Pumpkin Bowl Ice Cream

Summer may be over but that doesn't mean that we can't have ice cream, right? Every day is a good day for ice cream, but holidays are even better. 

I've partnered with 'Got Milk?' to bring you this simple Halloween themed dessert. It's so simple your kids will be able to make it themselves. It's so much fun they'll want to make it themselves. And what could be better than happy kids getting involved in making their own food?

My kids and I are big fans of making our own ice cream - without an ice cream maker! All you need are a few simple ingredients, some ice, salt and ziplock bags and you can make delicious ice cream in just five minutes. 

My kids love to make ice cream using this technique. Food always tastes better when you make it yourself, especially if it's fun to make. And I like knowing exactly what is going into my kids' food. This recipe combines the goodness of milk and a little physical activity to make a fun, delicious treat. It's a fun way to get a little more milk into your children's diet and to provide their bodies with the fuel they need to grow.

To give our ice cream a Halloween theme we're coloring it orange and serving it up in carved out mini pumpkins. My kids aren't huge fans of pumpkin flavor so we're making the ice cream vanilla however you could add pumpkin pie spice for a more authentic taste of the season.   

What you'll need

1/2 Cup Half & Half (or Full Cream Milk if you prefer your ice cream a little less rich)

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Essence

2 Drops Orange Food Coloring (or 1 drop each of red & yellow)

Ice

6 Tablespoons Salt

Large Ziplock Bag (Gallon size)

Small Ziplock bag (Sandwich size)
Small pumpkin (hollowed out for serving) 

Makes 1 Serving

Step 1

Pour the Half & Half, sugar and vanilla essence into the small ziplock bag and add a few drops of food coloring. To make it easier for my kids I place the ziplock bag in a bowl so they don't have to try and hold it while pouring in the ingredients. Carefully seal the ziplock bag making sure it's sealed nice and tight.

Step 2
Half fill the large ziplock bag with ice. Pour in 6 tablespoons of salt and give the bag a quick shake to mix it through. The salt is the magic ingredient. Salt lowers the freezing temperature of water which means that the ice will be colder and therefore freeze the ice cream faster.

Step 3
Place the small ziplock bag inside the large ziplock bag and seal it.

And now for the fun part...

Step 4
Shake, shake, shake!
Shake the bag of ice vigorously for approximately five minutes to "churn" the ice cream. Five minutes may not seem that long but it can get a little tiring for tiny ice cream chefs. And that bag of ice can start to get a little heavy. I like to put on some music and have a little dance party with the kids. The time flies by much faster when they're shaking their booties while shaking the bag of ice!

After five minutes of shaking the ice cream should be nice and thick. If it's still a little soft continue shaking for an extra minute or two.

Remove the small ziplock bag from the ice. Scoop out the ice cream and serve it directly into the carved out mini pumpkin.

All that's left to do now is enjoy your delicious homemade ice cream!

Tips

Freeze the pumpkin bowls prior to serving the ice cream. This will help keep the ice cream frozen a little longer - although, trust me, it'll be devoured pretty quickly! 

The pumpkin bowls can be washed and reused over and over. Keep them in the freezer to prevent them going off.

For a more authentic pumpkin flavor add a small amount of pumpkin pie spice to the ice cream mix before shaking it.

For a creamier taste and texture use pouring cream instead of Half & Half, or for a less creamy taste and texture use full cream milk.

For more delicious recipes made with the goodness of milk visit gotmilk.com

This post was sponsored by ‘Got Milk?’ through their partnership with POPSUGAR. 
While I was compensated by POPSUGAR to write a post about ‘Got Milk?’, all opinions are my own.