I can just imagine what you are thinking….I bet it’s something along the lines of, “It’s 3 days to Thanksgiving and how am I possibly going to get it all done!” Well, if you don’t have time to make desserts you may be contemplating on sticking to the traditional offerings of assorted pies and other usual standbys.
I’ve heard it all before and if you need to go that route, that’s OK, there are still a few little twists you can add to your menu to jazz things up. I’m not talking about anything complicated…just a little ice cream…well in this case, a little semifreddo. Whether it’s apple, pecan, sweet potato or pumpkin pie that will make it to your dessert table, there’s always room for ice cream.
I don’t know about you, but when I have a slice of pie, it’s always a la mode. This was the first time I had made a pumpkin ice cream and I must say it was so good, that I made it a second time in one week. This pumpkin semifreddo came together in about 20 minutes, and after freezing it overnight, it had a perfectly smooth and creamy texture. Serve it with some of those delicious pies or by itself with some chocolate or caramel sauce…it’s that simple to make and enjoy.
Whiskey Pumpkin Butter (makes about 2 cups)
15 oz can of pumpkin puree
¾ cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup honey or dark corn syrup
3 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup whiskey (I used JD)
1 ½ teaspoons cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon allspice
Add everything to a small sauce pan and cook on low to moderate heat for 30 minutes, stirring continually until it has thickened. Set this aside to cool completely, or cool in the refrigerator.
Pumpkin Semifreddo
6 yolks
½ cup powdered sugar (goes into yolks)
1 ½ teaspoons vanilla
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
½ cup powdered sugar, sifted (goes into heavy cream)
1 ¼ teaspoons cinnamon
¼ teaspoon cloves
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup pumpkin butter (recipe above)
1 cup pumpkin butter (to swirl in before freezing)
First whip the heavy cream with the powdered sugar and all of the spices to a medium peak and then set aside in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.
Next, add the yolks to the bowl of your stand mixer along with the sugar, vanilla and whiskey. Whisk all of this together and place this over a pot of gently boiling water and whip the yolks until they are pale and have thickened significantly. They should also be very warm (but not hot) to the touch. If you over heat them you will run the risk of cooking the yolks!
At this point, remove the bowl from the pot of boiling water and using the whisk attachment, whip the yolk mixture until pale and completely cool. Take the whipped cream out of the refrigerator and whisk in the 1 cup of cooled pumpkin butter until it has all been incorporated.
Add the cool egg yolk mixture to the whipped cream until it is all mixed together and then pour it into the bowl that you will be storing the ice cream in before placing in the freezer.
Add the other cup of pumpkin butter all over the ice cream gently and then simply swirl this gently into the ice cream.
Make sure to be careful when doing this so that you actually get nice thick swirls of pumpkin butter with each scoop…that’s what really makes this delicious.
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