Friday, October 31, 2008

Pumpkin Ice Cream


Happy Halloween!!
I've gone a little insane the past week. I decided making ice cream would be my new form of relaxation. I knew it was going to be a learning process because while I've used my ice cream maker before, it was only for sorbet or vanilla ice cream. I had never attempted a more exotic flavor nor had I ever applied the custard method. I was up to the challenge since I was well-equipped with two expert ice cream cookbooks (David Lebovitz and Emily Luchetti) not to mention a mother who's already ventured beyond plain vanilla and made some incredible ice creams lately.


The schedule this week went something like the following:
Day 1: Come home from work. Make mixture of first batch of ice cream. Put in fridge to chill overnight.
Day 2: Come home from work. Churn batch number 1. Make mixture of batch number 2. Put batch number 2 in fridge to chill overnight.
Day 3: Come home from work. Churn batch number 2. Make mixture of batch number 3. Put batch number 3 in fridge to chill overnight. Make homemade hot fudge.
Day 4: Come home from work. Churn batch number 3. Have an ice cream party and eat 3 delicious homemade flavors smothered in hot fudge.

I am happy to report that I have mastered the custard method, which I needed for two of the three recipes. Yippee! I'm less happy to report that I'm pretty much out of room in my freezer to make more ice cream. But that's nothing a few more ice cream parties can't fix.

In honor of Halloween, one of my batches is pumpkin ice cream. And it tastes just like pumpkin pie!


Pumpkin Ice Cream
Recipe by Emily Luchetti in A Passion for Ice Cream

3 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 cups heavy (whipping) cream
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup pumpkin puree

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, 1/4 cup of the sugar, and the salt.

Cook the milk, cream, the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, the cinnamon, and ginger in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until almost simmering. Slowly whisk the liquid into the egg mixture. Return the milk mixture to the pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant plastic or wooden spatula, until the custard reaches 175 degrees F and lightly coats the spatula. Strain through a medium-mesh sieve. Cool over an ice bath until room temperature. Stir in the pumpkin puree. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions. Place the ice cream in the freezer.


Step-by-Step in Pictures

Combine egg yolks, sugar, and salt.


Make the milk mixture, add to the egg mixture, then put all of it back in the saucepan and heat to 175 degrees F.

Strain the mixture over an ice bath.

Let cool to room temperature.

Then stir in the pumpkin.

Put the mixture in the fridge to chill overnight. Then churn in the ice cream maker.

Scoop into a container and store in the freezer.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

My mouth just started watering while reading this.

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