Craftwytch Ice Cream

This is a bit of a long recipe but each component is relatively simple.

You can use a pumpkin spice blend or chai blend, or make your own. I used a tablespoon of my blend and had a lot leftover, but it keeps for about a year in an airtight container.

Next time I make this flavor I would use half the amount, 2.5 teaspoons instead of 1 tablespoon, as the spice level added a little bitterness that while not unpleasant was not ideal.

My chai blend:

For the pumpkin chai ice cream I used a 6 yolk custard base which gives it a richer more pumkpin pie like flavor, but a simple xanthan gum base would also work nicely as the pumpkin puree gives it a silkier texture on it’s own.

To a saucepan add 350 grams, (about 3/4 of a can) of pumpkin puree. Add 2.5 tsps of pumpkin pie spice or a chai spice blend. As mentioned I used a full tablespoon and I think it was a little too much.

Add 1 3/4 cup whole milk, 1 3/4 cup heavy whipping cream, 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar (106 grams) , and 1/2 cup of granulated sugar (99 grams).

Crack six eggs and place the yolks in a medium heat safe bowl. What you do with the egg whites is none of my business.

Set up an ice bath on the counter to help cool down the mixture. Fill a large bowl with ice water and place a medium bowl with a strainer on top to be ready.

Heat the mixture on medium, stirring to combine. I would suggest using a thermometer to gauge the temperature if using a custard base, as any temperature over 180 will begin to curdle the eggs. Yuck.

When the temperature reaches 150 degrees, slowly add about 1.5 cups of the hot liquid to the yolks, whisking constantly. Return the yolk mixture to the saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon (or silicone, but wood is ideal) constanlty until the temperature reaches about 175. The mixture will thicken enough to coat the back of the spoon.

Strain the mixture into the bowl over the ice bath to remove any curdled bits. If you get a clean strain you did an amazing job, but if not, a tiny bit of eggy bits is not going to ruin the flavor.

Add 1-2 tbs of espresso powder. I added 2 and the coffee flavor wasn’t overwhelming at all. The espresso is totally optional, the flavor will still be amazing without it. You can also add 1-2 tsp of vanilla extract. This is a good time to taste it if you’d like to add any extra extract, espresso or spice. Remember that colder foods have a little less flavor than warm, so it will be a tiny bit muted once it’s fully churned.

Cover and refrigerate for a few hours or overnight for best results.

Make the ginger molasses cookies. The cookie recipe I used comes from Mel’s Kitchen cafe and it was the perfect consistency for an ice cream sandwich; soft and chewy with crispy edges for some texture. I did make the cookies a bit larger than the recipe calls for (50 grams) and used a silpat rather than parchment paper, so I ended up baking them almost twice as long as the recipe suggests, about 15 minutes.

They came out to about 3.5 inches in diameter. This recipe will yield about twice as many cookies as you’ll use, but I ate that amount in two days very easily. So tasty!

Churn the ice cream and spread or pipe onto a plastic wrap or parchment paper lined sheet pan with an edge 1″ deep. A pan exactly or larger than 10″ x 10″ is ideal for this amount of ice cream, as you will be using a 3.25 inch circular cookie cutter and this area will yield 9 circles. I used a pan larger than 10″ x 10″ and just inserted a smaller pan to create a 10″ x 10″ space for the ice cream. If its fully and properly churned it should be easy to spread into a 10 x 10″ shape quickly and not melt too much once it’s in the freezer. Working quickly is ideal for preventing any melting. You want to spread it about 1″ thick to get a good ratio of ice cream to cookie.

Freeze the ice cream overnight or about 8 hours minimum to fully set.

About an hour before you’re ready to assemble, make the chocolate magic shell. You’ll want it to cool down completely before using it.

I used a golden milk chai filled chocolate, but any flavor of chocolate will go nicely with this ice cream. Just remember that the ratio of refined coconut oil to chocolate is 1:4. I used 320 grams of chocolate and 80 grams of refined coconut oil but had a lot leftover. This can be saved in the refrigerator for about a week or a few months in the freezer and reheated to use again. You can probably use 150 grams of chocolate and 37 grams of refined coconut oil for this amount but you may need to drizzle it over rather than dip it. I keep repeating REFINED coconut oil because unrefined will have a strong coconut flavor while refined is very neutral.

Heat the chocolate and refined coconut oil in the microwave in two 30 second intervals, stirring very well in between, then continue to heat at 15 second intervals while still stirring after each time. The less heat you use the better, and stirring will really help to melt it down quicker. Since you want it to be fully cooled before using, the less heat you use the quicker you can use it.

After the magic shell has come to room temp, set up you rice cream sandwich mise en place. Use a circuclar cookie cutter about the size of the cookies to cut rounds of ice cream and sandwich in between two cookies, using a little bit of pressure to make sure its fully adhered to both sides. I used a 3.25″ cookie cutter for the 3,5″ cookie as it will spread a little when sandwiched together Dip half of the sandwich into the chocolate or pour it over any part you’d like covered. It’s easier to eat if you leave some of the cookie uncovered. Enjoy! Enjoy right away or store in freezer. Allow 10 minutes of thawing again after refreezing to soften cookie.