Easter Pumpkin Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 1 pumpkin (about 2kg, cut into thin wedges of 5cm width, then de-seeded and peeled)
• 110 g runny honey
• 55 g light muscavado sugar
• 3 g mixed spice
• 1 tin, 400g condensed milk
• 250 g whipping cream
• 1 egg (large, white only)
• 300 g autumn berries (blackberries, blueberries very lightly crushed)
• 50 ml crème de cassis
• a good handful of fresh mint leaves (roughly chopped)
• some chocolate sauce
• a good handful of toasted flaked almonds
• 6 chocolate flakes
• 6 ice-cream wafers
• 6 sprigs of mint

Method

1. The warming cinnamon, nutmeg and mace combine beautifully with the sweet, honey-roasted pumpkin. You’ll need to allow about 6 hours for the ice-cream to set before making the sundae, or make it the day before. Then, when you add the autumn berries, chocolate sauce, flake and wafers you’ll have the perfect gooey, retro-kitsch dessert to impress your friends, children, nieces and nephews alike!
2. Firstly, the pumpkin purée:
3. Turn your oven on to a medium heat; 200°C or gas mark 6.
4. Pop the ‘raw’ pumpkin wedges onto a shallow roasting dish, coat well all-over with the honey and pop onto a middle shelf in your oven
5. Leave to roast for about an hour, turning the wedges over after half an hour.
6. When golden and soft, take the wedges out of the oven, discarding any excess water, and chop into rough chunks. Again, discard any juices that come from the pumpkin wedges as you chop them.
7. Put the wedges into a blender with the muscavado and spices. Blitz to a smooth purée.
8. Pour the purée into a bowl and allow to thoroughly cool down.
9. For the ice-cream:
10. In a large stainless steel or plastic mixing bowl, pour the cream and, using an electric (hand) blender whip to soft peak just when you can see the blender making ‘ribbons’ in the cream.
11. Then, add the cooled pumpkin purée and condensed milk into the bowl and continue to whip for another couple of minutes until you see the ‘ribbons’ once more.
12. Finally, fold the egg-white through the creamy pumpkin mixture until all ingredients are mixed well together and you have a thick, sticky ‘mousse’.
13. Pop into your freezer and allow it to set for at least 6 hours or overnight.
14. The Sundae:
15. In a bowl, mix the berries with the Cassis and chopped fresh mint.
16. Now, take a Knickerbocker Glory glass, or any tall (ish) glass you have in your cupboard and place a heaped tablespoon of the berries into the bottom.
17. Next, add a large scoop of the Pumpkin ice-cream followed by a dollop of chocolate sauce, another tablespoon of berries, another scoop of ice-cream and finally, another dollop of chocolate sauce.
18. Sprinkle with a few flaked almonds, pop in the flake, wafer and sprig of mint