Caramel Ice Cream {recipe} ~ Pure Heaven!

It's no secret that I adore ice cream!  The creaminess appeals to me no matter what time of year it is.  I also happen to adore caramel... and to make it from scratch for homemade ice cream?  Well, that was something I just had to do!

The recipe for this ice cream comes from a cookbook I just took a chance on...
The Craft of Baking: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets with Ideas for Inventing Your Own - while I haven't baked from it yet, the ice cream section has proven to be an ideal place for me to learn "the craft" and begin experimenting.  I've got another ice cream to share very soon, that was inspired from using this book.

But, let's start with the Caramel Ice Cream!

The first thing that must be done is make the caramel... and, to do this you must have lots of patience!  Even though the recipe is written as it taking about 5 minutes for the sugar mixture to become dark and "smoking"... it took more like 20 minutes for mine to do this.  The longer you let it cook and the darker it becomes, the stronger the caramel flavor will be in the ice cream.

The custard base in this ice cream is the creamiest I've made to date.  It freezes beautifully, and this particular ice cream was hard to ignore even though it was in the freezer... each night, it was like it was calling my name!  I just had to have even a little spoonful because the flavor was so incredible!

The cookbook has a pretty nice variety of baking and sweet recipes to play around with and each one has notes on how you can change it a bit to suit different tastes.  There are plenty of beautiful photos, although I do prefer a photo with each and every recipe (but, that's just me), that will have you wanting to get into the kitchen and start working on the "craft of baking". 

Caramel Ice Cream
Source: The Craft of Baking: Cakes, Cookies, and Other Sweets with Ideas for Inventing Your Own

Ingredients

• 9 large egg yolks
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, seeds scraped out, bean and seeds reserved
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

 Directions

1. In a large heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and 1/4 cup of the sugar until the mixutre is pale yellow.
2. In a large saucepan, stir together the remainig 1 cup of sugar, the vanilla bean and seeds, and 1/2 cup water.  Heat the mixture over high heat, without stirring, until the sugar syrup turns a dark brown color and begins to smoke, about 5 minutes (mine took closer to 20 minutes).  Remove the pan from the heat, and in a slow and steady stream, carefully add te cream (the mixture will bubble vigorously), and then the milk. 
3. Return the pan to medium heat and stir until any caramel bits dissolve and the mixture comes to a rolling boil, 3-4 minutes.  As soon as the mixture begins to rise up the sides of the pan, remove the pan from the heat.  Immediately pour about 1 cup of the hot caramel mixture into the egg yolk mixture in a steady stream, and whisk to combine.  Then, return the egg yolk mixture to the remaining caramel mixture.  Whisk in the vanilla extract and salt.
4. Pour the custard into a bowl.  Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate until it is very cold, at least 8 hours to overnight.
5. Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.  Recycle the vanilla bean.  Freeze the custard in an ice cream maker, following the manufacturer's instructions.
6. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container, and place plastic wrap directly over the surface of the ice cream to prevent ice crystals from forming.  Cover the container and freeze until firm, about 2 hours.

Note:  The links with the cookbook name above will take you to Amazon where you can find more information on the book and purchase if you choose to.  If you do purchase via these links, I will receive a small referral fee. 




Please note that all photos and content belong to Patsy Kreitman, unless otherwise noted. If you want to use something please ask first.