Pumpkin and Spice (r)Ice Cream!



Pumpkin Ice Cream with Gingersnaps



OK rice milk is in it too, but in fact the star of this pumpkin "ice cream" is really coconut milk. Rich, delicious coconut milk.

And this is SO simple to make!

All it takes is coconut milk, pumpkin you probably have left over from Thanksgiving, pumpkin pie spices, sweetener, rice milk. Stir it up, pour into the ice cream maker, and in a half hour you have some sweeeeet eats!

I'm finding that vegan cooking sites are a treasure trove of ideas.  Take this one from the lovely blog So Good and Tasty, written by Jaqui (who also has a great Etsy shop, check it out!)

It's a deviously simple pumpkin pie flavored ice cream made with just a few ingredients that you can whip up in five minutes and freeze up in thirty.   Once you're done, you will have not only the admiration of your children but also anyone else who has the good fortune to be eating with you that day!

Now, don't get nervous about it tasting coconut-y.  It doesn't.  The coconut adds just the right amount of richness to the ice cream ~ and unless someone told you that it had coconut in it, you'd never know it was there.  It's smooth, creamy, sweet, spicy.  Delicious!

So below, I am quoting Jacqui's recipe directly, but when I made it, there were a few changes.  Instead of almond, I used rice milk in the same amount, and since I didn't have any cloves on hand I used some ginger and allspice in overall the same measures. 

The first time I made it, I used Lyle's Golden Syrup instead of the cane sugar.  I did this mainly because I didn't want to wait an hour for the mix to cool in the fridge. (I guessed that was to allow the granulated sugar to dissolve.)  So, I used the only pre-dissoved sugar I had on hand, and Lyle's was it!  It ended up not sweet enough.  The second time, I used Karo (corn) syrup and it still wasn't sweet enough ~ until I added a 1/4 c more of maple syrup!  Perfect.  So if you go that route, it's 3/4 c Karo or Lyle's, plus 1/4 cup maple syrup. 

Vegan Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream

1 14 ounce can coconut milk

3/4 cup almond milk, or other dairy free milk

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

3/4 cup cane sugar

1 cup pumpkin puree

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients and whisk together well. Let chill for about an hour in your fridge. Once really cold, follow instructions for your ice cream maker. 



Ready to come out!

My ice cream maker suggests around 30 minutes of stirring in the machine.  It goes in looking like thin pudding, and comes out like... well, Ice Cream!   You can eat it then, but it'll be pretty soft.  Most ice cream makers will suggest you "cure" the result in the freezer for at least a half hour afterward.   But seriously, who has time for that?!

We finished about half of the container that night.  It was perfect with (allergen free Pamela's) ginger snaps.  Can you imagine this over apple pie?  All I can say is, WOW!