When we were deciding on ice cream flavors to make for our annual neighbor Christmas gift, it became apparent to us that we probably couldn’t offer only chocolate-based flavors. Not everyone loves chocolate as much as we do.
So we had a brainstorming session and came up with a few fruity flavors, and one of the winners was a pumpkin base. Pumpkin is usually thought of as seasonal, but then again, so is ice cream.
This year, we’ve been throwing parties for our kids based on Disney movies, and each party comes with a themed ice cream. This month’s party was Cinderella, so the pumpkin flavor we had made for Christmas immediately came to our minds.
The basic idea of the ice cream is to make a simple sweet cream base, with two small changes:
- Substitute 1 cup of cream out and replace it with 1 cup of pumpkin pie spice coffee creamer.
- During the final heating phase, mix in 1 cup pumpkin purée.
The combination of the creamer and the purée makes the flavor very pumpkiny and not too sweet, but keeps the ice cream creamy and smooth.
We always like to have some kind of chunks in our ice cream. In order to make the ice cream taste a little like a pumpkin pie, we went with graham cracker chunks. But graham crackers get soggy easily, so in order to keep them crispy, we coat them in a chocolate shell.
Since the graham crackers aren’t cold, we needed to make our own shell by melting chocolate and mixing it with a little coconut oil. Worked like a charm!
Give this one a try sometime, no matter the season!
Somethin’ Pumpkin
Who says pumpkin is just for fall?
Ingredients
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 cup pumpkin pie spice creamer
1 cup pumpkin purée
6 graham crackers
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
1/2 tbsp coconut oil
Directions
- Chunks
- Break the 6 graham crackers into chunks. The size can vary based on how large of chunks you want.
- Put the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl. Add the 1/2 tbsp coconut oil and microwave it in 30 second increments, stirring in between until the mixture is melted and smooth.
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Put a few graham cracker chunks into the bowl of chocolate, then use a fork to fish them out, making sure they’re completely covered in chocolate. Tap the fork on the side of the bowl to get rid of excess chocolate.
- Place the chocolate-covered chunks on the parchment paper, trying to space them out so they aren’t touching. Repeat until you run out of graham cracker chunks.
- Put the cookie sheet in the freezer and don’t take them out until you’re ready to put them in the ice cream.
- Ice Cream
- Heat the 1 cup heavy whipping cream and 1 cup pumpkin spice creamer on low in a medium saucepan until it reaches 140° F, stirring occasionally. While the custard heats, using an electric mixer to whisk the 2 large eggs in a medium mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
- While the cream is still heating, slowly add the 3/4 cup sugar into the eggs, whisking thoroughly to make sure the mixture doesn’t become grainy.
- After the cream reaches the target temperature, gradually pour it into the egg and sugar mixture, again whisking each time the cream is added to avoid cooking the eggs.
- Pour the entire mixture back into the medium saucepan and heat it to 170° F. While it heats, add the 1 cup pumpkin purée. Whisk constantly so the purée melts evenly into the mixture.
- Now pour the mixture back into the mixing bowl. Cover and chill for 1 hour or up to 3 hours.
- When ready, make in your ice cream maker based on the maker’s instructions.
- During the last 5-10 minutes in the ice cream maker (the ice cream should basically have the consistency of soft-serve ice cream), add in your chunks. You may want to break the chunks apart with a knife if they’re sticking together. Don’t add it all in! Add handfuls at a time until you get your desired chunkiness.
- Move the ice cream from the ice cream maker into a quart-sized container of your choice and freeze until hardened (at least 4 hours).
Notes
- If you’re feeling brave, you can always substitute the pumpkin spice creamer with heavy whipping cream, pumpkin purée, maple syrup, and cinnamon, but the store-bought kind is easy and saves some trouble.
