No-bake pumpkin chiffon bars

These no-bake bars are a little like a cheesecake, with a biscuit crumb base, a light pumpkin filling and a hit of sweet crunchiness from the praline pecans.

Credit: Bake With Anna Olson

• makes

  16-25

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  10 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

Praline pecans

• 2 tbsp + 1 tsp (45 ml) water
• 3 tsp (15 ml) corn syrup or lemon juice
• ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
• 1 cup (100 g) pecan halves

 Crust

• 1½ cups graham cracker, gingerbread cookie or digestive biscuit crumbs (see Note)
• ½ tsp (1.5 g) ground cinnamon
• 90 g unsalted butter, melted

Pumpkin chiffon

• ¾ cup (175 ml) reduced fat or light (1% or 2%) milk
• 1½ tbsp (16 g) unflavoured gelatine powder (or agar powder)
• ⅔ cup (140 g) granulated sugar
• ½ tsp (1.5 g) ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp (1.5 g) ground ginger
• 1½ cups (375 g) pure pumpkin puree (tinned or homemade, see Note)
• 1¼ cups (310 ml) whipping cream

Chilling time: at least two hours. You will also need to allow some extra time for cooling the filling.

Instructions

1. Have a parchment-lined baking tray ready. Place the water and lemon juice into a medium saucepan and add the sugar. Bring this up to a boil over high heat without stirring, and occasionally brushing down the sides of the pot with water. Once the sugar turns an amber colour, remove the pan from the heat, add the pecans all at once and stir to coat. Spoon the pecans out onto the baking tray and spread into a single layer. Let this cool while preparing the crust and filling.

2. For the crust, lightly grease and line an 8-inch (20 cm) square pan with parchment paper so that the paper comes up the sides. Stir the biscuit crumbs with the cinnamon and add the melted butter, stirring until the crumbs are coated. Press this into the preapred pan and chill while preparing the chiffon layer.

3. Measure the milk into a medium saucepan and whisk in the gelatin, letting this sit for a minute. Add the sugar, cinnamon and ginger and whisk over medium-low heat until you just begin to see a bit of steam rise from the milk, about 3 minutes. (If using agar agar powder, you need to bring the milk to a full simmer and whisk for one minute to fully activate it.)  Remove the pan from the heat and whisk in the pumpkin. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature.

4.  Whip the cream until it holds a soft peak when the beaters are lifted.  Fold this into the cooled pumpkin mixture in two additions, and spread in an even layer over the chilled crust. Chill this for at least 2 hours, uncovered.

5. Shortly before serving, chop the pecan pralines and sprinkle over the top before slicing to serve.

Note

• Graham cracker biscuits are available from specialty retailers. You can substitute plain biscuits such as Arnott’s Marie.

• Canned pumpkin purée is available from some specialty retailers. You can also make your own as described in this recipe.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.