For camping in the fall, here is a great dessert recipe that is easy and delicious.

The flavors of fall

Living in New Mexico in the fall, there becomes a rivalry between the roasted Chile fans and the pumpkin pie spice fans.

I am both. I mean, seriously, how could I choose only one?

No cauliflower in this recipe!

I’ve been experimenting with a lot of cauliflower recipes, but I wanted to give us, and you, a break from the cauliflower recipes. And after all it is pumpkin - and pumpkin pie spice - season.

The spice blend, not the fruit

In case you haven’t ever taken time to think about the difference, there is a big difference between pumpkin flesh and pumpkin pie spice.

The term “pumpkin pie spice” refers, of course, to the blend of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, allspice, and cloves.

That blend of spices tastes good in a lot of dishes. I mix the spice into my afternoon latte.  We sprinkle it over cottage cheese or yogurt. It makes a fall veggie hash really pop.

But the blend is most well known for being mixed with cooked, mashed pumpkin (pumpkin puree) to fill a favorite fall pie. Pumpkin pie. The very words evoke memories of all those Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners at my Grandparents’ home.

Carb blah blah

OK, so here is the part where I bore you with the detail that Tony and I cut back on our carb intake this year, so I’ve been looking for recipes to satisfy some cravings while not completely carb-loading.

And, it is fall, so pumpkin (yes, and green chiles but that’s a post for another day) simply must figure prominently in recipes.

Memories and taste buds

As much as I am craving pumpkin pie, that simply doesn’t fit our lifestyle any more. However, pumpkin is perfectly acceptable. Pumpkin pie without crust isn’t quite right either.

So I scoured cookbooks and websites to come up with a solution to my craving, and found recipes for whipped pumpkin desserts. I added a bit of my own touch to it and I now present you with Pumpkin Fluff.

I have to admit, before I found good recipes to guide me, I tried to make this dessert with very little sweetener. It didn’t work out so well. It tasted good enough, it just didn’t satisfy the sweet tooth like I needed.

Monk Fruit

Like real sugar, sugar substitutes should be enjoyed in moderation. We have found that having a small stock of monk fruit sweetener works for us. In the few occasions that we need something sweetened, the monk fruit sweetener fits the bill for us. It packs a little bit more of a punch than sugar, so if you use it as a substitute in a recipe, you might want to cut back a bit.

We do not find monk fruit sweetener to have a bad aftertaste. I know that’s a problem with a lot of artificial sweeteners.

Fluffy Camping

One great thing about this recipe is how easy it is to mix up. It can be mixed and stored in the same covered bowl, and served as needed. There aren’t too many ingredients. And the only “staple” required is the pumpkin pie spice, which as I’ve mentioned, I like to keep in the camper at all times anyway. So this is an easy and delicious dessert recipe for fall camping.

Ingredients

12 ounces Pumpkin Puree

8 ounces Cream Cheese, softened

2/3 cup Monk Fruit Sweetener

1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream

2 tsp Ground Cinnamon

1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Ground Cloves

1/4 tsp Ground Ginger

1/4 tsp Allspice

1/8 tsp Salt

Oh, Pumpkin

• If you have cooked and pureed your own pumpkin, you’ll use 1 ½ cups of puree

• If you didn’t have that much time or energy this year, use most of a can

Pie Spice

• If you don’t have individual spices, you can use 3 or 3 ½ teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. I keep a jar in the house and one in the camper, so I always have it accessible. That’s a lot easier than storing all the spices individually and remembering ratios.

Whip It Good

• Whip the pumpkin puree and cream cheese until smooth

• Add sweetener, spices, and heavy cream and keep mixing until it’s all mixed together

• Chill for a couple hours.

Can You Top That?

• Whip up some heavy cream with vanilla extract

• Sprinkle on some roasted or candied pecans

• Slice open a vanilla bean and sprinkle with vanilla seeds

Presentation

You are correct, my bowl of fluff isn’t nearly as pretty as the picture in the cookbook. But you know what? It still tasted delicious and it’s easier to store! For serving, scoop the fluff into small bowls and top as desired. This will keep in the fridge for a few days; keep it covered.