Pumpkaboo is one of those Pokemon that made me fall in love with the otherwise incomplete games that were Pokemon X and Y. It is a cute little critter that resembles a Jack-o-Lantern, a bat, and a black cat, all in one, and it can come in 4 different sizes, with the super-sized one being the rarest of the four! One of my most distinct memories from playing Pokemon Y 10 years ago(which is crazy to think about) was trying to breed for a shiny super-sized Pumpkaboo egg. I hatched about 300 Pumpkaboo before I found a shiny, although it turned out that somewhere down the line, I had hatched another shiny super-sized Pumpkaboo earlier, so I wound up with two shiny Pumpkaboo(which I can’t complain about!). That is all to say that I love this Pokemon, and making a dessert inspired by it was a ton of fun! Since Pumpkaboo embraces all things Halloween, I wanted to do three main flavors, being pumpkin, chocolate, and caramel. Pumpkin and caramel go really well together, as do chocolate and caramel, so caramel already ties the three flavors together. Pumpkin is a no-brainer just to be on the nose with the theme of Pumpkaboo as a Pokemon, as well as Halloween in general. While I went with chocolate because I feel like 90% of all Halloween candies are chocolate-based. A most of those chocolate/candy bars are stuffed with some sort of caramel. So I honestly associate Halloween candy the most with chocolate and caramel more than I do pumpkin anyways. It all just comes together to make perfect sense, in my head anyways! I did make a Pumpkaboo wagashi years and years ago, but I found that these Pumpkaboo were a better representation of where I am now as a pastry cook/baker!

For the components themselves, we have a cinnamon pumpkin mousse enrobing a salted caramel panna cotta, a black cacao shortbread base, a naturally colored pink mirror glaze, and a whipped chocolate ganache topping. The main body of the dessert is the pumpkin mousse, which I made with these cute pumpkin petite gateau molds that my dear friend Shari(from season 10 of Masterchef) got me a year and a half ago! Funnily enough, Shari also plays Pokemon(Pokemon Go, and specifically with her two sons and husband), so we bonded over our mutual adoration of Pumpkaboo! The mirror glaze coats the mousse, so that I can achieve the pink color of Pumpkaboo’s body, and by carefully punching holes into the set glaze and peeling that away, the holes created from that resemble the little holes in Pumpkaboo’s body where orange-yellow lights come out of(in this case, it’s the pumpkin mousse!). I used a fresh pumpkin to make my puree for the pumpkin mousse with, but using canned saves a lot of time. You can either use butterscotch chips or blonde chocolate in the mousse – I prefer the blonde chocolate, since it tastes better, but butterscotch chip is a budget-friendly/easier to procure option! With the salted caramel portion of the panna cotta recipe, if you own a laser-pointed thermometer, use it, since you can get more consistent results with the temperature and therefore doneness of the caramel. However, if you have successfully made caramel at least twice before, you should be fine without a thermometer though! I used silicone disks molds for setting the panna cotta, just so that they have an ideal disk shape for pushing through the mousse. The shortbread came together rather quickly, as did the ganache, but the main thing I will warn on about this recipe is time and patience. Give your components the time they need to set and firm up. Otherwise you’ll end up with a sweet chocolate-caramel-pumpkin soup! For Pumpkaboo’s eyes, I used yellow sprinkles, to make my life easier. I would have used white sprinkles for the little fangs, but I didn’t have any, so I went with what I had. If you have white sprinkles though, go for it and give those Pumpkaboo some fangs to munch with!

Makes 6 petit gateau:
For the salted caramel panna cotta center:
2 tbsp granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
2/3 cups heavy cream, in two parts
1/2 tsp gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water

In a pot, heat up the sugar and salt until the sugar registers about 300 degrees F(it should be a dark amber color). Add to that half of the heavy cream first, stirring gently over low heat until the sugar fully melts into the liquid. Add to that the gelatin powder and the remaining heavy cream and stir until everything is dissolved together. Pour the liquid into silicone 2-inch disk molds, filling up at least 6 of the cavities in that mold, and freeze these solid, at least 2 hours in the freezer.

