Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

Want some ice cream? Pumpkin pie ice cream! Creamy, delicious, full of pumpkin pie flavour! I used my homemade pumpkin puree, which I have about a cup left  in my freezer that I wanted to clear. Thought of making some bread or muffins, maybe a cake, when I remembered that I have seen a pumpkin ice cream recipe in one of my ice cream cookbooks. One thing I know for sure, nobody would say no to ice creams! At least in my house!

This is an easy ice cream to make, without any egg-yolk based custard, which is definitely a plus! There is some cooking involved, but it is fairly easy to do. The addition of ground cinnamon and ground ginger do give the "pie flavour" to this creamy ice cream.

A scoop of yummilicious! And a delicious way of using that extra pumpkin puree that you have been storing in your freezer.

Creamy and delicious! One that I would make again as soon as I have some pumpkin puree!

I'm sharing this with :
Recipe Box hosted by Bizzy Bakes
Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage


Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream
(adapted from : "Scoop" by Ellen Brown)
Makes about 1 quart
2-1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
3/4 cup canned pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) (I use 1 cup homemade pumpkin puree)
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (I use 1/3 cup)
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup whole milk
1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine the cream, pumpkin, brown sugar, corn syrup, cinnamon, ginger, and salt in a saucepan. Whisk until smooth.
Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to steam; watch it carefully and make sure it does not come to a boil.

While the mixture heats, combine the milk, milk powder, and vanilla extract in a small bowl, and stir until smooth. Add the mixture to the pan, and bring to a boil over low heat, stirring constantly. Whisk the mixture until smooth, and simmer the mixture over very low heat, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes, or until thickened.

Transfer the hot liquid to a storage container and press a sheet of plastic wrap directly into the surface of the mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate the mixture uncovered until it is completely chilled (below 40F), or quick-cool it.

Freeze the mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately for a soft ice cream, or transfer the mixture to an airtight storage container and freeze until hard. Allow the ice cream to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving if frozen solid.

Variation : Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of rum or bourbon to the custard, and fold 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped toasted walnuts into the churned ice cream.

Turmeric Rice : IHCC

Welcome Madhur Jaffrey! I Heart Cooking Club (IHCC) is starting with a new chef, Madhur Jaffrey this month, and we are going to cook from her recipes for the next six months. I was pretty excited when Madhur Jaffrey was selected as our new featured chef. Indian cuisine is one of my very favourite.  Since I cook Indian cuisine in my house from time to time, I have most of the spices stocked up. Though I have tried various recipes from other Indian chefs, I have never attempted any of Madhur Jaffrey's recipes before. 

Madhur Jaffrey, our featured chef for the next six months

To start off our delicious months of cooking from her recipes, IHCC's theme for this week is "Welcome Madhur Jaffrey!". Any of her recipes can be used, and I think that it is appropriate for me to start off with a plate of rice! 

Being Asian, rice is a staple food at mealtimes, and usually when we have guests over for dinner, rice is always on the menu. So I have decided to cook one of Madhur Jaffrey's rice recipe, Turmeric Rice to start off my next six months of cooking adventure with her! Even though I have one of her books, (am eyeing two more!), this recipe is taken from Foodnetwork's site. 

This is a lovely rice dish! It is simple yet so tasty and my family really enjoyed eating this Turmeric Rice. I did increased the spices as I wanted it to be more fragrant, and I'm glad I did. I have always used 3-1/4 cups of water for 2 cups of basmati rice, which cooked to a perfect texture for me, so I used my own measurement. Different grades of rice requires different amount of water, so adjust accordingly. I cooked the rice in a large heavy saucepan with a lid. The spices and garlic are fried till fragrant, the rice is added in along with the water, turmeric and salt. Bring to a boil, cover and let it simmer over the lowest heat for about 20-25 minutes until cooked and puffed. Turn off heat and leave undisturbed for about 15 minutes. The rice cooked up fluffy and perfect! Fluff the rice with a pair of chopsticks or fork, then I transfer the rice to a rice cooker, switch to "keep warm", it will be all nice and warm until serving time.

