I remember the first time my daughter tried lasagna. She loved pasta, yet it took serious coaxing. Today, I’m going to ask you to have the same faith when I share a recipe for a lower-calorie whipped cream whose main ingredient is garbanzo bean juice.

The liquid left over from the slow cooking of beans and legumes is called “aquafaba” (“bean water” in Latin), and it whips up into a pillowy fluff in minutes. You probably have some sitting on your pantry shelf, and you’ve likely been throwing it away. No longer.

Whipped aquafaba has many uses, especially in the vegan world where it’s often an egg substitute in meringues and baked goods. My favorite way to use aquafaba is as a low-cal whipped topping, which can dress up a dessert or serve as a base for a mousse.

The recipe I’m sharing is a pumpkin pie spice version that can be added onto a latte or onto apple or pumpkin pie. A half cup of aquafaba has about 50 calories. While you’ll want to add some sugar so you don’t top your pies with bean-whip, you still will come out way ahead over whipped cream’s calorie count.

Here are a few tips from the trenches. Light-colored beans work better than dark beans. White beans such as cannellini or great northern beans have a milder, less tangy taste than garbanzo beans. But garbanzo beans usually have more liquid in the can, which means a can will feed a crowd.

Aquafaba whipped topping will not be as stable as whipped cream, so add a stabilizer such as powdered sugar or cream of tartar and serve it within 30 to 60 minutes of whipping. You’ll need to whip for a full 10 minutes, so a stand mixer is the way to go. (If the cream does break, you can whip it up again easily.)

Finally, to address the main concern: You will want to cover the slight bean taste. A mixture of almond and vanilla extracts along with some maple syrup works well, even in small quantities. I think this might become one of your favorite holiday swaps.

PUMPKIN SPICE LOW-CAL WHIPPED TOPPING

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Yield: About 8 cups whipped topping

1 can garbanzo or white beans 1/4 cup powdered sugar 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1/4 teaspoon almond extract 2 teaspoons vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Procedure:

Strain the can of beans, reserving all the canned liquid (called aquafaba, or “bean water”) and placing in a stand mixer bowl. (Use beans for another recipe.) Using the wire attachment, mix on high until very foamy, about 2 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and whip on high speed until very silky, creamy and firm, about 10 minutes. Resist the urge to stop whipping earlier, as the mixture will be more stable with full whipping. Serve within 30 minutes, refrigerating if not serving right away.

Cook’s Notes: If the cream sits long enough that it starts to break, simply whip it back up! You can turn this topping into a pumpkin mousse by mixing in 3/4 cup of pumpkin puree and a little more maple syrup. Spoon into parfait cups. Serve right away, or refrigerate for up to 2 hours.

Nutrition information per serving: 54 calories; 7 calories from fat; 1 g fat (0 g saturated; 0 g trans fats); 0 mg cholesterol; 104 mg sodium; 10 g carbohydrate; 2 g fiber; 5 g sugar; 2 g protein.