Pumpkin ice cream is a little confusing, the flavours, the warmth of the spices all taste like pumpkin pie. But pumpkin pie has neither this texture, or the temperature of the ice cream!

To have something that is cold, frozen in fact, but gives off a warmth tricks the palate so it no longer knows what you’re eating. It’s a comfort food for many people, pumpkin pie that is, this allows it to be enjoyed during the summer and warmer months when you don’t want to have the hassle of making a pie (or have the oven on heating the house up).

You start with a basic custard, this used just yolks, sugar and milk. I split the sugar between the milk and the yolks as it was too much for the yolks alone.

In a separate container whisk together the cream, spices and pumpkin puree. Once the custard is done strain it over the pumpkin mix then whisk the two together.

Cover it in cling wrap and leave it to chill. Adding the custard to the cold pumpkin and cream helps start the cooling process but you really want to leave it for a few hours, overnight is better.

I found that this ice cream churned rather hard. It’s texture now that it’s frozen is a little icy. I’m contemplating following David Lebovitz’s lead and adding a tablespoon or two of liquor to the mix, I imagine a dark rum or brandy would augment the flavour well.

If you don’t want to used canned pumpkin you can make your own puree by either boiling or roasting the pumpkin (depending on the flavours you want) then blending until smooth.

I also think turning it into an actual pumpkin pie ice cream (as opposed to pumpkin ice cream) might be a nice touch, either with some baked pastry flaked in, or a graham crust broken in.. yes? no? maybe?

Either way this recipe is definitely on the first steps to becoming a winning recipe.. Now, if only I liked vegetables in desserts!

Recipe – from Ice Cream! by Pippa Cuthbert
—–
Makes 1 qt

400ml Whole Milk
3 Egg Yolks
200g Sugar
450g Pumpkin Puree
1/2tsp Nutmeg
1/2tsp Cinnamon
250ml Heavy Cream

Do you know what Sunday is? It’s March 14th.. Which on this side of the Atlantic is 3.14, otherwise known as the mathmatical term of Pi.. Yes, I’m a math geek. Did you notice, if you look at 3.14 in a mirror it even looks like it says pie!

So, to celebrate Pi day, I of course had to make some lollipops… Pie lollipops!

I had two different types of dough sat in the fridge, so I tried it out with both of them to see what worked best. I had a pie dough, flaky and buttery, and a tart dough, sweeter and richer, but also more delicate to handle.

Rolled out and cut into circles I chilled them while I prepared my fillings. First up a combination of chocolate chips, chopped pecans and raisins, I am all for using up pantry ingredients we have laying around. Then a strawberry jam and a raspberry jam.  I grew up with jam tarts and wondered how well that would transfer into a lollipop. Finally I made an apple pie filling, dicing the apples, sauté-ing them in some butter with some spices and sugar then finishing it off with a touch of brandy.

I popped a little bit of filling in the centre of half of my nicely chilled dough circles and added a lollipop stick to it. Eggwashing around the edge I pressed a second circle of dough on top and sealed it down. To help seal, and to also look good I crimped around the edge using another lollipop stick. Since this was an experiment, to test a concept, I scored the top of each pie with an initial to denote it’s filling.. We definitely need to come up with a better way than that, any suggestions?

The pies were eggwashed to help them gain a nice golden colour and then baked at 350F. They didn’t take long being so small.

For the most part they worked well, the pie dough tasted better than the tart dough with this utilisation, and the winning filling was definitely the apple. The jams didn’t work so well in an enclosed pie, and both erupted, looking a tad volcanic!

The CC kitchens were abuzz, sugar and cinnamon filled the air.

We were making pie, glorious pie, and lots of them!

The day started with making the dough and getting it chilled. Then lining all the tins.. Well, actually, the day started with a cup of tea, as it always should. Tea is an integral part of the baking process!

The apple pie is impressive looking. We use 7 whole apples per pie, along with sugar and cinnamon, so the pie looks like a giant pie mountain. We eggwash the top and sprinkle it with a little sugar and then it gets baked for a long long time. Low and slow, cooking all those apples thoroughly, letting all the juices mingle with the spices, without burning the crust. It comes out the oven looking magnificent.

Next up came the pecan pie, one of Michael’s family recipes. The pecans get put in the bottom of the pie and then topped off with the filling, as much as we can fit into one pie! The pecans float leaving a layer of the custard filling and then a layer of pecans. We like seeing the striations as we eat it.

The day wrapped up with key lime pies. We used a graham cracker crust for them, far more traditional. We use a mix of fresh limes, and bottled juice for optimal flavour, with plenty of zest too. It gets baked for a very short amount of time. Just enough to set the custard.

In other, very exciting news. We are pleased to say we will be attending our first food blogger conference. TECHmunch is being hosted by Steamy Kitchen and Bake Space as part of SXSW. We’re looking forward to meeting lots of cool people and learning as much as we can.