Pumpkin Pie Banana-less Pudding

This one is a winner! If you’re a fan of banana pudding and pumpkin, this one is for you! Not a fan of banana pudding because you don’t like bananas (I cannot understand you, but still accept you haha), then here you go. Inspired by Magnolia Bakery’s style of pudding, which has an amazing consistency and richness, along with homemade pumpkin loaf and some Ritz crackers (the crackers could be optional, but, I highly recommend them because it adds a little salt to break up the sweetness, and almost mimics pie crust- so, it’s kind of like a pumpkin pie pudding?), it’s a fall dessert hug waiting to happen. Click the photo for the video with the steps!

For the pumpkin loaf:
7.5oz (or 1/2 the can) canned pumpkin
1 cup granulated sugar
120g (1 cup) all purpose flour
3oz (3/4 of a stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 egg, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 325F. Grease an 8x4” (or very similar in size, just not smaller) baking pan/loaf pan and set aside.
Whisk the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in a bowl and set aside.
Using a stand or hand mixer, whip the butter and sugar until fully incorporated.
Add the egg and whip until the mixture if full incorporated and lighter in color and fluffy.
Mix in the pumpkin until fully incorporated.
Mix in the flour mixture until full incorporated (I usually just hand mix this part to make sure not to over mix).
Bake for about an hour (you can bake another 5-10minutes over, since this will be going into a pudding and doesn’t need to be super moist). Let cool to room temperature (or after about 15 minutes of cooling, remove the loaf from the pan and chill in the fridge) and cut into cubes (they do NOT need to be even or perfect at all).
Set aside.

For the pudding:
3 cups heavy cream
1 can (14oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 cups of cold water
1 box of vanilla pudding mix (I used Jell-O)
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Whisk together the sweetened condensed milk and water. Add in the pudding mix a little at a time, making sure it’s fully incorporated. Mix in the pumpkin pie spice.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. In the meantime, put a metal bowl (fit for a stand mixer or large bowl if using a hand mixer) and the whisk or beaters into the fridge to chill.
Once the pudding is set, using the cold metal mixing bowl and whisk, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks (if you’re unsure what that looks like, check occasionally instead of accidentally over-mixing: swirl the whisk attachment in the whip cream so that you gather some into the whisk, and pull it up and hold it straight up. The whip cream should not flop down or drip, but will also still have a lightness- if it’s over-mixed, it’ll look dry and crumbly). Add in the pumpkin pie spice and mix until incorporated.
In batches, add in portions of the pudding to the whip cream and just mix slowly until everything is fully incorporated.

To build the trifle/pudding:
There are really no rules! But, if you’d like it similar to mine, start with a layer of pudding at the bottom, pumpkin loaf on top of that, another layer of pudding, a layer of Ritz crackers, and then just keep repeating until you’ve reached the top. Top with some pumpkin loaf crumbs and crushed crackers. As tough as it might be, once assembled, let it set in the fridge for about 5 hours, or, overnight (you don’t HAVE to, but, it really will give you the best overall consistency). Enjoy!