Ice cream all year long: pumpkin ice cream

Can we have a show of hands? How many of you stop eating ice cream when the weather turns cooler?
Hmmm. The owners of those hands are liars. It's verifiable that ice cream sales actually INCREASE in colder weather, as opposed to warmer. It makes sense in a roundabout way. If you're at home, under a blanket or two sweaters, watching tv, wanting warm, Warm, WARM, the comfort that you get from ice cream can make you feel that much cozier.

So, ragazzi, let us turn to seasonal ice creams, and look at pumpkin. In fact, we are going to be looking at pumpkin a lot in the next few blogs, as Annalena and her charming friend Max begin to make their way through the pumpkin repetoire.

First, some facts: you do know, of course, that when you buy canned pumpkin, you could very well be getting canned winter squash? It is true. See, pumpkin is, by definition (at least FDA definition), a winter squash. It is a "hard neck squash," although I defy anyone to point out pumpkin's neck to me. In any event, that puts it into the category of butternut, acorn, kabocha, hubbard, and other squashes. Hence, it is quite conceivable that when you buy a can of pumpkin puree, you are buying squash. If you like what you are getting in the can, please proceed with it. You may very well be getting pumpkin. It all depends on what the canner has on hand the day that the product is made. Annalena feels, however, that at least once you should make it yourself. And that is where we come to another issue.

You do know that there is more than one type of pumpkin, yes? Ah, are you locked into the idea of the jack o'lantern pumpkin? Child, get with the times. If you go to your farmers market, you will find those, but you will also find "sugar" pumpkin (the favorite of many cooks), "baby orange" pumpkin, and Annalena's favorite, on which there is some disagreement, the "milk" or "cheese" pumpkin. This variety is squat, and pale orange. It looks almost like a creamsickle in color. It is also squat, rather than round. Some feel the flesh is insipid. They are not wrong, but ALL pumpkin flesh is insipid. Those who make this claim are challenged to do a blind taste test of different varieties of pumpkin, and then tell which is which.

I like the cheese pumpkins because they are very dense, throw off little water, and have a very good yield for each specimen. Choose what you like , however. But do, do this once.

To get pumpkin puree, you need patience, and a very strong arm. You preheat your oven to 350, and while that is happening ,get out your biggest, strongest knife. Now, look your pumpkin over. Probably, it is not stable. You need to stabilize it to do the next step, which is the cutting of it into smaller pieces. If it is not stable, you can do serious damage to yourself with the knife.

I have found that the easiest way to stabilize a pumpkin is to make a horizontal cut on the thing, at the stem end. That gives you a smooth, even surface on which to rest the fruit (pumpkin is also a fruit). Once you've done that, work carefully, and insert your knife into the fruit, and make long cuts, to try to make as even two halves as possible. Then, cut each half into two or three pieces.

You will of course be wondering what to do with the seeds. A very good question. Annalena uses them when she makes broth for pumpkin soup, but she has no patience for washing, separating, and roasting them. That is your call.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, and put the pumpkin hunks, unoiled, on it. Cover the whole contraption with foil, and put it in the oven. The foil helps to steam the monster. It will take at least an hour to do this. You can check by pushing a knife right through the foil, and seeing if the tip goes through the flesh easily. If it does, the pumpkin is done. If not, take your time. It could be a while. Smaller specimens will take less time, but not much.

When the squash is cooked, now you have to let it cool down. You may find that it has tossed off a great deal of liquid. This WILL happen with a jack o'lantern pumpkin, not so much with others. Be careful of that. It's very hot.

Ok, after the couple of hours that it takes to cook this down, get your knife again, and with the back of it, scrape it off of the skin. For six pounds of pumpkin, you'll get enough for about a quart.

And we continue. Now you have to puree it. You can do this easily in a food processor, less so with a food mill. Don't bother with a blender. And... you have your pumpkin.


Now you see why so many people buy the canned stuff.

Ok, we've got our pumpkin, let's make some ice cream. Let me say at the start that this is how Annalena makes HER pumpkin ice cream. She's right, but you can make it however you like it, in terms of spices, or not, how much sugar, and how much pumpkin.

I start with two cups of heavy cream and a cup of whole milk. I put that in a pot with a full cup of pumpkin puree, and six egg yolks. If you are following "La via dell'Annalena," what I want you to do at this point is stir it all together, off heat, and taste it. I want you to know how the pumpkin tastes, WITHOUT the spices (because most of us know the spices used with pumpkin as the taste of pumpkin. Tasting it "clean" can be illuminating). You may want to just have a pumpkin ice cream without spices. That is valid, and it is not to everyone's taste. If you are one of those people, Annalena suggests you add another half cup of pumpkin, and then a full cup of sugar before cooking your custard. If, however ,you like spices, do not bother with the extra pumpkin, and I would cut the sugar to 3/4 of a cup. For spices, I like equal amounts of ginger and cinnamon (a teaspoon each), and half a teaspoon of fresh grated nutmeg. Feel your way through this. One of my friends cannot think of pumpkin ice cream without cardamom. Another likes cloves in hers. When I am more perverse than usual, I like hot pepper in mine. Flavor the mixture to your taste, and do keep in mind, of course, that the frozen product will not taste as strong as the liquid one, so you will want it to taste stronger than you would like the ice cream to taste.

Turn the heat to medium, and cook this mixture, stirring with a whisk, all the while. The "coat the spoon" test does not work really well here, because the pumpkin puree has thickened things to a point where it will coat the spoon already. You can use a thermometer if you can find yours, but another way to cook it sufficiently, is to pay attention to "feel" and "look." When the custard feels heavy to move, and looks shiny, it is done. Then, take it off the heat, let it cool, and then use your ice cream maker (which you have bought by now, yes?).

Annalena likes pumpkin ice cream with other fall ice creams, like apple and fennel, but think of your own combinations. Vanilla, creme fraiche, or any of the "white" ice creams sound good here. So does the salted caramel a few posts from this one. So does something with pear liqueur.

Ragazzi, if you are in charge of dessert for Thanksgiving dinner, this is something that should go on your plate next to the apple pie. You will be so happy, and you will be so loved. Go for it.