Pumpkin Pie Semifreddo
It's finally time to celebrate pumpkin in The Bell House. I am a bit of a purest when it comes to celebrating the seasons. Having pumpkin, anything, in August just doesn't feel right. As a matter of fact, this time of year I have to strategically plan the timeline to celebrate pumpkins, Halloween, Thanksgiving and the rest of the holidays smushed in a 4 month period.
What will seem like a very stringent itenerary to you is chuck full of reasons. Starting early September and running through mid-January, the birthday train leaves the station and makes over 15 stops for just our immediate family.
In the Bell House, we introduce pumpkin and fall decor on October 1st. We WILL NOT turn on Christmas music until Thanksgiving day, but it will be the only thing we listen to until December 26th. All Christmas decorations are packed and stored before December 31st.
The strict Christmas decore take down is because My husband's birthday is January 2nd. My mom's birthday is January 10th. Oh and you can also throw in my daughters birthday, a nephew, and a niece all before January 16th.
Then, we can take a breather, the next run on birthdays and the next family celebrated holiday is over two months away. PHEW!
Let us celebrate the start of the Fall season. Here is the reason you clicked on the link to The Bell House:
PUMPKIN PIE SEMIFREDDO.
6 Egg yolks, save the whites for breakfast or Marshmallow Frosting
1 cup of granulated sugar
1/2 cup of water
1 cup of canned Pumpkin, save the rest for your morning oatmeal
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon of ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt
2 cups of heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon of vanilla
GRAHAM CRACKER LAYERS:
3/4 sleeve of honey graham crackers
Pinch of Kosher salt
2 tablespoons of unsalted butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
Before you get started, place a metal bowl in the refrigerator along with the whisk attachments from a hand mixer. This will help when you make whipped cream a little later in this recipe. Cream likes very cold environments when it has to become whipped cream.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor or freezer bag and a mallet, crush the graham crackers. Stir in the kosher salt, butter, and cinnamon. Spread out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 10 minutes.
Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap and set aside.
In a small bowl, mix together the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and kosher salt. Set aside.
In a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whisk the egg yolks for 3-4 minutes. Meanwhile, bring the sugar, water and salt up to 238 degrees in a small saucepan over medium high heat.
PREPARATION TIP:Occasionally check the accuracy of your candy thermometer. In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil and use the candy thermometer to test the temperature. Water boils at 212 degrees. If your thermometer is off, adjust the difference with the 238 degrees needed for the syrup.
As soon as the temperature reaches 238 degrees, take it off the heat and carry it over to the stand mixer. Slowly pour the syrup down the side of the bowl while the mixer is on high speed. If you pour the syrup directly into the egg mixture, you may get splash back and hot sugar doesn't feel so good.
Once the syrup has been added, dump in the pumpkin mixture and continue to beat on high for 5-6 minutes.
While the mixer is beating away, take out the bowl and whisk attachments from the freezer. Pour in the heavy cream, vanilla and a pinch of cinnamon. Using the hand mixer, beat the cream until it has become thick as whipped cream.
Fold about 1/3 of the whipped cream to the pumpkin mixture. Once incorporated add some more whipped cream and repeat until all the whipped cream has been added.
Pour 1/3 of the pumpkin mixture into the bottom of the loaf pan. Top with graham cracker crust.
Add another layer of pumpkin and more graham cracker crust.
Top with the remaining pumpkin mixture.
Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
Pull the semifreddo from the freezer and flip the pan upside down. Remove the plastic wrap and slice into 8-10 pieces. Garnish with whipped cream and dust with cinnamon.
