provided as well. PLEASE NOTE: the adage “8 oz = 1 cup” is NOT true when speaking about weight, so don’t be concerned if the measurements don’t fit this formula.
Want to learn more about baking measurements and conversion?
Nutrition
Hi I tried these bowls and my candy stuck to the pan.. when trying to remove all my bold broke how do I get the bowls out without breaking them?
Hi Sophia. I’m sorry to hear the recipe gave you trouble. Some readers have found that it can be difficult to remove the bowls. This does happen occasionally, and there are a couple things I’ve found that help: make sure the chocolate is very chilled when removing the bowls. If you’ve chilled the bowls for 10-15 minutes and they won’t come out, try giving them an additional 10-15 minutes and try again. If the bowls are still being very stubborn, give them 5-10 minutes to sit on the counter at room temperature. As they begin to warm, the chocolate will loosen. I will update the post to add these tips, as I imagine there are others who might have had the same experience. Please let us know how it goes if you end up giving it another try in the future.