vorace.: Halloween Floats

Happy Halloween everyone! Halloween usually tends to focus on the kids, trick or treating, and candy, so I wanted to create a recipe that all of the adults out there could enjoy (don't worry - there's a kid-friendly version included as well).

I was inspired to put this recipe together by a recent visit to my FAVORITE frozen custard shop here in the Northern VA area, the legendary The Dairy Godmother (clever name, right?!). My friend Alexis told me of it a few years ago and I had always intended to stop in, but my curiosity was peaked again when my friend, Sabrina, mentioned it to me one summer night after paddle boarding. She lives in the neighborhood and is a frequent visitor of DG. Her description of the frozen custard and the interesting 'flavors of the day' had me intrigued. I made a trip the following day and have been obsessed ever since.

I have made many post-work trips to DG (where I may have forced it to be on my way home from work...), all in the name of research and tasting as many flavors as I could in order to assess which one was my fav! The winner is definitely the salted caramel. It's to die... At the beginning of October, Alexis and I paid DG a visit one evening after supping at the adults-only sushi joint next door, and their flavor of the day just so happened to be 'pumpkin.' This immediately became a close second favorite of mine - it literally tastes like pumpkin pie and Thanksgiving! I knew right then and there that I would have to do a blog recipe featuring this flavor. I studied their calendar to see if they were featuring the flavor again, and sure enough they were! As Alexis and I devoured our custard, we crafted the recipe I am sharing with you today, as well as my plan to commandeer an entire pint of the good stuff so that I would have plenty for um... experimenting with the recipe. Yeah, experimenting...

This past weekend, I indeed procured said pint and used it to create this Halloween treat for Alexis & me for one of our happy hours at home. If you don't have access to awesome, pumpkin flavored frozen custard in your area, I suggest using homemade pumpkin ice cream (you will have to go elsewhere for that recipe!), or store bought. I'm sure it's easy to find this time of year! As I said, I have included and taste tested two versions of this recipe: the adult version with hard cider as well as a kiddie version using cream soda, and both were equally delish! For the adults with children, I suggest drinking at least one of these prior to any outdoor trick or treating with the kiddos. It will make you nice n' toasty and I'm guessing it will also make the entire process that much more fun and entertaining ;-)

Speaking of little ones,

Milli was festive for the occasion in her Halloween costume:

She's a fairy!

And I was so proud of her for leaving those

wings on for the rest of the night!

She was walking around in them like a pro!

OK, now let's get drinkin'!

Pumpkin Custard Floats
Servings: 1 (I'm just going to do the serving of one drink - you can make it with either cider or cream soda and multiply the recipe if you are making it for more than one person)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: n/a

Ingredients:
1 scoop pumpkin flavored frozen custard/ice cream/froyo/gelato - go ahead and buy a whole pint - I think you can figure out what to do with the leftovers ;-)
1 bottle of hard cider or cream soda
- I used Crispin b/c they were out of Magners & Strongbow, but any hard cider will do
- I used Jones b/c it was on sale, but any cream soda will work!
1 handful candy corn
A pinch of Halloween colored sprinkles