Apparently my brother once bought an ice cream maker for my sisters. Considering that he makes my sister-in-law spaghetti for every special occasion and that's it, I assumed that he's incapable of making anything beyond boiled water so I was surprised that he took the initiative. Anyway, the thought of his ice cream maker inspired me to try making ice cream. However, the part of me that's a poor planner started making the ice cream before I realized that 1) I didn't know where the ice cream maker was and 2) No one was sure if it still had all it's parts. About 15 minutes in, the mom produced the ice cream maker, but once I had a moment to diagnose it, I realized it was missing the part that does the actual freezing. However, it's possible to make ice cream without an ice cream maker. David Leibovitz says so! Since I so adore him, I also trusted his love for salted butter caramel ice cream.
Honestly, the taste of fleur de sel is something I really want to love. It would be amazing if I could just wrap my taste buds around it and declare it delicious, but it seems to dominate every other flavor. I use it in macarons and usually, if I try to eat one the day I put it together, the salt is too overpowering for me to enjoy, but if I wait a day, the salt blends in and the taste is delicious. I figured that might be the case with this ice cream, but I have to take a few bites to adjust to the flavor of the salt before I can enjoy. The fact that I didn't use an ice cream maker perhaps means it didn't get enough churns to blend in nicely. I feel like I did something wrong, but I'm not sure what. I also think the color is too dark, so maybe I burnt the caramel? Even worse, today our electricity went wonk with only half the house working! Our foyer and kitchen lights weren't working, but the dining room and upstairs bathroom were. It was bizarre and Lemon-slice needed the internet, so we went to Panera's for the free wifi, not to mention the chocolate chip bagels...
When I came home to scoop out some ice cream for this picture, imagine my dismay when I discovered that some of it was oozing! It was solid yesterday! I think this means the fridge was also struck by the electrical outage. So, sorry for the picture. It doesn't look like ice cream at all, does it?
Sometime in the middle of my manual mixing, the missing ice cream machine part was found, but I was too stubborn to try it, and now I have this mess on my hands. I ate what I could, but the rest of the ooze had to be tossed. What a loss. But since it's gone, it means I can try again, right? I had some natural Breyers vanilla ice cream over the weekend and it was so delicious...it had something like only 4 ingredients and it was so much better than most vanilla ice creams I've had. I think maybe I'll start there next time. I'll go simple and use the ice cream maker and make a really delicious vanilla. Then when I'm feeling more adventurous, I can try out this candied bacon ice cream. It honestly sounds so disgusting, it might be delicious.
Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream by David Leibovitz
For the caramel praline (mix-in)
½ c sugar
¾ tsp sea salt, such as fleur de sel
For the ice cream custard
2 c whole milk, divided
1½ c sugar
4 tbsp salted butter
scant ½ tsp sea salt
1 c heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
¾ tsp vanilla extract
1. To make the caramel praline, spread the ½ cup of sugar in an even layer in a medium-sized, unlined heavy duty saucepan. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or brush it sparingly with unflavored oil.
2. Heat the sugar over moderate heat until the edges begin to melt. Use a heatproof utensil to gently stir the liquefied sugar from the bottom and edges towards the center, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved. Continue to cook stirring infrequently until the caramel starts smoking and begins to smell like it's just about to burn.
3. Without hesitation, sprinkle in the ¾ teaspoon salt without stirring, then pour the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet and lift up the baking sheet immediately, tilting and swirling it almost vertically to encourage the caramel to form as thin a layer as possible. Set aside to harden and cool.
4. To make the ice cream, make an ice bath by filling a large bowl about a third full with ice cubes and adding a cup or so of water so they're floating. Nest a smaller metal bowl over the ice, pour 1 c of the milk into the inner bowl, and rest a mesh strainer on top of it.
5. Spread 1½ c sugar in the saucepan in an even layer. Cook over moderate heat, until caramelized, using the same method described in Step #2.
6. Once caramelized, remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt, until butter is melted, then gradually whisk in the cream, stirring as you go. The caramel may harden and seize, but return it to the heat and continue to stir over low heat until any hard caramel is melted. Stir in 1 c of the milk.
7. Whisk the yolks in a small bowl and gradually pour some of the warm caramel mixture over the yolks, stirring constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and cook the custard using a heatproof utensil, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom as you stir) until the mixture thickens. If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read 160-170 F (71-77 C).
8. Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk set over the ice bath, add the vanilla, then stir frequently until the mixture is cooled down. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled.
9. Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
10. While the ice cream is churning, crumble the hardened caramel praline into very little bits, about the size of very large confetti (about ½-inch, or 1 cm). I use a mortar and pestle, although you can make your own kind of music using your hands or a rolling pin.
11. Once your caramel ice cream is churned, quickly stir in the crushed caramel, then chill in the freezer until firm.
xoxo,
lemonie
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