Pumpkin Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches

My school is a little weird in that it divides the year into 5 parts. My first "quint" is ending, which means teachers decide to pile on the work. All at one time. The last week of the quint is always a little insane; everyone's very stressed and a little grouchy. But there is reward to the difficult week. We get a couple days off to recuperate, which means I'll most likely have time for an extra post (woot woot). I've been doing a lot of college searching lately, and I'm completely falling in love with the courses I've been looking up. I'm not exactly sure what I want to, but graphic design has always been a love of mine. I get really excited whenever I start to research it. There's a lot of anxiety involved in picking out what you want to be for the rest of your life. But there's a lot of fun involved, too. Seeing the types of things I'll get to do in a couple of years, eases the pressure, as it looks like so much fun. I know I love my web designing, photography, and baking, so that's what I'll stick to for now!

Pumpkin Ice Cream

1 cup pumpkin purée
2 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
5 egg yolks

Combine pumpkin and vanilla and mix thoroughly. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Whisk egg yolks with 1/2 cup of cream and 1/2 cup brown sugar until thick.

In a medium saucepan, combine 1/4 cup brown sugar and remaining 1 1/2 cups of cream. Heat on low until sugar is dissolved and steam rises, continually mixing.

Add 1/2 cup of hot cream into egg mixture gradually, whisking thoroughly.
Pour egg mixture into saucepan and heat on medium-low until mixture is thickened, but does not boil.

Pour through a strainer and let cool in refrigerator for 30 minutes, then mix in pumpkin. Cover in an airtight container for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

Transfer mixture to ice cream maker and use manufacturer's in structions.



Gingerbread Cake
adapted from martha stewart

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pan
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ginger
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup molasses
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup boiling water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray a half sheetpan with cooking spray and line with parchment. Spray parchment and use a paper towel to spread. Flour well and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together spices, salt, sugar, and flour.

In another bowl, whisk together molasses, egs, canola oil, and buttermilk.

Dissolve the baking soda in the boiling water.

Gently fold in molasses and water mixtures into the dry ingredients until a batter is formed. Pour into prepared sheetpan and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cake springs back with a light touch, depending on your oven.

Let cool for at least 20 minutes before attempting to remove. Once cooled, use a ruler or other straight edge to cut equal size squares. remove the squares and each cut in half, producing two rectangles.

Assembly

Once the ice cream is made, spread it in a sheetpan lined with parchment into one even layer. Let set up in freezer for at least 3 hours. Once hardened, use a ruler to cut ice cream squares the same size as the cake.

Just before serving, stack ice cream on top of one piece of cake, layering another on top of the ice cream. You can make a little powdered sugar+cream glaze to drizzle on top, and pecans go nicely with this.