This is one of our most popular holiday flavors. Every October our guests start clamoring for our pumpkin ice cream, so we put it into regular rotation around that time and keep making it through the holidays. As soon as Christmas is over, though, people begin to lose interest in it! They may ask for Balsamic Strawberry Ice Cream all year round, but nobody wants pumpkin ice cream after New Year’s.
During that autumnal period when our guests are excited about this flavor, we make a seasonal sundae with this ice cream, Evadne’s Gingerbread, warm Caramel Sauce, Spiced Pecans, and Whipped Cream. The ice cream is lovely on its own as a simple finish to a holiday meal, but it’s even better with gingerbread in an ice cream cake, or with a gingersnap crust as an ice cream pie.
TECHNIQUE: Ice cream
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: Ice cream machine
CHILLING TIME: 2 hours or overnight
SHELF LIFE: 1 week
INGREDIENTS
- 6 large egg yolks
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground ginger
- ¾ cup packed light or dark brown sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ½ cup 1% or 2% milk
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup pumpkin purée
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
INSTRUCTIONS
- Whisk the yolks just to break them up in a medium heatproof bowl.
- Whisk in , ¾ cup packed light or dark brown sugar, and half of the brown sugar (6 tablespoons). Set aside.
- In a heavy nonreactive saucepan, stir together the cream, milk, salt, and the remaining sugar (6 tablespoons) and put the pan over medium-high heat.
- When the mixture approaches a bare simmer, reduce the heat to medium.
- Carefully scoop out about ½ cup of the hot cream mixture and, whisking the eggs constantly, add the cream to the bowl with the egg yolks.
- Repeat, adding another ½ cup of the hot cream to the bowl with the yolks.
- Using a heatproof rubber spatula, stir the cream in the saucepan as you slowly pour the egg-and-cream mixture from the bowl into the pan.
- Cook the mixture carefully over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened, coats the back of a spatula, and holds a clear path when you run your finger across the spatula, 1 to 2 minutes longer.
- Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container.
- Set the container into an ice-water bath, wash your spatula, and use it to stir the base occasionally until it is cool.
- Remove the container from the ice-water bath, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the base for at least 2 hours or overnight.
- Whisk ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract into the chilled base.
- Freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- While the ice cream is churning, put the container you’ll use to store the ice cream into the freezer.
- Enjoy right away or, for a firmer ice cream, transfer to the chilled container and freeze for at least 4 hours.
NOTE
- You can use canned or homemade cooked puréed pumpkin for this recipe.
- If you make your own purée, roast the pumpkin in the oven first to help concentrate the flavor and reduce the water content.
- If you use canned, be sure you get the plain variety; those labeled “pumpkin pie mix” contain sugar and spices and will throw off the recipe here.
