Best Pumpkin Mousse Cream Puffs With Maple Caramel Sauce Recipes

PUMPKIN-FILLED CREAM PUFFS WITH MAPLE-CARAMEL SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.
• To make the Cream Puffs: In a medium saucepan combine water, butter, sugar, and salt. Bring to boiling over medium heat. Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon. Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball and pulls away from the side of the pan. Remove from heat; cool for 10 minutes. Add eggs one at a time beating well with a wooden spoon after each addition.
• Drop 8 heaping tablespoons of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until golden brown and firm. Transfer cream puffs to a wire rack and let cool.
• To make the Pumpkin Mousse Filling: using a chilled large mixing bowl beat 1 cup whipping cream, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice with the chilled beaters of an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form (tips curl). Fold in 1 cup canned pumpkin. Cover and chill for up to 4 hours.
• To make the Maple-Caramel sauce: In a small heavy saucepan stir together 1/2 cup packed brown sugar and 1 tablespoon cornstarch. Stir in 1/3 cup half-and-half or light cream, 1/4 cup water, 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup, and 1 tablespoon butter.
• Cook and stir over medium heat until slightly thickened and bubbly (mixture may appear curdled before it bubbles). Cook and stir for 2 minutes more. Remove from heat; stir in 1/2 teaspoon vanilla.
• Using a serrated knife, cut each cream puff in half horizontally; remove soft dough from inside. Fill cream puffs with Pumpkin Mousse. Replace tops. Spoon some of the warm Maple-Caramel Sauce onto eight dessert plates; sprinkle with some of the toasted pecans.
• Place a filled cream puff on top of the sauce on each plate. Drizzle each cream puff with remaining sauce and sprinkle with remaining pecans. Cover and chill for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

PUMPKIN CREAM PUFFS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Place the butter, water, and salt in a heavy saucepan, and bring to a full rolling boil. Stir in the flour and beat vigorously until the mixture forms a ball. Place the dough ball in a mixing bowl, and beat in the eggs, one at a time, adding the next egg when the last one has been fully incorporated.
• Drop dough by tablespoons onto an ungreased baking sheet, and bake until the puffs rise and are golden brown on top, with fully-cooked insides, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool before filling. Cut the cream puffs horizontally with a serrated knife.
• To make filling, place the cream in the work bowl of an electric mixer, and whip until beginning to thicken, about 1 minute. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar and pumpkin pie spice until well-mixed, and continue mixing until the cream forms soft peaks, about 3 minutes.
• Use a rubber spatula or wire whisk to fold 1/3 of the pumpkin puree into the whipped cream. Gently run the spatula through the center of the bowl, then around the sides of the bowl, repeating until fully incorporated. Add the remaining pumpkin puree, folding just until incorporated.
• Spoon about 2 tablespoons of the pumpkin cream filling into each puff, and dust the top of each puff with confectioners' sugar and a pinch of pumpkin pie spice for garnish. Refrigerate leftovers.

PUMPKIN CUSTARD PROFITEROLES WITH MAPLE CARAMEL

Steps:

