(#69) SWEET POTATO WITH TOASTED MARSHMALLOW: A Scoopsies Thanksgiving

And now, a flavor that has been on our master list since day one: Sweet Potato with Toasted Marshmallow!

 HAPPY THANKSGIVING! 

Scoopsies' Sweet Potato with Toasted Marshmallow 

(yields 1 quart)

2 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups milk

1 sweet potato

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/8 tsp guar gum

5 egg yolks

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup marshmallows, toasted

Before puréeing the sweet potato, cook in a pan over medium heat with:
1 TBL maple syrup
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg

(#68) DATE PECAN PIE: Date-worthy

I love asking my parents for their opinion of our flavors.  If I give my Mom a taste and she likes it, she'll go on about how impressed she is and then she'll send me an email about it later that night.  If she doesn't like it, she'll always find a kind way to break it to me: "it wasn't my favorite." My Dad almost always gives his "this is great!" in his over-enthusiastic Dad voice. But when I gave him a bite of this Date Pecan Pie ice cream, he paused for a minute, took another bite, and told me that this was his favorite flavor so far! My Dad approves of my Date (sorry, I had to!)

For the sweet pecans: Cook them in butter and maple syrup (try sprinkling some cinnamon on them, too!) and let them cool in the freezer before churning them with the ice cream.

Scoopsies' Date Pecan Pie
(yields 1 quart)

2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk

10 medjool dates, pitted

1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

5 egg yolks

Pecans, toasted

1 tbl butter 

2 tbl maple syrup

(#67) COQUITO: Puerto Rican Cocktail Turned Ice Cream

This cocktail-turned-ice-cream is the Puerto Rican version of eggnog.  It's super sweet and creamy with all of the essential Fall flavors.  Give or take a tablespoon of Bicardi depending on preference, but I think this is the perfect amount--a subtle kick that makes this flavor! 

Scoopsies' Coquito Ice Cream

(yields 1 quart)

14 oz. sweetened condensed milk

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups shredded unsweetened coconut

1 tsp whole cloves

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbl Bicardi (or another white rum)

2 tsp vanilla extract

5 egg yolks

(#66) GINGER CHOCOLATE CHUNK: FALLing In Love With Ginger

I've been using the season as an excuse to (over)use some of my favorite ingredients. Cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, maple, and the spice I have come to love with all of my heart: ginger. 

We've had many ginger-based successes--(#3) Lemon Ginger, (#42) Ginger, and most recently, (#62) Maple Ginger.  We could only justify making yet another ginger flavor if it had some kind of kick to it.  When I stumbled upon a food blog with a candied ginger ice cream flavor, I was inspired and jumped right on it. 

Candying is something I've been wanting to do for awhile now and for whatever reason, I was intimidated until recently. As it turns out, it's quite simple! David Lebovitz breaks it down very well. If you don't own an ice cream maker, you should still try candying ginger for something else.  Maybe dip the pieces in dark chocolate and give them out as holiday treats?  

This flavor is one of my absolute favorites. Chunks of chocolate, bits of candied ginger--seriously, a late-Autumn delight! 

Scoopsies' Ginger Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
(yields 1 quart)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup freshly grated ginger
5 egg yolks
(homemade!) candied ginger bits
2 oz. chopped bittersweet dark chocolate

(#65) PERSIMMON HONEY: Fall Fruits of Haymarket

I hadn't even heard of persimmons until I went to Haymarket last weekend.  My friend has a stand there and when I asked what they tasted like, he cut one up.  My first thought was "this would make a tasty ice cream!" 

We paired it with a little bit of honey and the result is subtle yet sweet.  If we weren't running behind on our 100 flavors, I would have loved to try this flavor with some cardamom. How delightful is the Fall? 

Scoopsies' Fuyu Persimmon Honey Ice Cream

(yields 1 quart)

2 cups puréed fuyu persimmons

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar

2 tbl honey

6 egg yolks

(#62) MAPLE GINGER: The Taste of Fall

I used to hate Autumn because it meant Winter was on its way.  The temperature starts to drop, everything starts to die, and it's dark by 5pm.  But the flavors of Fall make up for all of this (and the foliage isn't bad, either!)  While I'm usually deep into hibernation at this point in the year, I am now out and about, and able to enjoy all of the gifts that Autumn has to offer.  This is all thanks to ice cream, of course.  I'm in love with all of the possibilities for this season so much that I haven't even thought about Winter creeping up on us.  

Maple Ginger is the essence of Fall in an ice cream flavor and one of my absolute favorites to make (and eat!)

Recommended: throw in the ginger while you are reducing the maple syrup.  This will help blend and bring out both flavors.

Scoopsies' Maple Ginger Ice Cream

(yields about 1 quart)

1/2 cup grade B maple syrup (reduced to about 1/4 cup)

1 cup fresh ginger (grated)

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 1/2 cups milk

5 egg yolks

1 tbl maple extract

(#61) PUMPKIN PIE: A Belated Halloween Treat

Most foods marketed as "pumpkin" flavor are really just a blend of the Fall spices (cinnamon, clove, ginger, etc) and don't even have a bit of pumpkin in them.  Made with fresh pumpkin purée, our Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream is the real deal.  

When we worked at Emack & Bolios a few years ago, Pumpkin was the most popular flavor come September.  We'd run out of a "party tub" of it in no time. The owner kept the recipe to himself, and would tell us "if you guess what spices I used, I will tell you if you're right."  My bet is we'd be able to guess each spice now, but we've come up with our own version of Pumpkin that we think could become a Scoopsies classic!

We made this flavor with our own pumpkin purée and you can really taste how fresh it is!  Just a tip: use fresh pumpkin purée and never canned pumpkin! Like vanilla extract to vanilla bean, you can't really compare the two.  They taste like completely different flavors and the canned pumpkin really compromises the flavor (and overall quality). 

It took me one hour and two knives (at the same time) to cut the pumpkin just in half, but it was worth it (and for the record, not once did I ask one of my strong roommates to help!) 

Pumpkin puree directions: are here!

Scoopsies' Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

(yields 1 quart)

1 1/2 cup fresh sugar pumpkin puree 

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar

 1 tbl cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

2 tsp ginger

4 egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract