Pumpkin Ice Cream with Gingerbread Croutons

We're all fans of David Lebovitz and The Perfect Scoop, but Maida Heatter has some divine ice cream recipes in her many cookbooks too. I know I've mentioned she is my dessert guru. (Her chocolate cookbook is part of my giveaway.) I'm going to post a couple of her ice cream recipes this holiday season.

Let's start with pumpkin. This ice cream tastes like pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream, only frozen. And just to make it a touch more unusual, I made some gingerbread croutons. (Maida has a fabulous gingerbread recipe; please find it HERE.) I just cut some gingerbread cubes, dried them out in the oven and then melted a little butter and threw them in. Toss them around lightly until they get crunchy. You'll love them with this ice cream.

You DO need an ice cream maker. (I cut this recipe in half as my ice cream maker is not big enough to handle the whole recipe.)

Pumpkin Ice Cream

From Maida Heatter's New Book of Great Desserts

Ingredients:
6 egg yolks
1 cup mashed cooked pumpkin ( about half a one pound can of solid-pack pumpkin; do not use pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
4 cups heavy cream


Method:
In an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks until they are pale, thick and creamy.
Place the pumpkin in the top half of a large double boiler. Add the beaten egg yolks, sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger. Place over the hot water on moderate heat.
Cook, stirring and scraping the bottom with a rubber spatula for 10 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
Remove and set aside, stirring occasionally, until cooled. (Or you can set the double boiler top in a bowl of ice and water and stir constantly until cold.)
In a large chilled bowl with chilled beaters, beat the whipping cream until it holds a soft shape. If you beat it too much, it will taste buttery and not creamy.
Fold into the pumpkin mixture. I put it in the fridge for a few hours, but Maida says it is cold enough to freeze right then.
Freeze according to manufacturers directions.

(And be sure to check out my cookbook giveaway in the last post! Winners will be announced on November 5th.)