We had a Pumpkin Palooza at work earlier this week. My contribution was both Pumpkin Ice Cream and Pumpkin Cupcakes. My live-in boyfriend Doug bought an ice-cream maker last week and we have been making ice cream about every two days since so I figured that homemade ice-cream would be a big hit.
I found a great Pumpkin Ice-Cream recipe from Williams & Sonoma . I successfully cooked the custard (without burning it) and set it in the fridge to cool overnight. The next day, I put it in the ice-cream maker, but added a bit more Bourbon than the recipe called for. As a result the first thing my co-workers mentioned was the Bourbon Taste. I just figured the more boozy the better (which is always my philosophy).
The Pumpkin Cupcakes were much easier–I found a recipe in October’s Real Simple Magazine for Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting . For some reason I have always been a good cupcake maker. I can just sense when they are done. I would have liked them to be a bit more pumpkiny but they were still good anyway.
All in all, I think my efforts were successful–I did not burn anything, and did not have to throw out anything because it was gross–I just had to answer the question, “Jes, is there booze in here?” Yes, yes there is indeed booze in there.
Looking forward to reading more of your cooking tips-y!