• For maple caramel:
• Stir sugar and butter in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until blended and smooth. Whisk in cream. Bring to boil, stirring until caramel bits dissolve. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in bourbon and vanilla; simmer 1 minute. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
• For pumpkin custard:
• Preheat oven to 325°F. Whisk cream and next 6 ingredients in heavy large saucepan. Bring to simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Whisk sugar and egg yolks in medium bowl. Gradually stir hot pumpkin mixture into egg yolk mixture.
• Pour pumpkin custard into 8x8x2-inch glass baking dish; cover with foil. Place dish in 13x9x2-inch baking pan. Fill baking pan with enough hot water to come halfway up sides of dish. Bake until custard is set in center, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Cool completely. Cover and chill until cold, at least 4 hours. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled.)
• For profiteroles:
• Preheat oven to 425°F. Line 2 large rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper. Bring 1/2 cup water, milk, butter, sugar, and salt to boil in heavy large saucepan. Stir in flour; cook over medium-high heat, stirring vigorously, until dough is smooth and pulls away from sides of pan, about 1 minute. Transfer hot mixture to standing mixer. Beat dough with paddle attachment at medium speed until slightly cool, about 3 minutes. Add 3 eggs, 1 at a time, beating until blended after each addition. Beat in egg yolk until blended.
• Spoon 16 mounds of batter about the size of large eggs onto prepared sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Beat remaining egg in small bowl to blend. Brush tops of profiteroles lightly with beaten egg. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven to 375°F. Continue baking until puffed and dark golden brown, about 30 minutes longer. Transfer to rack to cool completely. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Store in airtight container in freezer. Remove from freezer a few hours before continuing.)
• Rewarm caramel sauce. Using serrated knife, slice profiteroles horizontally in half. Spoon rounded 1/3 cup filling into bottom half of each profiterole. Cover with top halves. Drizzle with sauce. Spoon dollop of whipped cream atop profiteroles. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and serve.

MAPLE PUMPKIN MOUSSES

Steps:

• Slice off the stem ends of each pumpkin 1 inch from the top, reserving them, scrape out the seeds and the membranes, reserving the seeds for toasting if desired, and brush the insides of the pumpkins with the butter. Top the pumpkins with the reserved stem ends and bake them in a glass baking dish in the middle of a preheated 375°F. oven for 45 minutes, or until the pulp is tender. (Alternatively, the pumpkins may be microwaved, uncovered, at high power (100%) for 12 to 15 minutes, or until the pulp is tender.)
• Let the pumpkins cool in the dish until they can be handled and discard any liquid that may have accumulated in them. Scoop out the pulp from the shells and the stems, being careful not to puncture the shells, force the pulp through a sieve into a metal bowl, and whisk in the maple syrup and the cinnamon. In a very small saucepan sprinkle the gelatin over the water, let it soften for 1 minute, and heat the mixture over moderate heat, stirring, until the gelatin is dissolved. Whisk the gelatin mixture into the pumpkin mixture.
• In a bowl beat the cream until it holds soft peaks and whisk it into the pumpkin mixture. Chill the mixture in the bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and cold water until it is the consistency of raw egg whites, spoon it into the shells, and chill the mousses, covered loosely with plastic wrap, for at least 6 hours or overnight. Garnish the mousses with the pumpkin-seed brittle.

PUMPKIN FLAN WITH MAPLE CARAMEL

Steps:

• For the caramel, combine the sugar, maple syrup and 1/3 cup water in a small deep heavy-bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil, swirling the pan (don?t stir!) to dissolve the sugar. Cook at a low boil without stirring for 5 to 10 minutes, until the mixture turns a golden brown and registers 230 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Watch it carefully so it doesn?t burn! Off the heat, swirl in the fleur de sel and immediately pour into an 8-by-2-inch round cake pan (not a springform!). Set aside to cool for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, place the sweetened condensed milk, evaporated milk, canned pumpkin and mascarpone in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat on medium-low speed until smooth. Whisk in the eggs, vanilla, maple extract, orange zest, cinnamon and nutmeg. Gently pour the pumpkin mixture into the pan with the caramel so they don?t combine.
• Place the pan in a roasting pan large enough to hold the cake pan flat and fill the roasting pan with enough of the hottest tap water to come halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake in the center of the oven for 70 to 75 minutes, until the custard is just set. It will be firm but still jiggle slightly in the middle; a knife inserted into the center of the flan will come out clean. Remove the flan from the water bath, place on a cooling rack and cool completely. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Don?t tilt the pan or the caramel will run out!
• Run a small knife around the edge of the flan. Turn a flat serving plate with a slight lip over the cake pan and flip them, turning the flan out onto the plate. The caramel should run out over the flan. Cut into wedges and serve with the caramel spooned over each slice.