Leftover Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream!

Hello fellow ice cream crazy people! I went to Crazy Town today with an idea. Last week was Canadian Thanksgiving here in good old Vancouver, BC Canada and to celebrate, I made two pies from scratch: pumpkin pie with a ginger snap crust and maple syrup whipped cream, and classic lemon meringue pie with a fluffy toasted meringue. Side note to all pie makers: high fives all around to you guys. Pies can really take some time! But every moment was enjoyable and I look forward to making more and more pies in my baking future.

Because I tend to be a bit of an experimenter in the kitchen, measurements aren't always my strong suit-- I was combining a few different pumpkin pie recipes to make one pie so therefore I wasn't sure how much pie filling to make to fill my 9 inch ginger snap crust. So I went with doubling the pie filling recipe, figuring more is better... thus, I had leftover pie filling! About 3 cups of it, which I poured into a container and put in the fridge.

I'll make another pie with that later, I said.

But then today, I was struck with an idea: why not cook the filling like you would an ice cream custard, add some sweetened consdensed milk and whole milk, mix it up and throw it in ye olde ice cream machine and see what happens??

What happened was a total experiment, and an example of using up ingredients to make something else... no waste! Hooray! But sometimes crazy recipes come into fruition this way, right? This turned out to be a really smooth, creamy and delicious ice cream with a distinct pumpkin/spice/brown sugar flavour.

So here it is. A recipe for pumpkin pie ice cream! I recommend pairing it with some crunchy thin ginger snaps... either ice cream sandwich style or served on the side!

{Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream}

You will need:

3 cups of 1 recipe pumpkin pie filling (recipe right below. make a pie too!)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (300 ml) 1.5 cups heavy cream

(Pumpkin Pie Filling)

1.5 cups heavy cream
2 eggs, beaten
1 16oz can of pumpkin
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp powdered ginger

1. Mix all your pumpkin pie filling ingredients together. Put in a medium saucepan on stove. Cook on stove at medium-high for a few minutes until it thickens, stirring constantly. Remove pot from stovetop, let cool.

2. In a large bowl, pour in sweetened condensed milk. Whisk in heavy cream.

3. Slowly whisk in cooled pumpkin pie filling into milk ingredients. Whisk together to combine.

4. Chill pumpkin pie ice cream mixture until well-chilled, 1 hour in freezer or 3-4 hours in refrigerator!

5. Pour into ice cream maker and watch some pumpkin power churn up before your eyes, 25-30 minutes or until desired ice creaminess.

6. Scoop out and enjoy with a side of ginger snaps, or scoop between two crisp ginger snaps for a very delightful ice cream sandwich!

Happy Fall everyone! ^_^