One of the best parts of the holiday season is enjoying the food you love with those you love.
Families come together over a meal–often to eat foods specially saved for this special time of year. Roast turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and pumpkin pie. All the good stuff, right?! However, for many people, the holiday season is a hurdle to jump over because of the sugary, processed, and all-too-tempting goodies.
Over dinner this weekend, we talked with some friends about why they are concerned about the holidays this year. They are looking forward to spending time with family. They can’t wait to sit down and catch up over a long meal. And yet…
They just started eating Paleo.
They feel great, they’ve lost weight, and they are stoked to continue making healthy choices–but they’re families aren’t in the same place.
Their main question is “how do we bring an enjoyable holiday treat to family gatherings without it being full of junk?”
My answer?
Pumpkin Trifle. It’s a little fancy, but the creamy mousse and whipped cream make it pure comfort food. It’s like pumpkin pie in a glass.
So, here’s to enjoying the heck out of the holiday season and eating healthy while doing it!
Pumpkin Trifle
grain free, serves 8
inspired by Epicurious
Ingredients
The Cake
½ cup coconut flour (find it here)
¼ tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
½ cup coconut oil
½ cup honey
2 tsp. milk
5 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
The Pumpkin Mousse
1 Tbsp. unflavored gelatin (find it here)
1/4 cup cold water
1 (16-ounce) box pumpkin puree (make your own here or find BPA-free box of puree here)
1/2 cup honey, preferably raw, local
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup chilled heavy cream, preferably organic or raw*
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
The Whipped Cream
1 1/2 cups chilled heavy cream, preferably organic or raw*
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. honey (optional, more if desired)
The Garnish
chopped crystallized ginger
*for dairy-free alternative, make coconut whipped cream instead. Directions to follow.
Directions
The Cake
Preheat oven to 350F and line an 11×7 baking dish with parchment paper.
Combine the coconut flour, baking soda and sea salt in a small bowl.
In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, honey, milk, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla until combined.
Slowly incorporate the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Whisk until the dry ingredients are completely incorporated into the wet ingredients. (The batter will be on the thin side.)
Line an 11×7-baking dish with parchment paper and pour batter into the lined baking dish. Spread the batter evenly in the pan with a spatula.
Bake at 350F for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown.
Let cool. Once cooled, cut the cake into small 1 in cubes.
The Pumpkin Mousse
In a small saucepan, add cold water and sprinkle gelatin over the water. Stir and let sit for about a minute. Bring to a simmer and continuously stir until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Remove from heat.
In a large bowl, combine pumpkin, honey, spices, salt and gelatin mixture and whisk together until fully incorporated.
In another large bowl, combine whipping cream and vanilla. With a hand mixer, beat whipping cream and vanilla until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the pumpkin mixture until fully combined.
The Whipped Cream
Using the same large bowl that you already whipped cream in, add the other 1 1/2 cups whipping cream, honey and vanilla. With a hand mixer, beat until soft peaks form.
Now Put It All Together
For a single trifle dish, place half of the cake cubes as the bottom layer on the dish. Pour half of the pumpkin mousse over the cubes. Then spread half of the whipped cream on top. Repeat with the second half of the cake cubes, the the second half of the mousse, then the rest of the whipped cream. Garnish with chopped crystallized ginger if desired.
For individual serving glasses, take about 3-4 cake cubes and place them as the bottom layer in each glass. Add a large spoonful of pumpkin mousse on top of the cubes. Then add a large spoonful of whipped cream. Continue layering in this way until glasses are full and ingredients are used! Garnish with chopped crystallized ginger.
*To make dairy-free coconut whipped cream,
- Refrigerate 2 cans of coconut milk for at least 3-4 hours
- The cream will separate. Scoop out the thick, white cream into a mixing bowl.
- Add the honey and vanilla
- Beat the cream on high with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
- Use half for the mousse, half for the whipped cream topping
Happy Fall, Y’all!
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