Pumpkin Sherbert

I am a big fan of pumpkin. In the fall, I make a variety of dishes using pumpkin (most of them desserts and snacks). I like to use the whole pumpkin - seeds and pulp.

The other day, a friend at work forwarded a recipe for Pumpkin Sherbert. I just knew that I had to try it. She had found it at skinnytaste.com, I tweaked it slightly.

2 1/4 c milk
2/3 c sugar
1 c pumpkin (canned or puree)
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
pinch of clove
pinch of salt

In a saucepan, combine milk, sugar and pumpkin. Heat over medium heat to a full boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for a minute.

Remove from heat and add in vanilla and spices.

Allow it to cool and use an ice cream freezer - follow the instructions for your freezer.

I made mine in a bowl. I poured the mixture into a shallow bowl and placed it in the freezer. Every hour or two, I came back and stirred the mixture. It took about 8 hours to freeze to a sherbert consistency. This approach makes a more grainy sherbert, because of the way you disrupt the crystal structure at longer intervals and over more time, compared to the constant disruption in an ice cream freezer.