Homemade Pumpkin Ice Cream! Using a Real Pumpkin!

I’ve been making ice cream for many years now and have made lots of different kinds and flavors. I have always used much simpler ingredients and methods when making ice cream so I was very excited to try something new by using a pumpkin as an ingredient! This was very new to me and I was eager to find out how to incorporate a large vegetable into my ice cream. Overall, I thought this turned out a lot better then I imagined and was very pleased with the outcome. So if your ready to give it a try grab the ingredients below and let’s get started!

Supplies

1 - Pie Pumpkin

1 cup - Whole Milk

3/4 cup - Granulated Sugar

1 tsp - Pumpkin Pie Spice

2 cups - Heavy Whipping Cream

(Optional) - Graham Crackers

Step 1: Preparing the Pumpkin

The best way to incorporate the pumpkin into the ice cream is by making into a purée. In order to turn the pumpkin into this purée it must be cooked in the oven. But before this can be done it needs to be prepared for the oven by,

Removing the stem completely.

Then, slicing the pumpkin in half.

Scooping out the seeds inside of the pumpkin.

Finally, placing the pumpkin halves, cut-side down, on a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Step 2: Cooking the Pumpkin

After the pumpkin is prepared for the oven, go ahead and set the oven to 350°.

Bake the pumpkin for 45 - 60 minutes.

The best way to know if the pumpkin is done is if it can easily be pierced by a fork.

My pumpkin took approximately 55 minutes to bake.

Step 3: Turning the Pumpkin Into Purée

After the pumpkin has finished baking in the oven go ahead and take it out and let it chill (about 20 minutes).

There are multiple ways of turning the baked pumpkin into purée. Grab a food processor, blender, or even a fork and bowl will work. (I used a blender for quicker results).

Then, peel the skin of the pumpkin and toss the chunks of the cooked pumpkin into your prepared mixing container.

Blend the pumpkin until it has become a thick orange purée.

Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Step 4: Creating the Ice Cream Mix

This next step is were we’ll be creating the actual mix to put into the ice cream machine. Let’s start by grabbing a medium pan and put it over medium heat.

Begin by mixing in the milk, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla extract and about 1 cup of the pumpkin purée we made earlier.

Continue stirring the mix occasionally until it comes to a low simmer.

After it comes to a low simmer, turn the stove off, and set the pan aside to cool.

After about 15 minutes, stir in the heavy whipping cream.

Set the mix in the refrigerator to cool, for about 2 hours.

Step 5: Making the Ice Cream

After allowing the mix to sit for about 2 hours in the refrigerator, go ahead and grab your ice cream maker and prepare it for the mix.

After your machine is ready go ahead and poor the mix into the machine and let it churn according to your machines instructions.

After the machine has finished churning the mix, pour it into a container and let freeze overnight.

Step 6: (Optional) Prepare Toppings

I thought the best way to finish of this ice cream was to give it a graham cracker crumble on top to give it a sort of pumpkin pie taste.

I did this by, putting some graham crackers into a sandwich bag and smashed it up.

After this, pour it on top of the ice cream!

Step 7: Enjoy!

Finally, after all your hard work your ice cream is complete and ready to be enjoyed! I hope you liked it!