Love and Marriage

Me: Do you want me to get you a spoonful of Mandy's Famous Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream?

Matt: Eh.  I'm not really into pumpkin.

Me:  Sometimes I wonder why we even got married.

Matt: So that you could have all of the pumpkin stuff.

Me: Fair enough.

Mandy's Famous Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream

Man oh man, what's happening to October?  For one, it's almost over.  How did that even happen?  And, two, it's still too warm outside.  It was 81 degrees here today.  Okay, now, don't get me wrong.  Who am I to gripe about weather that's 81 degrees?  Fine.  All I'm sayin' is that a little nip in the air would be welcome.  But, hell, that'll be here soon enough.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy the best thing that this warm, balmy October has to offer: pumpkin cheesecake ice cream.

Last year I looked all around for Ben and Jerry's pumpkin cheesecake ice cream, but couldn't find it.  All I could find was some Edy's low-cal garbage.  I tried to jazz it up with cream cheese blondies (and if I remember correctly they were quite good), but still, in the back of my mind, I was craving pumpkin cheesecake ice cream.  So at Thanksgiving we made a pumpkin cheesecake, but I somehow overdosed on Thanksgiving food and so I didn't really get to enjoy it the way I should have.  So, here I found myself, a year later, still craving pumpkin cheesecake ice cream. 

Only, now I own an ice cream maker.  And I also possess some mad ice-cream-makin' skillz.  Yes, that's skillz with a z.  (Pronounced skeals.)  So this one, ladies and gentlemen, is Mandy's Famous Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream. 

What we have here is a pumpkin custard ice cream (the base of which is similar to Thomas Jefferson's Vanilla Ice Cream), cream cheese ribbons, and brown sugar pie crust chunks.  So, don't think for a second that this ice cream is good for you.  It is not.  But that's okay, because each bite is so jam-packed with creamy pumpkiny spicy nutmeggy cinnamonny brown-sugary cream-cheesy goodness that you only need a few bites to be satisfied.  Share the rest. 

Mandy's Famous Pumpkin Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ingredients

Cream Cheese Mixture (for the ribbons)

1 8 oz. block of cream cheese (NOT fat free)

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

Pumpkin Custard Mix

12 ounces pumpkin puree

5 egg yolks

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup brown sugar

Pie Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 stick butter, cut into cubes

Directions

In a food processor, blend the ingredients for the cream cheese mixture.  Pulse until fully combined and smooth.  Empty contents into a bowl and refrigerate for an hour.

For the pumpkin custard mix, combine the pumpkin puree, 1/4 cup of the brown sugar, the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger in a bowl.  In a large saucepan slowly heat 1 1/2 cups of cream with remaining 1/4 cup of brown sugar.  (Do not let it reach a boil.)  Add the egg yolks and stir constantly, not allowing the temperature to exceed 160 degrees.  When the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, remove, and add to the pumpkin mixture.  Stir until completely combined, and chill for an hour or two.

While the two mixes are chilling, combine the dry ingredients for the pie crust (flour, brown sugar, white sugar) in the bowl of an electric mixer using the paddle attachment.  With the mixer on low, slowly incorporate the butter pieces.  Mix for 1-2 minutes, until butter and dry ingredients reach an almost sandy consistency.  Press mixture into the bottom of a cookie sheet, and bake at 350 until crust is golden brown and slightly crispy.  Allow to cool, and break into chunks.

Once the pumpkin custard mix has chilled, freeze it in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.  In the last 5-10 minutes, add about 1/3 of the cream cheese mix.  Once fully incorporated, transfer to a large bowl.  Fold in the remainder of the cream cheese mix to create cream cheese ribbons throughout the ice cream.  Gently add and mix in half of the pie crust.  Save the other half for topping.

Grandma Carol and Pumpkin Cupcakes

My Grandma Carol, who reads the blog (Hi, Grandma!), emailed me the other day and said that, excited about the fall weather, she'd just made a pumpkin roll. I forgot to get her recipe, but the mention of pumpkin roll made me salivate and crave other pumpkin treats. Yes, Grandma, I do want you to email it to me. . .

(Sidenote: When I was a kid I thought that Grandma Carol was mean. I thought this because, well, she kind of was. She wasn't actually mean, but she's just never been one to dote over babies or enjoy the antics of children. In short, Grandma doesn't like kids. Perhaps her disdain for children came from being a single mother of five hellions, or maybe she's just not a fan of noise and messes. It wasn't until I was older--and crankier--that I came to fully appreciate how cool my grandma is, and to realize how much I am like her. She's an adventurer who is on a hot-air ballooning team in Albuquerque, she's an amazing cook, and she's funny as hell. I think she likes me much better, too, now that I'm an adult.)

Now, here in Savannah we have yet to enjoy this "fall weather" others speak of, since it's 90 degrees and humid, but yesterday I attempted to create our own autumn. I cranked the AC down to about 54 degrees, put on a hoodie, and made pumpkin cupcakes.


I wish that this was a scratch-and-sniff blog. The blend of spices smelled incredible.


Um, these babies take two sticks of butter. I never said they were health cupcakes!

Delicious, delicious batter.

An army of cupcakes!

Proper baking etiquette dictates that whilst the cupcakes are baking, the baker must lick the remaining batter from the bowl. . .

. . .and do it like nobody's watching.

Let's be honest--cupcakes are really just there as an excuse to eat cream cheese frosting.

I garnished them with some crushed walnuts, which provided a nice little crunch.

Instead of buying pumpkin-scented candles this fall, I'm just going to bake these cupcakes daily. Gastric bypass surgery, here I come!

From Martha Stewart Living

Makes 24

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside
3. In a large bowl, whisk together brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whick until smooth. Add pumpkin puree
4. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester insereted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed.
5. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

Happy fall! Happy baking!