Hi guys! I'm Laura Vitale and today I'm going to be combining two requests in one. First
of all I hope you've all had an amazing holiday season and we're about to kick off the new
year - and I've had a lot of people request two different things. One, a lot of you requested
- or asked - if I could share with you a great New Year's Eve party dessert idea that would
be really great to make ahead of time and that would be a crowd pleaser. So we're going
to do that and I'm also combining that request with a very popular one which was a lot of
people asked 'can you please just share with us one more pumpkin recipe before the year
is over?' I know we are right around the time where pumpkin is pretty much going to be out
after this week and so I figured I would combine both of those two requests into one fabulous
little treat - that last treat of the year so we might as well go off with a bang. And
we are making mini pumpkin pie mousse shots.
They are incredibly good, such a crowd pleaser, beautiful to look at but literally take ten
minutes to put together and they're so fabulous - the ingredients you'll need are very few.
You'll start off with some - this is some instant vanilla pudding mix - you've gotta
get the regular kind, not the low fat, I prefer the whole regular kind.
I've got some heavy cream, crushed ginger snaps, pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and
whole milk.
That, my friend, is all you're going to need. It is such a great, great recipe - wait till
you see!
I am cheating by using some pudding mix and that's because it's going to give me really
great texture with not a lot of work. If I had to, right now after the holidays, make
a mousse with egg yolks and egg whites, I would feel a little bit under pressure especially
if we're doing it for a big party, so this is just going to do a lot of the work for
you.
And wait till you see how easy this is.
In this bowl, I've got my vanilla pumpkin pie - my vanilla pudding mix, to that I'm
going to add some cold milk, and all I'm going to do is mix these together until combined.
Now, to that I'm going to add my pumpkin puree, now this is not pumpkin pie mix, this is pure
pumpkin puree because you don't want the pumpkin pie mix because it has a lot of sugar in it,
and then to that I'm also going to add some pumpkin pie spice and I'm going to mix these
two together.
Okay, this looks fantastic. I'm going to set this aside because now I want to whip up my
heavy cream. Now, really, try to use heavy cream and whip it yourself, the consistency
is so much better than the pre-made whipped stuff so just go through the extra step of
whipping it yourself. Now you want this to be really nice stiff peaks, so I'm going to
give it a whirl.
Okay. Se that aside just for a second, bring my pumpkin mixture closer to me. And this
will thicken as it sits you just have to give it a bit.
And then you take your heavy whipped cream.
Awesome.
Get it all out of the bowl, and then all I do is I kind of just fold it all together
- you don't have to do this in any particular order, you just want to make sure that that
heavy cream is well mixed through, you also don't want to deflate this, so take your time.
Okay, now what I'm going to do is I'm going to set this aside and that, again, will firm
up as it sits. But now what I'm going to work on is kind of my serving strategy, if you
will.
What I like to use is little shot glasses, first of all this is a tray that I put upside
down so that you can see every layer really nicely. These are disposable little shot glasses.
They're clear so you can see everything but best of all, at the end of the night you can
get rid of them, you don't have to bother washing every single one of them by hand because
that would ruin any party for me.
Then what I do is I take a little spoon. So much in food is about you know, not only flavor,
but also texture.
So what I like to do is I like to do a little layer of gingersnaps, and all I did is I took
these gingersnaps and put them in a little resealable plastic bag and just bashed them
up with a rolling pin until they were about course crumbs, some are a little finer than
others because that's what I like, I like just a little bit of sandy texture and then
rubbles - I love that!
So what I'll do is I'll just do a little layer of my crushed gingersnaps, and then we'll
proceed to filling these all up!
And then all you do, you could either spoon your mousse into your little shot glasses,
which trust me, it makes a giant mess if you try and do this nice and neat and try to make
it presentable.
Or you can do what I'm doing, which is just - I filled a disposable piping bag with the
filling. I just have a round tip - a large round tip. I have no special tip o it because
it doesn't really make a difference in my opinion, and then you can fill these as high
as you want to. I'm going to refill this in just a minute.
Now let me give you just a little bit of advice:If you filling is a little bit too runny, pop
it in the fridge for ten minutes and it just kind of hardens up perfectly for you to be
able to pipe it. And at this point if it's at the right consistency, you can eat it right
away, or you can do what I do. I like to sprinkle a little bit more of my crushed gingersnaps
over top because, again, I like that texture. But I don't like too too much otherwise it
will kind of be overpowering because I do have a layer at the bottom as well.
And then you can serve them right away or you can pop them in the fridge at this point.
What I do is I just take a kitchen towel and just kind of lay it on top because it's not
really touching anything, pop it in the fridge until you're ready to party. I like to do
this a couple hours ahead of time I find that it's perfect and it's such an easy job you
can get anyone to do this. You can get kids to do this, you can get you know, your neighbor
to do this whoever you want to put to work can do this because it really is the kind
of thing you don't have to think about. And how impressive are they?
And it, you know especially when you're having a get together around the holidays, it's always
good to delegate a little bit so if people come around early, let them do this job. It's
really easy, they're not going to mess this up, and I want to show you - by the way, these
are disposable little spoons, amazing - and then it's just the texture is quite perfect.
Right?
But when you pop it into the fridge, it sets even more.
To die for!
Such a perfect little nibble, got a little bit of crunch from the gingersnaps, really
nice and lovely velvety smooth, I think, personally, I don't think this can be beaten.
I think it's a great make ahead holiday New Year's Eve dessert that everybody will love,
and if you're feeling fancy, top it with a little bit of whipped cream for just a little
something extra - not that it really needs it, but it is pretty presentation.
If you enjoyed this recipe and you want to make it for your New Year's Eve party, go
to LauraintheKitchen.com, get the recipe, make it for your friends and family, tag me
on facebook, twitter, instagram, wherever, so that I can see your recreation and I hope
that you have a magnificent New Year's Eve celebration, ringing in the new year - it's
such an exciting time and I hope to bring you so many fantastic things this upcoming
year, and thank you so much for spending the year with me, we cooked a lot of good things,
we've definitely had a good time and made a lot of great friendships, I feel like I
know so many of you. Almost on a personal level which is incredible and I just want
to thank you for just a really memorable, unforgettable year.
And I don't think 2015 is ready for us, I think you and I are going to go very far,
we're going to do some incredible things and I'm just so excited!
Let me know down below what you are looking for me to bring you this upcoming 2015, whether
it's field trips, whether it's shopping trips, whether it's outdoor segments, I want to hear
from you. I want to hear what you want to see here on Laura in the Kitchen this upcoming
year, because after all, I do love to cook. But I love to please you, so let me know your
suggestions down below, I hope you have a fantastic, fantastic, fantastic FANTASTIC
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and please, let's give a thumbs up for this video for
the last pumpkin recipe of the season, I think it deserves it and I think we went out with
a BANG.
Hope you've enjoyed spending time with me and I'll see you next time! Muah!
Bye!
Going back in!