Want a Halloween dessert recipe that’s a little scary, but mostly delicious? Then you need to try these Ghostly Pumpkin Spice Mousse Cups! To build these cute ghost mousse cups, we spooned our pumpkin spice mousse (recipe below) on top of a pre-made chocolate cake with our cream ghosts. The mix of flavors and textures in this recipe works perfectly!
And with the help of a pre-made or boxed chocolate cake, these delicious ghosts are super easy to put together. They can easily be made gluten free, sugar free, low carb and/or keto resistant. They are the perfect Halloween dessert!
How to Make Ghostly Pumpkin Spice Mousse Cups
Make the Pumpkin Spice Mousse
To make pumpkin spice mousse, start with cream cheese, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, vanilla extract, and sweetener of choice. Prepared whipped cream is folded in to lighten the texture.
Tips for a super smooth mousse: Make sure the cream cheese is softened before blending with the pumpkin puree for a silky smooth mousse. If it’s not smooth enough and you find yourself with little white chunks of cream cheese, pop the bowl in the microwave for about 10-15 seconds to soften and then whisk until smooth.
This pumpkin mousse is very delicious as a stand-alone dessert, although we dare say it’s ghost-free.
Assembling dessert cups
Chocolate cake (bottom layer)
Add your favorite pre-made chocolate cake to the bottom of your jar or dessert. You can use your dessert plate to cut out the perfect sizes and then cut the cake in half horizontally to make it about 1/2 thick. You can also cover the bottom with cake crumbs. Your favorite chocolate chip cookies will work here too.
Pumpkin spice mousse + garnish (middle layer)
Place your mousse on top of the cake. We like a 2:1 ratio of mousse to cake. Then garnish with cake crumbs and chopped pecans, which add another layer of flavor and a lovely crunchy element to this dessert.
Ghost cream! (top layer)
Place the whipped cream in a piping bag fitted with a large round tip (we used a Wilton 1A Large Round Tip). If you don’t have one, place the whipped cream in a plastic bag and pipe about ½” wide at the corner.
Pipe the whipped cream on top of the pumpkin mousse in a tall swirl.
How to Make Ghost Faces
- For ghost eyes: We used googly eyes.
- For the mouths of the ghosts: we rolled and flattened the moistened cake crumbs into oval shapes.
- Instead, you can replace the eyes and mouth with small chocolate chips.
💡 Tip: Practice putting your ghosts on wax paper a couple of times to get it right.
GET THE RECIPE!


Ghostly Pumpkin Spice Mousse Cups
For a super easy, delicious, and incredibly spooky dessert this fall, try these Ghostly Pumpkin Spice Mousse Cups. Want to make them low carb and sugar free? Use a sugar alternative like erythritol or stevia and use a low carb chocolate cake.
The ingredients
- 1 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree
- 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
- 2 the glasses heavy cream or heavy cream
- 2 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
- 1 spoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 the cup Powdered sweetener of choice, sugar-free stevia, erythritol, monk fruit and adjust to taste)
- 1/2 the cup 1/2 cup halved toasted pecans
- candies Googly Eyes
- leftovers or pre-made chocolate cake
INSTRUCTIONS
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Whipped cream: Place the beaters and bowl in the freezer to chill for 5 minutes. Next, add the heavy cream to the bowl, 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and dust with your sweetener of choice. Beat on high until thick. Refrigerate until ready to use.
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Pumpkin Mousse: Beat cream cheese, pumpkin puree, pumpkin spice, vanilla extract and 1/8 cup sweetener of choice until smooth. Slowly fold in 1/2 cup whipped cream. Place in the fridge to chill and set for 2 hours.
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Assemble: Add the cake or cookie pieces of your choice to the bottom of a small parfait dish or jar. Then top with pumpkin mousse and cake crumbs and pecan pieces. Pipe the whipped cream into a piping bag with a wide round tip and a ghost-shaped top. Add the eyes to make the googly and the mouth, put the remaining moistened cake crumbs into a small oval shape and flatten. Enjoy!
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Tips: No googly eyes? Use chocolate chips instead. Or roll the spoiled cake crumbs into small balls.
Notes
Notes: Use sugar-free, gluten-free, or grain-free cake to make this low-carb, keto-friendly dessert.
food
Calories: 492caloriesCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 5gFat: 48gSaturated fats: 27gPolyunsaturated fats: 4gMonounsaturated fats: 14gCholesterol: 128mgSodium: 141mgPotassium: 176mgFiber: 1gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 1710IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 109mgIron: 1mg