Celebrate Halloween With Pumpkin Ice Cream

Well, Halloween is just around the corner. There's lots to prepare and look forward to so I'll make this blog post short!

Having got the costumes, pumpkins etc ready, you might want to treat everyone to something a little special .... pumpkin ice cream. This recipe also has maple syrup in it which gives it extra sweetness and texture. A little ground nutmeg also adds to the spice.

If you are in a hurry and forget about a dessert until almost the last minute, don't worry - there is always the option of trying one of these easy ice cream recipes.

Whatever you do this Halloween, have FUN!

Halloween Hot Chocolate

Here's a little gem of a recipe for a hot, sweet treat on Halloween.

I came across it in an English coffee shop. I was just waiting for my delicious take-away latte when a poster on the wall caught my eye. It was an advert for one of the cafe's 'specials' - an offer just for Halloween ......

A bat-shaped cookie with a glass of hot chocolate - GREEN hot chocolate!

I had to ask what this green hot chocolate idea was all about. The girl behind the counter (Emma) explained with a smile that it was her own recipe - she loves Halloween and wanted to come up with something that would be fun. I instantly related to that idea and explained how I developed my Gothic ice cream recipe for the very same reason.

Q: So what is Emma's special recipe?
A: She uses white chocolate and then blends in a green, mint flavoring (the type used in specialty coffees).

Emma kindly emailed me a photograph, published herewith by kind permission.

A ghoulish green hot chocolate - that's what I call a 'hot' idea for a Halloween treat!

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Looking for Halloween food ideas?
See previous Halloween posts from my ice cream blog

Toffee Ice Cream - A Treat For Halloween

Here is a recipe for toffee ice cream. It takes longer to make than the average homemade ice cream because you have to make your own toffee by boiling a can of condensed milk BUT it is well worth the effort!

Whenever I have made toffee ice cream or indeed whenever I have been out walking with friends or family and called at an ice cream kiosk, no-one has ever said they don't like toffee ice cream. It seems to have a universal appeal.

Although I enjoy making my own toffee ice cream, I must admit to occasionally enjoying commercially made toffee ice cream. I don't mean the stuff you get from supermarkets, oh no .... I mean the kind of ice cream that you might find produced by a local dairy farm.

Where I live we are fortunate to have a number of dairy farms who produce superb ice cream. Here is a photograph of me having just purchased just such a toffee ice cream in a cone whilst on a walk with my family earlier this year. Notice the wonderful texture and marbling effect .... delicious!

Read more about ice cream recipes ahead of Halloween.

Looking for Halloween food ideas? See previous Halloween posts from my ice cream blog

French Ice Cream

Everyone knows there are different types of ice cream - from gelato to sorbets to custard base ice creams such as this definitive vanilla ice cream made with a real vanilla.

How about French ice cream? You may not think there's anything special about French ice cream but back in Edwardian England they did. On the last day that the great liner RMS Titanic ever saw daylight, the 1st class dining menu featured 'French Ice Cream' as a dessert. By contrast the 2nd class menu offered 'American Ice Cream'. The White Star Line chefs certainly thought there was something special about French ice cream. Read the full detail of why in an earlier blog post about Titanic ice cream.

If you've not tried French ice cream then you're in for a treat. I was recently in France (in the Vendée) and made a point of seeking out and trying as much locally made ice cream as I could. My family kindly helped me with this 'exercise' needless to say :-))

The verdict? Delicious! We tried ice creams from all different types of 'establishment' - waffles topped with vanilla ice cream in a small cafe in Vouvant, various ice cream cones in St Martin on the beautiful Île de Ré, ice cream sundaes in a small town, pavement cafe close to La Tranche Sur Mer ... the list goes on. Every time it was the same great experience. Every time we ordered vanilla ice cream it was real vanilla ice cream (you could see the tiny dark brown vanilla pod seeds in the ice cream). Every time we went to a new ice cream parlour we were stunned by the fabulous presentation of their glaces maison (homemade ice cream). Just look at this photo of almond ice cream decorated in almond flakes and caramel sauce!

I took lots of ice cream photographs whilst in France and hope to share them with you over the coming weeks and months via my ice cream blog and of course my ice cream recipes website.

Thoughts Of Halloween & Ice Cream

October is here, there's a chill in the air and Halloween is not far away!

What are you planning for this Halloween? A party at home or will you be invited out to someone else's party? Well, whether at home or away, ice cream may well be on the menu! Check out my ideas for Halloween ice cream well in advance so that if you want to make some homemade ice cream for the occasion, you are ready.

The fun of ice cream is something that never fades and whenever there is a celebration, ice cream usually makes an appearance. Halloween is no exception - read my ice cream blog post entitled Hello Halloween With Fun Of Ice Cream

NOTE: On the subject of fun, here is an extract from a wonderful post I read recently called 'Saving Fun' ...
"But if we lose fun we will have lost far more than just a word, we will have lost our capacity for spontaneous pleasure, our lightness of spirit. We will also have lost our trust in the basic goodness of life."
Reproduced by kind permission of Letters From London

Are These Real Ice Cream Cones?

Continuing with the theme of interesting ice cream point of sale material, here is a photograph I took on a visit to Keswick in Cumbria England.

For those who are not familiar with Cumbria, it was home for many years to the wonderful children's story writer Beatrix Potter who gave us Peter Rabbit. So much did she love her Hill Top Farm that she purchased several thousand acres of additional farmland in the area and donated it to the National Trust to preserve unspoiled for future generations to enjoy.

Keswick is popular with visitors from all over the world and there is a very popular ice cream parlour in the town - Luchini's. Of Italian origin, the family set up business here many years ago, making their own ice cream and it's still produced locally today. The photograph was taken looking into their shop window. These life-size ice cream display cones looked so real .... the texture of the ice cream looked like it had just been scooped from the freezer. I watched as children passed by the window, then stopped and tugged on their parents' sleeves. Yet another example of successful point of sale display!

NOTE: It is interesting to see that the 3 ice creams used in the display were vanilla ice cream, chocolate ice cream and strawberry ice cream and ch These are the 3 most popular ice cream flavours in the world. Read more about the world's top 10 ice cream