TASTES OF THE SEASON

easonS TASTES OF THE

PUMPKIN MOUSSE

with Cabernet Sauvignon Sun-Dried Cherry Sauce

Savor this cozy and aromatic dessert reminiscent of pumpkin pie with an incredibly light texture.

Serves 8

8 mini pumpkins, 3-inch diameters

FOR THE SAUCE (To be made one day in advance.)

• 2 cups Cabernet Sauvignon • 3/4 cup water • 2 tablespoons Kirschwasser liqueur • 1/2 cup sugar • 1 whole cinnamon stick • 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice • 2 teaspoons fresh orange juice • 1 cup sun-dried cherries • 4 tablespoons arrowroot • 1/2 cup cold water FOR THE MOUSSE

• 6 large egg yolks • 1/4 cup sugar • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger • 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • 1 teaspoon powdered gelatin • 1 tablespoon cold water • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin, room temperature • 1 cup heavy cream, softly whipped FOR GARNITURE

• 8 tempered dark chocolate ties • 1/2 cup toasted, crushed pecans • 16 toasted pecan halves

INSTRUCTIONS

To prepare the pumpkins: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Wash the pumpkins and use a sharp paring knife to cut out the tops, much like creating the lid of a jack o’ lantern. Reserve the tops. Scrape out the seeds and enough of the flesh to make room for the mousse. Place the pumpkins and the lids on a flat, lightly-oiled half-sheet pan. Bake until the flesh is tender and yields to the poke of a fork on the inside wall. Remove from the oven and place in the refrigerator. Chill thoroughly.

To make the sauce: Combine the first eight To make tempered chocolate ties: Place a ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, then clean half-sheet pan upside-down in the freezer remove from the heat. Cool and macerate overnight in for 10 minutes. When the pan is cold, fill a paper the refrigerator. The next day, strain out the cherries, cone with tempered dark chocolate and cut off reserve the liquid, and discard the cinnamon stick. the tip. Retrieve the frozen pan and quickly pipe Combine the arrowroot with the water and whisk until the chocolate onto the pan back and forth several smooth. Return the liquid to the stove, bring to a boil, times on a path the length of the pan and 1-inch and add two-thirds of the arrowroot mixture. Simmer wide. Create four piped wraps at a time. Quickly until thickened. The sauce should be syrupy enough to pick up each wrap before it sets too much and coat the back of a spoon. If too thin, add the remaining gently wrap around the mousse forming a tie in arrowroot mixture and simmer further. Remove from the front. Continue with another four on a newly the heat, add the reserved cherries, and blend well. frozen pan. If too thick, the sauce may be thinned with a bit more wine or water. Keep warm. To serve: Place a mousse-filled mini pumpkin in To make the mousse: In the 5-quart bowl of an on enough warm sauce to cover the bottoms of electric mixer, combine the egg yolks, sugar, cinnamon, the bowls. Garnish each mousse with crushed ginger, cloves and vanilla. Warm the mixture over a pecans and two pecan halves, and position the hot water bath (170 to 180 degrees) while whisking tops next to the pumpkins. constantly. Return the bowl to the machine and whip on high speed until very thick and pale in color. Whisk together the gelatin and cold water in a small bowl. A taste of theDissolve the gelatin with the water over a hot water bath and whisk in the egg yolk mixture. Place the DUQUESNE canned pumpkin in a large bowl, fold one-third of the gelatin/egg yolk mixture into the pumpkin to lighten it, then fold in the remaining gelatin/egg yolk mixture. CLUB When just blended, gently fold in the softly whipped This recipe is an excerpt from the fall section cream. of The Duquesne Club Cookbook: Four Seasons To complete the dish: Fill each chilled mini-pumpkin Executive Chef. with the mousse and refrigerate to set. Or, for a more dramatic presentation, first form a collar by placing a The cookbook is available for purchase at the l-inch high, 2- to 2 1/2-inch diameter metal ring over Front Office (412-471-6580). Member cost the opening in each pumpkin. Line the inside of the is $55, plus shipping and handling (if mailed) ring with acetate or parchment strips, or coat with and will be charged to your account. Orders cooking spray and sugar. Fill each pumpkin of 10 or more books are priced at $50 with mousse up to the rim of the each. The cookbook is also ring and refrigerate. Once the available for purchase mousse is set, remove the by non-members rings and peel off the for $60, plus acetate (if used). shipping and Make tempered handling. chocolate ties and wrap them around the collars. each of eight dinner-sized pasta bowls and spoon of Fine Dining, by Keith A. Coughenour, CEC,