Pumpkin Ice Cream

I have tried pumpkin ice cream before and it always seems to just be vanilla with some nutmeg to flavor. This version takes it to a whole new level. So rich and packed with more deep complex flavor than any store-bought version. I didn’t have any problems with the recipe, it went exactly as written.

After pouring the ice cream into the frozen base of my ice cream maker, I started doing other things. After 40 minutes I checked on it and it was already ready to put in the freezer, maybe thicker than whipped cream consistency so probably ready even before this. I tasted it as I scooped it into a container for freezing and knew this was going to be a hit!

About 6 hours later, we finally tried the final product. So rich you only need a small amount but so good you want to eat more! This could definitely go with or replace your traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. I even wondered if pouring this into a crust and having a pumpkin ice cream pie would work?

Just lovely! This pumpkin ice cream is earthy and rich with real pumpkin flavor. It’s another great reason to make your own ice cream and a really nice way to use the abundance of fresh sugar pumpkins this time of year.

It took great discipline to give the finished ice cream the suggested 3-hour wait in the freezer before serving. The spicing was just right—I like that it didn’t have allspice or clove, and I may have been slightly more generous in measuring the ginger. I only had dark molasses on hand, but I had several choices that are generally acceptable substitutes for light molasses, including Lyle’s Golden Syrup, a German sugar-beet syrup, and maple syrup. Using dark molasses would have darkened the appearance and might have dominated the flavor. The most appealing substitute was actually maple syrup, so I chose that. The texture of the cream and brown sugar blend had a lovely silken look and sheen, similar to a nice caramel sauce.

If you are careful and slow in drizzling in the hot cream and brown sugar mixture into the egg mixture, you will temper it while whisking slowly but continuously and have no problem at all with curdling. Still, make sure to strain it before chilling. 
An easy make-ahead recipe. I’m already plotting how to include this in a holiday dessert selection. Now, on to make something fun with those egg whites.

It’s a good thing that you need to remove this pumpkin ice cream from your freezer a full half-hour before you plan to serve it so that it can soften; otherwise, I’d be sneakily dipping into it, spoonful by spoonful, until it’s all gone. Rich and creamy, with deep caramel undertones from the brown sugar, it’s more like a custard than ice cream.

The timing was accurate on cooking the custard, but be extremely vigilant; mine turned thick instantly at the 4-minute mark when the thermometer read 190°F. I didn’t see any reason to fuss with an ice bath to cool the custard down, especially since I was planning to chill it overnight anyway. The custard was quite thick, and I had to scrape it into the ice cream maker. It took about 20 minutes with my machine and made a little over 1 quart.

This time of year, everything has a version of “pumpkin spice.” Pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin spice candy corn, even pumpkin spice cereal! So why not pumpkin spice ice cream? (and I love that it wasn’t called Pumpkin Spice!) Since ice cream is an absolute favorite of mine, especially new and interesting flavors. I couldn’t resist making this recipe specifically for those reasons.

The recipe had all the familiar ingredients of traditional pumpkin pie: cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. On the ice cream side, it was a rich mixture of egg yolks and heavy cream. Sometimes I feel that a combination of heavy cream and half-and-half or whole milk helps with excessive richness, especially with a lot of egg yolks. I stayed true to the recipe and the custard came together nicely. It took about 5 to 6 minutes for the custard to thicken.

I strained the custard through a sieve, with no problem with curdling, and only a few grainy solids remaining. I stirred in the pumpkin puree and vanilla and set the bowl in an ice bath to cool. It did thicken a bit while cooling in the ice bath. I then refrigerated the mixture, with a piece of plastic wrap clinging to the surface, for about 5 hours.

The custard was thicker still when I took it out to put it in the ice cream maker. I poured it in and set the timer to 30 minutes. It took about 24 minutes for the mixture to become the texture of thick whipped cream. I spooned it into an ice cream freezer container and put it in the freezer to set. I left the ice cream in the freezer for 24 hours. At this point, it was very, hard. I let it set out for about 15 minutes before trying to scoop it, and it was still very hard, but I was able to scoop out a serving.

The ice cream is gorgeous to look at, the color of caramel and smells like pumpkin pie. The flavor of the ice cream didn’t disappoint, it was delicious. It reminded me of a frozen pumpkin pie filling. It was creamy and brought back my earliest memories of my Mom’s pumpkin pie (which I only ate the filling, not the crust!).

The ice cream was well worth making, very delicious, and surprisingly easy to put together for the complex flavor that came out of it. I could really taste the richness of the molasses and the combination of the spices was really perfect. My only hesitation was the texture. The texture was just like the canned pumpkin. Even though it was only a cup, the texture of the ice cream was like eating the pumpkin by itself, that squash-like feeling on your palette, if that makes sense. My family felt the same way. It was also very rich, a very small scoop or two was the most they could eat. I don’t know how to solve the texture question, it’s not a deal-breaker, just something to note.