Fluffy white chocolate pumpkin mousse collides with a spiced gingersnap crust in this luxurious chilled pie that’s perfect for any Thanksgiving table or fall event!
We need to talk about you potentially ditching the traditional pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving this year and serving up this mousse masterpiece instead.
All the pie bases are pretty much covered here since we’ve got a buttery gingersnap crust, rich white chocolate AND creamy pumpkin in the mousse filling, and naturally, tons of whipped cream action.
Not only can you prep this beauty way in advance for Thanksgiving but it just brightens up a dessert table with how gorgeous it is! Plus it slices like an absolute dream.
You just can’t not love it. This pie is everything you could ever ask for of a dessert.
This Mousse Pie features…
- A buttery spiced gingersnap crumb crust
- A lusciously fluffy pumpkin white chocolate mousse filling
- Homemade whipped cream and white chocolate shavings on top
- Easy to make ahead of time for gatherings with simple ingredients
Making the Mousse Pie
(scroll down to the bottom of the post for the full recipe)
Ingredients You Will Need
- Gingersnap cookie crumbs
- Brown sugar
- Cinnamon
- Unsalted butter
- Unflavored gelatin
- Eggs
- Granulated sugar
- 2% or skim milk
- White chocolate
- Vanilla extract
- Pumpkin puree
- Heavy cream
- Powdered sugar
How to Make Gingersnap Crumbs
To make gingersnap crumbs, place cookies in a food processor and pulse several times until cookies are in fine crumbs.
If you don’t own a food processor, you can place cookies in a ziplock bag and crush with a rolling pin, but this method does take a lot longer to get fine crumbs.
Tips for Perfect Mousse Pie
- Allow crust to cool after baking – it’s super important to allow your crust to cool before adding the mousse filling because otherwise it may collapse from the residual heat.
- Bloom gelatin – to bloom the gelatin, dissolve it in cold water and let sit for a few minutes. This ensures that the gelatin will mix evenly into the other ingredients without any clumps.
- Separate eggs – the egg yolks will get heated with milk and sugar while the egg whites will get whipped until fluffy.
- Chop white chocolate – this will help it melt into the filling easier.
- Gently fold egg whites and whipped cream into filling – it’s very important to use a light hand when folding in these ingredients because this is what gives the mousse it’s signature light and fluffy texture.
- Chill pie – let the pie chill 3 hours before serving to allow the mousse filling to set.
Recipe Variations
Try these ideas for a different twist on this pie.
- Use graham cracker crumbs – we love the warming spice flavor the gingersnaps give this pie, but the gingersnaps can easily be replaced with graham crumbs.
- Top pie – for an extra garnish feel free to garnish pie with a drizzle of caramel, candied pecans, or melted semisweet chocolate.
Storing and Serving Pie
This pie stores well in refrigerator up to 4 days. For best results we recommend waiting until just before serving to whip the cream for the topping to prevent it from collapsing.
If needed, this pie can be frozen up to 1 month but be aware that it may alter the fluffy mousse texture slightly once thawed. We recommend freezing without the whipped cream topping and adding this once thawed.
There’s absolutely no resisting an XL slice of this pie once dessert rolls around! The combination of the fluffy pumpkin mousse with the rich white chocolate and spiced gingersnap crust is a trio of flavors that just work.
No way around it, this is going to become a pie favorite in your house!
Save this recipe using the ‘save to recipe box’ button below. If you make it, please let us know! Leave a comment + star rating below, or take a photo and tag it on Instagram with #wholeandheavenlyoven.
More luxurious pumpkin desserts to try next!
White Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Pie
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Ingredients
Gingersnap Crust
- 1-1/2 cups plus 1 tablespoon gingersnap cookie crumbs
- 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 5 tablespoons unsalted melted butter
White Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Filling
- 1/4 cup water
- 2-1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
- 3 large eggs, separated
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup 2% or skim milk
- 4 oz white chocolate, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1-1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream, divided
- 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
- White chocolate shavings for serving
Instructions
Gingersnap Crust
- In a medium bowl, combine all crust ingredients until crumbly. Pat into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie pan.
- Bake crust at 350F 10-12 minutes until crust is firm to the touch and fragrant. Cool crust completely on a wire cooling rack.
White Chocolate Pumpkin Mousse Filling
- Place water in a small bowl and sprinkle gelatin over top. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In a medium bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until thick and smooth, about 1 minute of beating. Heat milk in a medium saucepan over medium heat until steaming (do not let boil). Very slowly drizzle hot milk into egg yolk mixture, a little at a time to temper the egg yolks. Once all the milk has been added to egg yolks, add all back to saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture is slightly thickened and at a low simmer.
- Offheat, strain hot milk mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl. Whisk gelatin mixture, white chocolate, vanilla, and pumpkin pie spice into milk mixture until chocolate and gelatin is melted. Whisk in pumpkin puree and let cool several minutes.
- In a separate medium bowl with a handheld electric mixer OR stand mixer, beat egg whites to stiff peaks. In a separate medium bowl, whip 1/2 cup heavy cream to stiff peaks.
- Very gently fold beaten egg whites and heavy cream into cooled white chocolate mixture.
- Spoon filling into cooled crust and smooth top. Refrigerate pie 3 hours until set.
- When ready to serve, place remaining 1/2 cup heavy cream and powdered sugar in a large bowl or a stand mixer. Use a handheld electric mixer or a whip attachment to beat cream to stiff peaks.
- Top pie with whipped cream and white chocolate shavings. Slice pie and serve. Enjoy!
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