Pumpkin-Chocolate Torte with Pumpkin Whipped Cream

My kids are able to make huge messes. As I sit here writing this post my living room floor which I have picked up 5 times today is once again full of toys. I think I might pick up the same toy over and over again everyday. My husband doesn't seem to be much better than my kids. I think he believes that his socks will actually walk themselves to the hamper. They don't. When I was gone for a week this fall my husband didn't pick-up any of his dirty clothes and dishes and was genuinely confused how nothing was clean or put away. Part of it has to do with my expectations of cleanliness. Growing up my mother had a lot of stuff. Not just a few things, but literally our house and then apartment were full of stuff. Nick-knacks covered every available space and there was always stuff everywhere. I am the opposite. I like everything put in its place. My living room is decorated, simply with everything having a spot. It drives me crazy when things are cluttered. Christmas has a tendency to stress me out not for the reason that most people deal with, but for the clutter. As soon as my kids open their gifts I am going around organizing. One way that I keep myself sane is chocolate. I love chocolate and it has an immediate effect on my anxiety. This week during the craziness of the holidays I made a Pumpkin-Chocolate Torte with Pumpkin Whipped Cream from the December issue of Eating Well magazine.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes 4 hours 50 minutes of total time, 50 minutes of which is active and makes 10 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. I did not line my pan with parchment paper and I had no problems taking out my torte, so I don't believe that the step is necessary. For the whip cream I chose to just make a straight whip cream without the pumpkin puree and with just a small amount of vanilla. Finally I let the torte firm up overnight before serving. I think this helped it to firm up completely. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys and I really loved this recipe. I like that it only has 11 grams of fat per serving, which is much lower than most dessert recipes. The taste isn't overly sweet, but still has a nice chocolate flavor. I did not drizzle the top with melted chocolate, but I think it would be delicious if you wanted to add this step.

For the recipe go to Pumpkin-Chocolate Torte with Pumpkin-Whipped Cream.