Posted on: Saturday, November 23, 2002

Room for dessert? Pumpkin parfait is easy, sure to please

Advertiser Staff

It's turkey weekend. That is, the great majority of households will be thinking about getting a turkey, the timing of cooking the turkey on Thanksgiving and eating lots of turkey in the coming week. Shopping tip: Do not — repeat, do NOT — go grocery shopping on Wednesday night unless you like crowds and desperation. Been there, hated that.

Those of us who aren't roasting the turkey might be assigned to bring dessert, such as:

Pumpkin Parfait

This is an easy dessert and can be very free-form. For example, you can mix the cream cheese entirely with the pumpkin and just fill up the serving containers with that, placing a dollop of whipped cream on top.

16 ounces pureed pumpkin
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
pinch of cloves
8 ounces cream cheese
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon bourbon or brandy
8 ounces (heavy) whipping cream
1/2 cup walnuts or pecans, lightly toasted
ginger-snap cookies (optional)

Combine pumpkin, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger and cloves in a bowl and stir to dissolve sugar.

Beat cream cheese until light. Add one teaspoon bourbon and beat well to mix. Add all but 1/2 cup of pumpkin to cream cheese mixture and beat well. Remove 1/2 cup of cream cheese mixture and set aside.

Divide cream cheese mixture among four to eight parfait glasses or other decorative glasses (more glasses mean smaller helpings, perhaps more appropriate after a big meal). Divide the pumpkin among them.

Beat 1/2 cup cream until stiff peaks form. Add reserved cream cheese mixture and beat to combine. Divide the cream mixture among the containers. Chill, several hours.

Before serving, beat remaining whipping cream until stiff, add remaining bourbon and beat to blend. Add to glasses. Chop nuts and ginger snaps, if using, and sprinkle them over the top of the cream.

Serve immediately.

Serves four to eight.