I served the rice with another two of Madhur Jaffrey's recipes, a chicken korma dish and a cauliflower stir-fried, just perfect! Recipes for both the chicken korma and cauliflower will be coming up next week! Everything is delicious, I am really looking forward to try her other recipes!

Don't underestimate this simple rice, it is very good! This rice would be great eaten with any curry. I will most definitely be cooking this Turmeric Rice again.

To see my friends at IHCC welcome dish, you may visit them here. If you would like to join us, you may get the full details at IHCC's Welcome! page.

I'm sharing this with :

Recipe Box hosted by Bizzy Bakes

Turmeric Rice

(source from : Foodnetwork, Madhur Jaffrey)
450gm basmati rice (long grain) (I use 2 cups)
3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves (I use about 6-7)
1 bay leaf (I use 2)
4 cardamom pod (I use about 7-8)
2-1/2 inch, piece cinnamon
2 garlic clove (peeled and finely chopped)
1/4 tsp ground tumeric (I use 1/2 tsp)
1 tsp salt (to taste)
22 oz water (I use 3-1/4 cup)
chives (chopped, garnish)

1. Put the rice in a bowl and wash in several changes of water. (I soaked the rice in water for about 30 minutes).
2. Drain and leave in a strainer set over a bowl.
3. Put the oil in a heavy based saucepan and set over a medium high heat. When the oil is hot and beginning to bubble, put in the cloves, bay leaf, cardamom pod and cinnamon. Stir once or twice and put in the garlic. As soon as the garlic turn medium brown put in the rice, turmeric and salt. Stir gently for a minute. 
4. Now add the water and bring to the boil. Cover tightly, turn the heat down to very, very low and cook for 20 minutes. Stir the rice with a fork to separate the grain and serve garnished with chive or spring onions.

Honey Oatmeal Bread : ABC October 2012

The bake at Avid Baker's Challenge (ABC) for this month is Honey Oatmeal Bread, taken from "The Weekend Baker" by Abigail Johnson Dodge.  I was looking forward to bake another one of Abby's bread, as I love the Brioche Bread and Buttery Pull-Apart Dinner Rolls a couple of months back. Just like the previous two breads, this Honey Oatmeal Bread is another winner.

It is soft, moist and smells of honey, really nice, while baking. Abby has, like all recipes in this book, provides the "do aheads". If you are planning to bake this the next morning, the dough can be prepared and refrigerate for up to 24 hours before proceeding with the rest of the recipe. She has given the option of making this bread either my hand or to mix in a stand mixer. I chose to mix the dough in my bread machine instead.

1. The ingredients : rolled oats, butter and salt, (reduced salt to 1 scant teaspoon).

2. Bring the milk to a boil, remove from heat and add the rolled oats, butter and salt. Stir to combine. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes, stirring frequently. (I only stirred twice).
3. Honey is added in, stirring till well combined.
4.Transfer the mixture into the bread pan.
5. Scatter flour (I use bread flour instead of all-purpose flour) on mixture and place the yeast on top. Select Dough Cycle.
6. The risen dough at the end of the Cycle. 

The dough is rolled out, and rolled up like a jelly roll, shaped and placed in the loaf pan.

Smooth out and press gently to flatten the dough in an even layer. Cover with greased plastic wrap and left to rise for about 45 minutes until centre of dough has risen about 1-1/2 inches above the rim of pan.

The risen dough.

Make a cut down the centre along the length of the risen dough. Bake in a preheated oven until puff and browned, about 40 minutes.

Mine was done at 35 minutes. Brush some melted butter over the top crust. Position bread on its side on a wire rack to cool completely.

Oops.... mine was a little too browned! Should have tent the top of the bread with foil but could not view the inside of my oven, (as the bulb connection in my oven was faulty for quite a number of years!). It did not burnt, the crust was good, there's no bitter taste, phew!

This is a lovely bread, it is soft, moist and stays soft too the next day. I enjoyed the bread with a generous spread of my homemade strawberry jam, lovely with a cup of coffee for breakfast. Another keeper recipe!

Please do visit ABC to see the other fellow bakers take on this lovely bread. If you would like to join ABC, please contact Hanaa.