The ice cream kit in this sponsored post was provided by Hijinx.
One of my favorite parts of Halloween season is all the spooky sweet treats big and small businesses create. Over the past few years, I've fallen especially hard for pumpkin ice cream.
I get SO excited when I spot my first carton at the grocery store...but also so bummed when they disappear.
So, naturally, I was thrilled when my friend Nikk Alcaraz announced his partnership with Hijinx Ice Cream (a brand I already enjoy!) and had a pumpkin-flavored ice cream in his Parlour of Peculiarities collection.
If you aren't familiar or didn't catch the candy corn ice cream I made last Halloween season, Hijinx is an at-home mix you can fully customize (just add water/milk + flavors), mix in a blender, and freeze to create your own ice cream. No fancy equipment necessary!
But if you need a little guidance before diving into creating your own flavors, the Parlour of Peculiarities is a great place to start. The full set, which is $74.95 at time of posting, includes five packs of Hijinx mix, plus flavorings and toppings for five flavors: Ginger Jinx, Green Fairy Absinthe, Jack-O-Lantern Cheesecake, Faire Noir, and Here Lies Earl Grey.
To show you how easy this is to make at home, I'm mixing up one of the Parlour of Peculiarities flavors. If you want to check this out at home this Halloween season, keep reading—I have a $10 off code for you at the end of the post!
How to Make Hijinx Ice Cream
Note for our vegan friends before we dive in: this base mix includes dry milk and whey.
For this blog post, I'm mixing up the Jack-O-Lantern Cheesecake flavor from the Parlour of Peculiarities collection.
The kit comes with a booklet that contains easy-to-follow instructions for every flavor.
We start by heating water and steeping the spiced chai tea bag (included in the kit) for five minutes.
It should look something like this when it's ready.
Then we add in the divine-smelling pumpkin elixir (included in the kit) which deepens the color and will give our ice cream a gorgeous orange tint and pumpkin flavor.
And that's literally all the prep work that has to be done!
Next, add your Hijinx mix to the blender. If you don't have a blender, you can also whisk the mixture together OR shake it up in a tightly sealed jar.
Add your tea and elixir liquid to the blender, cover with the lid, and blend for two minutes.
Before mixing...
During mixing...
After mixing!
We're almost there! The final step is pouring the mixture into an airtight container (all those Halloween Pyrex bowls you have are perfect for this).
Before it goes in the freezer, I let it rest for 30 minutes (per instructions), then covered and stuck it in my freezer overnight.
The results?
Ta dah! After I scooped it into a Halloween bowl, I sprinkled the top with graham cracker crumbs (included in the kit) and enjoyed!
And that's it! It really is easy to make at home, and once you try one or two recipes, I think you'll get inspired to create your own flavors with your favorite Halloween candy, sauces, liquors, and more.
My Review
This was my second time making Hijinx Ice Cream, and I was not only impressed by how easy it was to make...but also how delicious this flavor was. The pumpkin and chai are VERY present in every bite, and I'm looking forward to trying the other spooky flavors this fall.The only thing I would change is swapping out the water for milk to make my ice cream creamier. I used milk in the candy corn recipe I made last year, and the consistency was a bit better for my personal preference. I wanted to stay true to the recipe for this one, but I think using water made my ice cream icier than I prefer. Definitely something to consider and experiment with to find what works best for you.
Want to try Parlour of Peculiarities?
Kits are currently available on hijinxicecream.com for $74.95, but if you use the code SPOOKY10, you'll get $10 off your purchase. Yup, $10 not just 10%!
If you give this a try, let me know or tag me on social media. I'd love to hear what you think!
You can also follow @hijinxicecream on Instagram for more spooky recipes this fall, and you should definitely follow Nikk at @practicalpeculiarities for tons of amazing food art all year long.
