Pumpkin Delight

This Pumpkin Delight dessert is a delicious holiday alternative to pumpkin pie.  It’s light, airy and full of delicious fall pumpkin pie flavour!

So a big change has flown into our home like a giant tornado…we adopted a puppy.  A little stinker.  A cute little ankle biter Labradoodle named Molly!  She’s been with us for one week now, and wow.  Puppies are busy!  I feel the need to share this news with you because she’s become such an all consuming part of our home.  We’re wrapped around her little paws.

But what does she have to do with this Pumpkin Delight Dessert recipe?

Well, let’s just say blogging has become a bit harder to do these days.  Because this…

Ummmmmm…puppies licking the props makes for a very difficult time taking pictures.  Trying to get a photo of this Pumpkin Delight dessert was a challenge hahaha!  But on the bright side, I can now say not only is this dessert family and kid approved, but apparently it’s also puppy approved.  Le sigh.

Anyway, back to dessert.  For Thanksgiving (Canadian Thanksgiving) this year, I didn’t feel like making a traditional pumpkin pie, so I decided to try something new. I wanted the taste of pumpkin pie, but without the traditional pie crust.  So when I saw a recipe for Pumpkin Delight on the blog Li’l Luna, I needed to make it.  I changed up a couple of the ingredients, and used my own recipe for the crust (it’s the same recipe I use for my Pudding In a Pan recipe), and it turned out SO fantastic!  It’s light, airy and full of delicious fall pumpkin pie flavour!

This dessert isn’t complicated, but it takes a little time to prepare.  The good news is it actually tastes even better after it has sat for a day or even 2, so you can make it ahead of time.  Letting it rest and set for a a day or so, softens the crust and allows for the pumpkin and spices to meld together.  So delicious.  And who can’t love a dessert that you can make ahead of time, then just pull out of the fridge when you’re ready for it?  Takes away so much stress during holiday dinner preparations.

If you’re looking for an alternative to pumpkin pie, you should try this!  We all loved it so much!

Pumpkin Delight

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• Author: Jo-Anna Rooney
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x

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Description

This dessert needs at least 3 hours to chill before serving.

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Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

The Crust:

• 1 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter

Cream Cheese Layer:

• 1 – 8 oz package of cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1 cup whipped cream

Pumpkin Fluff Layer:

• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 3 small packages of instant white chocolate or vanilla pudding (the ~3.5 oz packages)
• 1 – 398 mL can pure pumpkin puree
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup whipped cream

Whipped Topping:

• 2 cups whipping cream
• chopped pecans for garnish

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Instructions

Whipped Cream:

1. This recipe requires whipped cream for 3 out of the 4 layers of the dessert. I like to use real whip cream for all of my desserts, so for this recipe I used a 1L container of heavy cream and whipped it up so it was ready to use when I needed it.

The Crust:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a mixer combine the chopped nuts, flour, sugar and butter.
3. Press the nut mixture into the baking dish.
4. Bake for about 15 minutes. Don’t overcook it or the crust will be too hard.
5. Once the crust is done baking, set it aside and let it cool completely.

Cream Cheese Layer:

1. Using a mixer, cream together the cream cheese and icing sugar until smooth.
2. Add the 1 cup of whipped cream and mix.
3. Transfer to another bowl, and set aside.

Pumpkin Fluff Layer:

1. Using a mixer cream together the milk and pudding mix until smooth.
2. Add the pumpkin puree, spices and whipped cream. Mix completely.
3. Set aside.

Putting it all together:

1. Once the crust is cooled, spread on the cream cheese layer.
2. Then spread on the pumpkin fluff layer.
3. Spread on the remaining whipped cream.
4. Garnish with chopped pecans or dust with ground cinnamon.
5. Chill for at least 3 hours, or overnight is best.

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Notes

This recipe requires using a mixer for each layer, but don’t worry, you don’t need to clean the mixer between each step.

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Have a delicious day!