Silky smooth and something out of the ordinary this ice cream is sweet and warming, great for a Halloween themed party.  

 

Ingredients

250 g  pumpkin, flesh, peeled and cut into chunks

250 g  milk

200 g  cream

1  vanilla pod, seeds scraped

100 g  caster sugar

100 g  egg yolks, (5 large eggs)

 

Steps

1.To roast the pumpkin… wrap the pumpkin in foil and bake in an oven pre-heated to 200C for 30-35 minutes or until soft. Open the foil and put the pumpkin back in the oven for a further 10 minutes to roast up some edges. Place the pumpkin flesh into a blender and blend to a smooth puree.

2. For the ice cream… place the milk and the cream into a saucepan with the vanilla seeds and scraped pods. Bring to a simmer and remove from the heat, set aside. Remove the scraped pods. 

3.In a mixing bowl whisk the sugar and egg yolks together until they start to thicken and pale. Pour one third of the hot milk/cream onto the yolk/sugar mixture and mix well with a whisk. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk/cream and mix well with a spatula. Place the pan back onto a low to medium heat and stir constantly while cooking to ice cream base to 82C. Use a digital thermometer to accurately check the temperature. Remove the custard from the heat and pour it into a jug. 

4. Place the pumpkin flesh into a blender and start to blend to a puree. Trickle the ice cream base into the blender to help the puree to smooth out and continue to add the ice cream base until it has all been incorporated. Pour the pumpkin ice cream base into a bowl and set this bowl into a larger bowl of iced water to cool it down quickly. 

5. Once cool, churn in an ice cream machine and store the ice cream in the freezer until needed.

* Tip: You can make the ice cream base up to four days in advance but try to churn the ice cream on the day of serving to achieve the best possible result.