It’s kind of a big deal.  See?

Google knows when something is a big deal.  Trust me.  People are posting recipes so you can make your own, others are yammering on about how exciting the first pumpkin spice latte of the year is.  People love them.

And I’m not judging.  The pumpkin spice latte was the first time I ever had coffee and didn’t think “That’d be good… if you could just get rid of the coffee flavor.”  I just wasn’t raised on coffee.  My parents don’t drink it.  And my caffeine of choice through college was always diet coke (interestingly, this is what I would get when I had the pleasure of taking a sip of my dad’s drink as a child).  I’ve had roommates who drink coffee like it’s their job.  And when you’re a student, I guess it kind of is.  And I’ve just never really gotten into it.  I would always prefer a soda or a cup of tea.  Always.  … except the pumpkin spice latte.  It has this rich, earthy flavor… mixed with fall spices and the richness of cream.  It’s a match made in heaven really.

Did you see my birthday ice cream from a couple days ago?  Pumpkin ice cream is really a pretty good idea.  … but I really had to wonder if we could make a sort of pumpkin spice latte ice cream.  We can.  I did.  You should too.

Photo by Nathan Clendenin

For the recipe, I basically merged two of David Lebovitz’s recipes together. This recipe for coffee ice cream.  And this recipe for pumpkin ice cream.  I made a few minor adjustments, and voila!  Here’s how it goes:

Pumpkin Spice Latte Ice Cream

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups whole coffee beans (I went with decaf because I like to eat ice cream in the evening)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 5 large egg yolks
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground coffee
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the milk, coffee beans, sugar, salt, spices, and 1/2 cup heavy cream together in a medium saucepan.  Cook over low heat until steamy (not boiling).  Cover, remove from heat, and let steep for approximately 1 hour.

Whisk the egg yolks in a bowl.  Prepare ice bath: a big bowl with a bunch of ice in it, and a littler, metal bowl sitting inside of that.  Pour the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream in the smaller bowl; then put a mesh strainer on top.

Now reheat the milk mixture.  Once hot and steamy, pour some of the milk mixture into the eggs and mix together.  Now pour the egg/milk mixture into the milk mixture.  Cook on medium until thickened.  Remove from heat.  Pour through mesh strainer into ice bath.  Mix in brown sugar and coffee grounds.  Now chill this mixture thoroughly (preferably overnight).

Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla.  Strain again to get out any chunks.  Then freeze according to ice cream maker’s directions.

That’s what we’re going to talk about today.  It’s my latest fragrance.  That’s a lie.  It’s not actually.  Still, it’s great.  I got an ice cream maker.  I’ve used it to make some pretty tasty treats.  The nice thing about it is how easy it is to make gluten free desserts.  The bad thing about it is that it requires you to actually follow directions.  Darn appliance!  How dare it!

If I were in kindergarten, I would get a big fat for “follows directions”.  It’s amazing I ever made it through college the way I completely disregard directions.  As I’m sure you can imagine, sometimes this “flaw” leads to absolute disaster.  It’s why I’m a bad baker.  And other times, it leads to complete brilliance.  It’s why I’m a good cook.  True facts.

In ice cream making, it generally leads to a mess.  You know… if you don’t freeze the bowl completely before trying to freeze the ice cream.  For the record, it was frozen-ish.  I didn’t completely disregard the owner’s manual.  It was just… a bit sloshy inside, still.  Just a bit.  My first ice cream recipe didn’t so much turn into ice cream.  It more turned into a delicious beverage.  The second time wasn’t much better.  Third time’s the charm, though.

And now that I’ve gotten the freezing part down, I’m back to not following directions.  In this case, it turned out great.

See?

I found this recipe.  It’s posted all over the internet.  Apparently, this David Lebovitz guy knows a thing or two about ice cream.  And I’m sure it’s a good recipe.  I’m also sure that what I ate this afternoon was not that recipe.  So by all means, try his.  But also try this one.  Because, while similar, my version has an absolutely intense chocolate flavor that was probably created by the extra chocolate I put in it.  Whoops.

Before I tell you that this is the best chocolate ice cream I’ve ever eaten, you should know something.  I don’t actually like chocolate ice cream.  When the boyfriend and I are picking out ice cream, he always goes for something with a chocolate base.  I always choose something with a vanilla base.  We’re ice cream incompatible.  Not sure if that’s a deal-breaker…  But this ice cream has changed all of that.  It’s chocolate.  It’s ice cream.  And I love it.  So does the boyfriend.

Chocolate Ice Cream:
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3 Tablespoons cocoa powder (I skimped, it’s true.  Go Dutch-processed if you want.  I’m sure it’d be good.)
• 8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup whole milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• pinch of salt
• 5 large egg yolks

Start by whisking together the 5 egg yolks.  You can do this later, but I have trouble multi-tasking.  Get them ready and out of the way.  Do it in a medium bowl.  You’ll use this later.

Whisk together 1 cup of cream and the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Bring to a boil, then reduce temperature.  Simmer for 30 seconds.  Remove from heat and add the chocolate chips.  Mix together until the chocolate has all melted.  Slowly mix in the remaining cup of cream.  Pour this into a second medium bowl.  Place a mesh strainer on top of it.

Now take the same saucepan and mix together the milk, sugar, and salt.  Warm milk mixture over a low heat.  When it’s warmed through, slowly whisk the milk mixture into the egg yolks, just a bit at a time.  You don’t want to scramble the eggs.  Now transfer the egg mixture back into the saucepan.  Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat until thickened.  Pour the mixture through the mesh strainer into the chocolate mixture.  Now place that whole bowl into an ice bath and stir until cool.  Chill the mixture until cold to the touch.  Then freeze according to ice cream maker’s directions.  (Seriously.  Do what they tell you to.)