Pumpkin Pecan Ice Cream

Equipment

Ice cream maker
1 large and 1 medium bowl
Glass or stainless steel bowl or measuring cup that can hold at least 1 quart
Fine mesh strainer (sieve)
Access to plenty of ice
Cooking thermometer (optional)
Quart size mason jar or similar container with lid
Medium saucepan
Medium skillet
Wooden spoon or silicone (heatproof) spatula
Plastic measuring cup (around 1/2 cup) for scooping

Ingredients

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup canned pumpkin (chilled)
¾ cup agave or sugar
Pinch salt
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
¼ tsp ginger
⅛ tsp cloves
⅛ tsp allspice
5 egg yolks
¼ tsp vanilla extract
1-2 Tbsp or a shot glass of rum (preferably spiced dark rum)
1 cup raw pecans (heaping if you like a lot of nuts)
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 tsp salt

Before you start

• Salt: Don’t use regular table salt. It’s far too harsh. Use either Kosher salt (widely available), Maldon sea salt, or fleur de sel.
• Pumpkin: You can use fresh cooked, pureed pumpkin if you prefer it to canned. Just make sure it’s chilled, either way. Refrigerate it for at least a few hours, or ideally a whole day, before using it.
• Sweetener: I sweeten almost all my ice creams only with agave. No one knows the difference. I believe it’s lower glycemic and better for people who are sensitive to sugar. The only downside is it’s less widely available and it’s more expensive than sugar. But if you can get your hands on it, I highly recommend it.
• Alcohol: Homemade ice cream needs a little alcohol to make it soft enough to scoop, even if it's just the alcohol from vanilla extract. If you want to minimize the amount of alcohol, you can omit the rum as long as you’re using an alcohol-based vanilla extract. Or, you can add the rum when you’re heating the cream so some of the alcohol cooks out. The rum does enhance the flavor. You can also experiment with other alcohols and see which you like best. Some use whiskey with pumpkin ice cream. Brandy also works.

Make the ice cream custard base

1. Fill your large bowl about half full with ice cubes. Set your glass or stainless steel bowl or measuring up on top of the ice. Stir together the pumpkin and ½ cup of heavy cream in the bowl. Set the fine mesh strainer on top.
2. Into your saucepan, add the rest of the cream, pinch salt, sweetener, and spices. Stir together and heat gently on low to medium heat until it’s hot and steamy (around 165 degrees F), but do not let it boil! Stay close and stir often.
3. While the cream mixture is heating, separate the eggs and put the yolks only in a medium (around 1.5 quart size is fine) bowl. Whisk the egg yolks.
4. When your cream mixture is nice and steamy, remove it from heat and ladle about ¼ cup of it into the eggs, whisking as you pour. Repat 1 or 2 more times. You are tempering the egg yolks, heating them gently without making them into scrambled eggs. Now go ahead and pour the rest of the milk mixture into the eggs and whisk together. Pour it all back into the saucepan.
5. Heat gently while stirring often to make the custard. Do not let it boil. This can take around 10 minutes. You know it’s ready when it coats the back of a wooden spoon (or silicone spatula) and when you use your finger to draw a line through it, the line stays and doesn’t run.
6. Immediately remove the custard from heat and pour it through the strainer into the cream/pumpkin mixture. Use your spoon or spatula to stir it in the strainer and push it through. The strainer catches any bits of curdled custard, which you don’t want in your ice cream.
7. Use a clean spoon to stir in the vanilla and rum. Keep it on the ice bath and stir again every 5 minutes or so until it’s completely cooled. Pour it in a mason jar with a tight fitting lid and store in the refrigerator for at least 6 to 8 hours (but not more than 24 hours) or overnight.
8. Make the butter pecans (instructions below).
9. After chilling, process according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. During the last 5 minutes of churning, pour in the chilled pecans.
10. When you’re ready to turn off the ice cream maker, make sure you have your storage container, plastic measuring cup, and a rubber or silicone spatula ready. You’ll have to work quickly to move the ice cream out of the freezer bowl before it freezes to the sides. Use a plastic measuring cup (around 1/2 cup size) as a scoop so you don't scrape the metal bowl.
11. Store in an ice cream container or the mason jar in the freezer. The ice cream will be soft-serve consistency when you first make it. To make it into firm, scoopable ice cream, let it sit in the freezer for at least 4 to 6 hours to cure. Homemade ice cream keeps for about a week, if it doesn’t all get eaten first!

Make the butter pecans

1. Melt the butter in a small skillet on low/medium heat.
2. As the butter melts, add the salt and pecans.
3. Stir occasionally for 8 to 10 minutes, watching carefully not to burn the pecans. You want them to be brown and toasty but not too dark.
4. Remove from heat and strain the pecans. (You can reserve the butter if you want for cookie baking or pancakes etc.) Let the pecans cool completely. If you’re using pecan halves, chop them in halves or quarters, or just use your hands to gently break them into chunks. Don’t chop them too finely.
5. Store them in the fridge for at least a few hours.