For the pumpkin ice cream:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together egg yolks. Add pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, vanilla, salt, and pepper and mix well. Set aside.
2. In medium saucepan, heat up cream, half and half, and sugar, slowly over medium low to medium heat, stirring frequently. (about 4-6 minutes). Do not let it bubble or boil.
3. Next you want to temper the egg mixture. If you poured the eggs directly into the heated milk, it would cook the eggs. Tempering the eggs will keep that from happening. Ladle out a portion of hot cream mixture and pour it slowly into the egg mixture while whisking vigorously. Continue doing this slowly, until most of the cream mixture has been incorporated into the egg mixture.
4. Once you’ve tempered the eggs, pour all of your egg/cream mixture back into your saucepan. Cook over medium heat for another 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until your ice cream base has thickened. To test its thickness, dip a spoon into the mixture and pull it back out. Run your finger down the back of the spoon. If the clear area you swiped stays in place, it’s ready.
5. Remove from heat and stir in bourbon (if using).
6. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Transfer to air-tight container and refrigerate overnight.

For the vanilla ice cream:

1. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together egg yolks, vanilla, and salt. Set aside.
2. In medium saucepan, heat up cream, half and half, and sugar, slowly over medium low to medium heat, stirring frequently. (about 4-6 minutes). Do not let it bubble or boil.
3. Temper the eggs: ladle out a portion of hot cream mixture and pour it slowly into the egg mixture while whisking vigorously. Continue doing this until most of the cream mixture has been incorporated into the egg mixture.
4. Once you’ve tempered the eggs, pour all of your egg/cream mixture back into your saucepan. Cook over medium heat for another 4 minutes, stirring frequently, until your ice cream base has thickened. To test it’s thickness, dip a spoon into the mixture and pull it back out. Run your finger down the back of the spoon. If the clear area you swiped stays in place, it’s ready.
5. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Transfer to an air-tight container and refrigerate overnight.

Making the Ice Cream Pops

1. Follow the instructions on your ice cream maker.
2. While your ice cream is churning, get your popsicle molds and wooden sticks ready. Also, crush up your gingersnap cookies with a mini food processor or by pounding them in a Ziploc baggie.
3. Once pumpkin ice cream has been made into a soft-serve consistency, transfer to an air-tight container and put in the freezer while you make the vanilla. Don’t let it freeze to a hard consistency.
4. Wipe out your ice cream maker’s freezer bowl with paper towels to remove frozen film from the pumpkin ice cream.
5. Once the vanilla ice cream has been made into a soft-serve consistency, transfer it to the freezer, if you don’t have your popsicle molds ready.
6. Once your molds are ready, you can pull your soft serve ice creams out of the freezer. With a small spoon, scoop out alternating spoonfuls of pumpkin and vanilla into your molds. Every so often, add a small amount of gingersnap crumbs. (Try not to pour too much cookie crumbs into your molds at once because this can cause a weak spot in your popsicles and when you try to pull them out after they’re hard, they can break.) Keep alternating flavors until they’re filled almost to the top but not all the way (your ice cream will expand).
7. Cover with your popsicle mold lid or use tinfoil like I did above in this recipe post.
8. Freeze overnight.
9. Enjoy!