Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Making ice cream with a hand mixer was something I'd seen pinned on Yonetta's Food board which just blew my mind - don't you need blocks of ice and salt and churning and labor specialized equipment? Looking for ways to use my piles of pumpkin puree, I found this recipe and I just have to do it. This is the reason for a six-pack of sweetened condensed milk. Fingers crossed this works.

While the last pumpkin was roasting I started this ice cream and got it into the freezer before the pumpkin came out of the oven. I'm into multi-tasking.

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
from Buns in My Oven

2 c heavy whipping cream
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/4 c pumpkin puree
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
dash of cloves

Whip the cream in a mixer or blender until stiff peaks form.

Reading the photos like a book, left to right, top to bottom, we have: cream, cream beaten 1 minute, 4.5 minutes, 5 minutes, 6 minutes, 6.5 minutes, 7 minutes, and 8 minutes. Right around 6 minutes I should have checked the peaks for stiffness. Instead, I stood there with the mixer running wondering if I was actually seeing things changing. Next thing I knew, I was fairly certain I'd made whipped cream.

With the mixer or blender set to low, drizzle in the condensed milk.


Stir in the remaining ingredients.


Pour into a freezer proof bowl.


Freeze 4 hours or overnight before serving.



Frozen solid after 24 hours in the freezer, I chiseled some into a bowl. Tasting it, my suspicions of having over-beaten the cream were confirmed: the concoction tastes like thawing whipped cream rather than ice cream, which is not pleasant. I'll correct that next time, now that I have an idea of what to expect when beating the crap out of some cream. It's incredibly sweet, very fatty (it is sticking to the spoon), and certainly pumpkin-flavored. Putting Pumpkin-Spiced Granola (which is crazy good) on it gives a delightfully crunchy contrast which I find immensely enjoyable. If I drank coffee, I'd have some to cleanse the palate.

Cost:

• heavy whipping cream: $1.92
• sweetened condensed milk: $1.27
• pumpkin puree: free

Total: $3.19

12/10/12
Eating some now, I realize the fatty, palate needs a coffee cleansing feeling is because the roof of my mouth feels like when it does after eating a cold donut. The fat is colder than room/body temperature and it's not until it warms that it melts away. That doesn't happen with regular ice cream and if it does, it's so subtle it's unnoticed and completely dismissed. With this ice cream, it's a glaring factor.

Would beating the mixture a little less changes that palate fat feel somehow? The rest of this, unfortunately, is going down the drain. Even though I hate waste, I know I just won't eat any more and it'll sit in my freezer for an eternity if I don't do something with it now. My disappointment is off the charts.

La Lechera Sweetened Condensed Milk

Plans of a sort of "Baking Gone Wild" over the next couple of months to use up my pumpkin, it only made sense that I should buy a six-pack of sweetened condensed milk. I'll probably, or hopefully, put it to good use and it will be an economical investment.


Made of milk and sugar, this stuff has got to be completely delicious. I know I could eat the other brands straight out of the can when I was younger. When I was really young I had to play it like, "oops, some more got on my finger" or "whoops, I should wipe that from the side of the can with my finger so it doesn't get everywhere." You know, I was slick like that.


Do you think about contamination? I do. That's why I always make it a point of cleaning the can lid before I open it. The top of the can lid always gets right there into the stuff I plan to eat and I don't want dust or traces of anyone or anything's pooh getting in there. See, what I mean?


I want to be confident I'm eating milk and sugar, no extra stuff.


La Lachera sweetened condensed milk available in the baking aisle of Costco for $7.59 a pack of six, making each 14-oz can $1.27.