11.21.18
It’s Thanksgiving Eve! Is that a thing? It should be! On Christmas Eve there’s all this preparation and anticipation for the next day, isn’t Thanksgiving the same? I’d argue I’m even more excited for Thanksgiving because the goal is being around your favorite people and eating a ton of food. I try to make that happen in my life even when it’s not a holiday!
Since I’ve been working on puff pastry this year, I thought I’d go a step further and make some little cups, or vol au vent if you’re fancy AF. They turned out great and are such a beautiful way to showcase any filling: curd, cream, or pudding. I’m a little obsessed with making these guys. Rough puff is not as daunting as it sounds! I know the instructions seem intense, but I recommend watching a video on making rough puff pastry to show how accessible it is.
I have two Thanksgiving dinners I’m taking part in over the next two days. While I’m sad my husband has to be out of town on a work trip through the holiday, I still get to be around some of my closest friends. I’m also grateful I’m not working on Thanksgiving. As someone who only got out of the restaurant life a year and some change ago, I’ve always worked holidays. Being able to wake up on my own, make coffee and stay in my PJs all morning is something I do not take for granted. If you happen to go out to eat at any part on Thanksgiving, whether it be brunch or dinner, be extra kind to your server or those working at the restaurant, it goes a long way in making the work day tolerable for them.
If you wanna keep up with the dessert journey, go check out my Instagram. Otherwise, I’ll be back next week. No matter who you’re with, how you’re spending the day, what you believe, or who you worship, I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with love and joy, plenty of laughter and some really good stuffing. I hope there are board games and wine and soft clothes and Charlie Brown waiting for the Great Pumpkin. Happy Happy Thanksgiving to you!
Pumpkin Mousse Pastries
Ingredients
For The Puff Pastry
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 10 Tbsp unsalted butter, cold
- 1/3 cup ice cold water
- 1 egg, lightly beaten, for wash
For the Mousse
- 1/2 tsp cornstarch
- 1/2 tsp water
- 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup heavy cream, separated
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- pinch of nutmeg
- pinch of salt
- pinch of pepper
- 1 tsp vanilla
For Decoration (optional)
- White chocolate chips
- confectioners sugar
Instructions
For the Puff Pastry
- In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt and cinnamon
- Using a cheese grater, grate cold butter into flour mixture half at a time, making sure to break up and mix in butter with your fingers so it become coarse crumbs throughout
- Create a well in the middle of your ingredients and pour in ice cold water
- Gently mix with a fork until shaggy dough begins to come together*
- Roll out into a 10″ long rectangle on a lightly floured surface
- Fold each end into the center, like a letter and give the dough a quarter turn. Reroll into a long rectangle again and repeat folding and turning process, at least 5 to 7 times
- On the last fold, do not roll out but wrap tightly in plastic wrap and allow to chill in the fridge overnight
- Once chilled, roll dough into a large rectangle about 12″x15″
- Using a circular or fluted cookie cutter, cut 24 pastries out of the dough
- In HALF of pastries, cut out a small circle in the center, but DO NOT remove
- Brush the pastries without the circle with egg wash
- Carefully place pastries with center circles onto ones without, so you have 12 pastries
- Brush the tops with egg wash and place in the fridge to chill while oven warms up (about 10 minutes)**
- Preheat oven to 400
- Once chilled, bake for 15-17 minutes until shiny and golden brown on top
- Allow to cool about 5 minutes before carefully using a paring knife to cut out the centers and scraping out excess dough to create a hollow cup (make sure to not completely cut through the bottom)
For the Mousse
- In a tiny bowl, mix together 1/2 tsp water and cornstarch until cornstarch is dissolved. Set aside
- In a small sauce pan, whisk together pumpkin, 1/4 cup cream, sugar, maple syrup, spices, and salt over low heat until combined, about 2-3 minutes
- Bring the heat to medium and allow to boil, as soon as one or two lava bubbles appear in the center, add in cornstarch mixture and bring heat back to low, whisking for another minute
- Remove from heat and push mixture through a sieve into a medium bowl to cool completely
- Once cooled, beat remaining 1/2 cup cream in a chilled bowl of a stand up mixer with a chilled whisk attachment
- Once soft peaks begin to form, add in vanilla and beat until firm peaks form
- Fold in 1/3 of whipped cream into pumpkin mixture until no white streaks remain
- Add in rest of whipped cream and fold until no white streaks remain
- Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill in fridge over night
- Once chilled, transfer mousse to piping bag with star tip of your choice
- Sprinkle confectioners sugar over pastry cups
- Pipe mousse into pastry
- If desired, melt white chocolate in short bursts in microwave, drizzle onto acetate and allow to set overnight as well before breaking apart and placing on mousse cups
- Enjoy immediately
Notes
*Depending on the humidity in your kitchen, you could need a little extra water or flour to make the dough come together. This should not be a wet dough, but if there’s still powdered flour that won’t mix in as you stir, add a bit more water
**Since this dough needs to be cold, I don’t preheat my oven until they’re chilling in the fridge, these keeps the dough from melting while you work with it