For the pumpkin mousse:
2oz milk
2 tsp gelatin powder
8oz pumpkin puree
1oz granulated sugar
2oz butterscotch chips/blonde chocolate
a pinch of salt
a pinch of cinnamon
8oz heavy cream, whipped stiff
1 tsp vanilla extract

In a pot, mix together the milk, gelatin, pumpkin, and sugar. Stir together on low heat and once everything comes to a simmer, stir in the butterscotch chips/blonde chocolate, the salt, and cinnamon. Once everything is dissolved together, take off heat and allow it to cool down. Fold into that the heavy cream and vanilla to form your mousse. Transfer your mousse into a piping bag.

For initial assembly:
Fill 6 silicone pumpkin-shaped petit gateau molds halfway with the pumpkin mousse first. Press into each your frozen solid caramel panna cottas. Then pipe in the remaining mousse, leveling off the tops as necessary. Freeze for at least 4 hours before attempting to unmold, keeping the mousses still in the freezer to prevent them from melting.

For the chocolate shortbread base:
4oz all-purpose flour
.5oz black cacao powder
1oz granulated sugar
a pinch of salt
1oz unsalted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1oz milk

In a bowl, mix together the flour, cacao, sugar, salt, and butter until a crumbly mixture forms. Then add in the vanilla and milk, and mix everything together to form your dough. Allow the dough to refrigerate for 10 minutes before rolling it out on a floured surface to about 1/16th-inch thickness. Cut out 2-inch disks and transfer to a parchment/silpat-lined sheet tray. Bake at 375 degrees F for 10 minutes. Allow the shortbreads to cool before attempting to use for the assembly.

For the whipped chocolate ganache:
.1oz black cacao powder
2oz dark chocolate
2oz heavy cream, in two parts
1oz unsalted butter
a pinch of salt

In a pot, bring cacao, chocolate, one part of cream, the butter, and salt to a simmer while stirring constantly so that the bottom of your pot does not burn. Once everything is melted together, pour the mixture into a bowl and allow it to cool down to room temperature. Whip the mixture with the remaining cream until a soft, light, and airy-textured chocolate forms. Transfer to a piping bag with a round tip. On either parchment or a silpat, pipe the heads of the Pumkaboo by starting with a 1/2-inch dot in the center, and two tear drop shapes on either side, the pointed ends facing away from the dot. Pipe three smaller tear drops(points facing away from the center dot) between each of the bigger tear drops(so 6 smaller tears in total). Pipe another dollop of ganache on top, and using a toothpick or skewer, pull at the dollop to form the ears. Repeat this until you have 6 heads. With the remaining ganache, pipe the curly Q head swirls that will go on top of the heads, also directly onto the parchment or silpat. Freeze these all together until solid, about 1-2 hours, just to make the assembly easier.


For the pink mirror glaze:
1 1/2 tsp gelatin powder + 2 tbsp cold water
1/4 cup heavy cream
a pinch of salt
1/4 tsp red beet powder
2.5oz white chocolate chips

In a pot, heat up the gelatin, heavy cream, and salt. Once the gelatin is dissolved into the cream, add in the red beet powder and white chocolate chips. Allow the chocolate to sit in the heated cream for 1 minute before stirring until combined. While the glaze is still warm, pass it through a sieve to remove any lumps or air bubbles. Keep the glaze at around 90 degrees F for optimal results.

For garnish:
Yellow sprinkles

Transfer the still-frozen mousses onto the chocolate shortbreads. On an icing rack, pour the glaze onto each of the pumpkin mousses, allowing the excess to drip off and the rest to set, about 5 minutes after pouring. Place the chocolate ganache heads on top, and press in yellow sprinkles to form the eyes. Place the chocolate curly Q’s on top of that. Using a round piping tip, cut out two circles from the set mirror glaze, carefully removing those to make the bottom base resemble the pink portion of a Pumpkaboo, with the two “eyes”.