Pumpkin Pie and Coconut Ice Cream

Well, it’s been a busy week or so since I last posted.  I have been spending much of my time getting my new website going so we can launch on December 4th!  I have also been working on Shire City Herbals, the small batch, hand crafted herbal creations my husband Dana and I have been formulating, also launching on December 4th at Alchemy Initiative’s: Handmade Holiday Festival It’s been fun getting ready to launch our new venture but I did set aside some time on Wednesday and Thursday to make Thanksgiving dessert with my sister, who is also on the Candida diet.  Both of these desserts were a big hit, I didn’t get a picture of the finished ice cream, we ate it all!

Pumpkin Pie with an Almond Crust

For the crust:

Combine 1 1/2 cups of ground pecans and/or almonds (almond meal) and 3 Tablespoons coconut oil until they form a crumbly even mixture.  Press this mixture evenly into the bottom and sides of your pie dish, we used a 8×8 glass baking dish.

Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, making sure it doesn’t brown too much.  Set aside while you make the filling…

Pumpkin Pie Filling:

1 lb or a 15 oz can of organic pumpkin

4 large organic eggs

1 cup organic coconut milk

1 tsp each cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice

Stevia to taste, add it at the end a bit at a time.

Everything goes into one bowl and gets whipped together, we used my wand blender but a food processor or a whisk and some elbow grease would also work just fine.  When it’s all mixed into a uniform pumpkin puree, pour it into your pre baked crust and bake at 350 for 45 minutes to an hour, till the middle is firm and the sides are just starting to pull away from the baking dish.  Let it cool before you eat it.   Best to distract yourself by making ice cream while the pie cools…

Coconut Ice Cream:

1 can (13 or so oz) Organic Coconut Milk

1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut flakes, toasted, if you like for even more flavor

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

Stevia to taste

First, toast the coconut.

Slowly toasting the coconut over low heat.

Next whip the eggs and yolks in a stainless steel bowl large enough to accommodate all the ingredients.   Use a hand blender and whip until the eggs get lighter in color and thicker in texture, about 5-10 minutes.

Get a sauce pan with simmering water ready, one that your whipping bowl fits into nicely, without too much space around the edges.  Make sure the water won’t over flow when you set the bowl into the pan and, make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the bottom of the pan, it should be surrounded by the simmering water on all sides.

Adding coconut milk to the whipped eggs over an improvised double boiler.

Now you are going to set your egg bowl into the simmering water, continuing to whip while adding the coconut milk, toasted coconut and stevia.  Add slowly and steadily and continue to whip the mixture until it thickens and is cooked through.  You now have coconut custard, creamy yellow in color and very rich.  You can eat as is or cill it throughly in an ice bath, stirring all the while untill it’s totally cool.

Cooling the custard in an ice bath before it goes into the ice cream maker.

Pour the cooled custard into your ice cream maker and proceed as you would with any other ice cream.  Serve with fresh ground nutmeg and of course, pie!

Happy Thanksgiving!!