Pumpkin Ice Cream makes the best fall treat. This vegan coconut milk based one includes maple syrup and cinnamon for a sweet treat.
Last week I had the spur of the moment idea to make pumpkin ice cream. I was so excited to make it since I have been staying away from the store-bought seasonal varieties this year.
Making the ice cream was the easy part. The real struggle came with taking the pictures.
I’m still a novice food photographer. Finding the right light and props is no easy task.
This weekend I went upstairs to try to find the perfect light. Boy, was that a mistake. I lugged ice cream, props, camera, etc. upstairs, just to find out the light was way too bright. All the ice cream was melting. So, I quickly moved everything back to my old shooting spot and quickly tried to get some shots.
I finally got some pics, but they weren’t quite like I expected.
Do you have any food photography tips you can share?
- 2 cans coconut milk
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup pumpkin
- ¾ cup sugar
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Bring two cans of coconut milk and cornstarch to a boil.
- Once boiling, add cinnamon stick and turn temperature down to low. Let simmer 5 minutes.
- Remove pan from heat. Remove cinnamon stick.
- Whisk in pumpkin, sugar, maple syrup, ground cinnamon and vanilla. Make sure everything is fully dissolved.
- Allow to chill overnight in refrigerator. Once completely chilled, transfer to loaf pan.
- Place pumpkin mixture in freezer. Every 30 minutes use handheld mixture to beat mixture. Continue to do this for three hours.
- Ice cream can either be eaten right away or left in freezer to completely harden.
- If eating the next day, allow to thaw at least 20 minutes before eating.
I love pumpkin ice cream too. Love that you used coconut milk. Pumpkin and coconut go so well together 🙂
I do understand your frustration with photography. Getting the right lighting seems to be hard and I know with ice cream it’s even more stressful. I tend to set up by a window, either same level as window when it is early in the day or on the floor below window since my apartment is so weird. But I think, you just need to find the hours when the sun is hitting your photography spot. For me it is between 10-2 and if I miss it, I’m done. Have you heard of Plates to Pixels? It’s a great read on photography and has helped me a lot even though I have a basic camera.
Thanks Zainab for taking the time to leave some tips. I’ll have to check out Plates to Pixels. Thanks again!
I can’t imagine trying to photograph ice cream before it melted 🙂 I had issues with the pie I put up today 🙂 The ice cream looks super yummy though!
Thanks Laura! I have difficulty taking pictures of everything, but this ice cream was especially hard. I’m hoping it’ll get easier with practice 🙂
Halloween’s over. And yet here we are, still loving some pumpkin..
There can never be too much pumpkin 🙂
My family eats ice cream nearly every day! Since we own a dairy we figure it’s good to support ourselves. This looks like such a yummy and seasonal change of pace for our ice cream flavors!
I’m a rookie blogger and still trying to figure the whole photography issue out! We are learning right? You still made me want a bowl of Pumpkin Ice Cream!!
Thanks Amy! Seasonal ice creams are the best 🙂
Don’t be too hard on yourself! It’s always a race against time when trying to photograph frozen foods! 😉 The ice cream sounds awesome!!
Thanks for the encouragement, Jocelyn! I won’t give up 🙂