pumpkin ice cream and chunky praline

I made a cinnamon pudding cake a couple of weeks ago and I couldn't help but think it looked a little sad sitting on my plate all on its lonesome. But who to keep Miss Cinnamon Cake company? Why, Mr Pumpkin of course! It's common knowledge that they’ve been in luurve forever and I just didn’t have the heart to keep them apart. I thought Mr Praline might be in with a shot for the love of Miss Cinnamon but, as evidenced in my photos, Mr Pumpkin dealt to his competition pretty quick smart and pulverized him. (Note to self: Do not mess with Mr Pumpkin).

toasted walnuts

The praline recipe I use is super simple - no thermometer required. I normally want big pieces of nuts and caramel so just give the praline a quick rough chop, but if I'm after smaller pieces or praline so fine I can coat with/sprinkle it, then I'll put chopped up pieces into a food processor. If you push the caramel out on a tray so that it's quite thin when it sets and leave it in large pieces then you'll have made croquant (pretty much brittle without butter).

pumpkin soft serve!

Pumpkin Ice Cream

This gorgeous recipe was created by Karen DeMasco but can be found here on David Lebovitz's blog. Next time I make this I'll totally be adding bits of caramel, chocolate (dark, milk, white), toasted nuts, etc. etc. because I like my ice cream with interesting bits added. Ooh! Was just browsing and spotted oreos!

super lazy praline - double the nuts which are also untoasted and unchopped!

Quick and Easy (aka Lazy) Praline

The aim of the game with caramel is to work as quickly as possible because it can become too dark and bitter very quickly. My stove elements tend to run a little hot so my sugar turns amber almost immediately after melting - so keep watch!

You can use any kind of nut, toasted or untoasted, with this recipe and chop/smash/throw it in the food processor for different sizes of praline. You can also scale the recipe up or down depending on how much praline you're after.

1 cup	granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon	fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon	salt
1 cup	sliced nuts, toasted

Grease a baking tray and set aside.

Combine sugar and lemon juice in a medium saucepan and heat over a low heat, stirring often, until the sugar melts. Be careful not to let any sugar stick to the sides of the saucepan - if any does, brush it away with a pastry brush dipped in water. When the sugar has melted, stop stirring and bring it to a simmer. Cook until the sugar turns a pale amber colour. Stir in salt and nuts, coating all of the nuts in caramel. Quickly pour the mixture onto the greased baking sheet, spreading it as much as you can with a wooden spoon. Let the croquant cool completely before breaking up into desired sizes of praline.



terrible picture of chopped walnut praline