Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

For my last night on patissier this Saturday, I wanted to go out with a bang.  We had a little free time before service, so I made a pumpkin pie ice cream.  Boy, was it good!  The recipe is as follows – it’s very easy, but if you don’t have access to a machine, you can, of course, buy pumpkin ice cream and fold the rest of the ingredients in.  If you do choose to make your own, feel free to play with the quantities and combination of spices.

For roughly 16 Servings:

  • 6 egg yolks
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/5 cup whole milk
  • 3 cups heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon cloves
  • 1 teaspoon allspice
  • 1 teaspoon ginger
  • 2 cups pumpkin purée
  • 3 cups graham cracker crumbs, very finely ground
  • 1/2 cup cocoa powder
  • 8 tablespoons butter, melted

First, make the pie crust with the last three ingredients.  Toss together the graham cracker crumbs and cocoa powder to evenly coat.  Mix the melted butter in, firmly press into a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and freeze until set.

Meanwhile, whisk together all of the sugar and egg yolks. Set aside.  In a medium-ish pot, bring the milk, cream and spices to a boil.  Remove from heat and temper slowly with the yolk/sugar mixture.  Once the eggs have tempered, add the rest of the dairy mixture and stir with a rubber spatula – do not whisk! Return the mixture to the pan and stir over low heat until slightly thickened. You’ll know it’s ready if you follow this trick:  dip a spoon in the pot, coating it with the cream.  Holding the utensil horizontally, draw a line in the cream with your finger.  If the line holds its shape – and doesn’t run down in drips – it’s ready!  Take it off the heat and strain it through a chinois or sieve into a bowl over an ice bath.  Add the pumpkin purée and mix in.  Cool, stirring occasionally.

Once cooled, process in an ice cream machine.

Once the ice cream is made, place it in a work bowl.  Take the graham cracker pie crust out of the freezer and break it into bite-size chunks.  Add it to the ice cream and, using a spatula, fold it in.

Caramel sauce would also be a delicious addition to this dessert, for as the L’Ecole pastry chef says, “Too much?  With ice cream, there is never too much.”

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