52 Scoops

Welcome, October!  Welcome, Fall!  Here are the top 10 things I love about this time of year:

10) Fall fashion (classy, sophisticated)
9) The return of soups and stews in the slow cooker
8) Halloween costumes
7) Mid-Autumn Festival
6) Harvest time in the garden (for others; alas, I have no garden!)
5) Beautiful colours in the trees
4) Crunching through leaves
3) Golden sunshine
2) Thanksgiving and time with family
1) Pumpkins

I especially love pumpkins.  How can you NOT have a smile on your face when you see a collection of pumpkins (and squashes and gourds) of all shapes, sizes, and colours?  Large, small, yellow, orange, white, green, cute, ugly, I love them all!  And they taste pretty good too.

Pumpkins galore in Keremeos, BC

This year, my sister will be hosting Thanksgiving dinner.  Rather than sticking with tradition and having pumpkin pie for dessert, I thought we could end dinner 52 Scoops style — with Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream.  You can use freshly cooked and pureed pumpkin or canned pumpkin for this recipe.  I opted for the latter and had great results.  If you use canned pumpkin, just be sure to use 100% pure pumpkin and do NOT use pumpkin pie filling.

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy!

Pumpkin Ice Cream (makes about 1.5 L)

2 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
3 cups half-and-half cream
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
Pinch of sea salt
1 cup pure pumpkin puree

1. In a heavy saucepan, lightly whisk together the eggs and sugar.
2. Add 2 cups of the half-and-half cream, spices, and salt.
3. Cook the mixture over medium-low heat stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon (170 degrees F / 77 degrees C).
4. Remove from heat immediately and add the remaining half-and-half to stop the cooking.  Place the saucepan into an ice bath to cool the custard rapidly.
5. When the custard is cool, whisk in the pumpkin puree.
6. Chill overnight in the fridge.
7. Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and prepare according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

The Official Taster says: “Try it with a drizzle of maple syrup too!”