Kabocha Squash Ice Cream?

Before you vow never to eat my cooking, I want to point out two truths:

1. The Japanese have been eating kabocha ice cream for years.
2. It's no grosser than eating pumpkin ice cream. Or taro root ice cream. Or green tea ice cream. Or any other ice cream made from something that can be eaten sweet or savory. Besides, that canned pumpkin you use to make pie? It's really squash. Trust me.

Moving right along...I don't have a photo handy, but if you don't know what kabocha squash looks like you should Google it. They're really quite cute. For ice cream you will need:

• 1 cup mashed roasted squash (unless you can buy part of a squash, you'll have to use the rest in another recipe)
• 1 pint dairy (I used half heavy cream and half half and half; all half and half works very well. I wouldn't suggest anything less fatty than whole milk)
• 3/4 cup sugar, or as little as 1/2 cup if you prefer
• 6 egg yolks (or up to 8)
• 1/2 tablespoon fresh ground ginger (optional)
• 1 teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)

Bring dairy up to a simmer slowly with sugar, ginger, and cardamom. You don't want to burn the bottom or have it bubble over. This means no higher than medium heat. Meanwhile, separate the eggs and put the yolks in a blender. You'll have to stay tuned to see what I do with all the egg whites.

Blend the yolks until pale yellow. When the dairy starts simmering, pour a tablespoon of the hot liquid into the blender at a time, slowly incorporating. There's no need to be exact here, but the slower the better until you've blended in at least half a cup of liquid. After that, a slow steady stream will be fine. Add mashed squah to the blender and let it all mix well. I don't think you can overblend this. Don't wash your pot yet!

Pour the mixture through a strainer and back into the pot. Return to stove over low heat, whisking often to prevent curdling. The mixture will slowly thicken until it's thicker than gravy.

Chill in the refrigerator for at least four hours, or until icy cold throughout. Freeze using your ice cream machine. I let mine go for about 10-15 minutes, but your mileage may vary depending on your machine, what dairy products you use, how warm your kitchen is, etc.

This ice cream is nice. The squash doesn't completely lose it's grainy mouthfeel, but it's negligible and is actually part of the point of making a squash ice cream in the first place. If I wanted to get rid of that mouthfeel, I would have used a finer strainer. I love how well kabocha complements the ginger and cardamom flavors. And that color? If ever an ice cream was made for winter, it had to be this color.

PS. The spoon at the top of this post is of some ice cream fresh out of the machine; it should be fairly goopy like a really thick milkshake. After a few hours in the freezer it will look like ice cream: