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!

Smoooooooooth-ies

Your challenge should you choose to accept it.

- Get more fruit into your child
- Encourage child to drink more liquids
- Make child super happy

.... and I give you: Smoothies!

Frozen fruit is so useful. If kept in its frosty home, it generally doesn't go bad any time soon. You can just take out what you need for any specific situation, say, add a few blueberries to pancakes or defrost some peaches for finger food. It's available all year, is pre-cut into generally bite sized, peaches, and if you're really stuck for a quick brunch potluck idea, just throw a few types into a bowl before you walk out the door and it's usually pretty close to defrosted by the time you reach our destination.

But for pure toddler entertainment, a smoothie can't be beat. It's better nutrition for the kid than a milkshake, but just as delicious. And it takes less than five minutes to make if you have a few basic ingredients handy.

- Allergen free milk

   (I use Vanilla Rice Milk)

- Coconut-Milk based ice cream

- Frozen fruit of your choice

For a few sippys full, I throw in about 1.5 cups of frozen fruit, 1 cup rice milk, and about 1/2 cup of coconut milk ice cream.  

Put your kid up on the counter, keep one arm around him, another on the blender, and let him push the button.  Yell and run in place (ensuring complete hysterical laughter from child) while watching how smooth it's getting.  Once the laughter has reached a fever pitch and the smoothie is smooth, make a huge deal about pressing "stop!"  Pour into glasses or sippy and enjoy.  If you need to thin it a little (it does have all that fruit pulp after all), just add a little more milk or some water.  Put the rest in the fridge for the rest of your family to discover.