Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Ice cream makes everything in life that much better. I wholeheartedly live by that mantra. The comfort a creamy sweet scoop brings when a random craving hits or whenever you’re feeling sad, the joyful memories of hearing the ice cream truck sing its tune when you were a child or the times spent enjoying a refreshing cone walking alongside the boardwalk on a hot summer’s day. Simple moments in life, all made memorable and oh so enjoyable because of ice cream.

Even if you don’t have biggest sweet tooth, no can can resist ice cream, even the most simplest of flavors like vanilla. Right?! I mean I haven’t met someone who doesn’t like ice cream, have you? Well unless those who can’t because of dietary restrictions, but now there are so many nondairy versions that it’s almost impossible for everyone not to indulge in the amazingness that is, Ice Cream!!

And some ice cream flavors are as classic as they come chocolate, mint chip, rocky road….and then as creativity and ingenuity reigned the culinary world, new classic ice cream flavors emerged. And the one flavor I think became an instant success and favorite amongst many is, Salted Caramel!

You’re nodding your head in agreement aren’t you? There isn’t an ice cream shop these days that doesn’t have some version of a Salted Caramel, perhaps is just caramel, although not as brilliant in flavor, or maybe it’s got a gourmet punch; blended in with honey glazed bacon bits or crushed up pretzel and popcorn pieces. Yes, Salted Caramel Ice Cream has made its marked in the food world, and it’s not going anywhere!

This was actually the second ice cream recipe I shared on this blog, back in 2012…goodness have I been blogging that long?? Well my food styling and photography skills were inadequate to say the least. In fact the lack of photos could not do the description and amazingness of this ice cream any justice. I’ve made many, many ice cream flavors since those early days, and other than one time where the hot summer days wouldn’t allow for this ice cream to withstand a photoshoot, I hadn’t remade it since that first time.

Well that is until we’ve all now been homebound due to a global pandemic, and I’ve rediscovered my love for ice cream making, creativity in the kitchen and bringing the story of each recipe to life through the power of photography.

Yes, like so many I have been cooking, even more so than the normal amount I do on a daily basis, but especially baking. When winter and the holidays are your busiest and nonstop season for baking, you tend to want a break from it. But this stillness, this endless amount of time at home has made me expand past that. You start to get into a null when you do cook and a bake a lot, but something has reawakened in me.

I’ve cooking meals that require just a tad bit effort, recreating lots of my fave restaurant and cultural influenced dishes, baking with healthier and more wholesome ingredients that I can actually eat…but above all, making due with things I already had at home, using up things on their last leg or too often sadly tossed aside, whatever was beginning to grow in the garden — all amazing things with delicious potential!

Hence why this ice cream was made in the first place, along with Portuguese milk tarts and another ice cream flavor I will be sharing with you soon….an entire galloon of milk was bought without acknowledging that its “sell by” date was in a week. And it was whole milk, yes a purchase out of last resort because these days the essentials, well, they’re limited and one must make the best of it.

So I made due! Typically I make my ice cream with a blend of milk and heavy cream, but heavy cream is not essential or readily available these days BUTTT ice cream doesn’t need it. Good quality milk, sugar, egg yolks and a perfectly cooked creme anglaise {the proper French term for an ice cream base}, and you will have beautiful ice cream every time!!

Now making Salted Caramel Ice Cream requires patience. Any good ice cream does, but caramel even more so. One cannot rush making Caramel. It is slow and steady. It goes at its own pace. You are simply its guide. Because no one wants to be crying over burnt caramel, do they! So put on some jazz, instrumental music or whatever calming tunes you like and stir away baby…..

Ohh and I may or may not have added a generous pour of Whisky. Oops….nope, no oops. Totally deliberate. But it’s completely optional, you don’t need to add it. You really don’t taste it, it’s totally child-friendly, no one’s getting drunk off ice cream here! Haha could you even get buzzed from ice cream??

But there is no denying the boozy beautiful oak-y undertones you get from the whisky. And doubly so because I finished off this ice cream with my Salted Ale Caramel Sauce!! Because why not!

This ice cream flavor is complex in every sense. Caramel alone can often be overpowering or overly sweet, but course sea salt subdues it. You certainly taste the saltiness, and yet you still get that intense aged sweetness too. For me, that is what homemade caramel best tastes like…like a fine aged whisky! It’s why I added in a splash because salted caramel pairs so beautiful with this spirit. Their flavors are dense and rich, but simple.

In truth, saltiness is not a flavor profile I really enjoy, but in this ice cream that saltiness is much necessary! In fact I could’ve added even more sea salt for an added boost of flavor.

If you love a salty sweet pairing, this Salted Caramel {ehh whisky} Ice Cream will definitely be your thing!!

Perfect for those hot summer months ahead that we will for sure be enjoying more of, at home 🙂

And in case you want to know how I described this ice cream when I originally posted it in 2012, here you go…..

Holy flavor! It’s as if my taste buds have gone on this amazing journey and I didn’t even leave my own house. My taste buds were delighted with a Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream, the second flavor in my ice cream making-capade. Bi Rite Creamery definitely knows what they’re doing, considering they’re known as one of the best ice cream shops in the country. I would hop on a plane to San Francisco right now if I could, just to tell them the sweet, sweet geniuses that they are!

Yes, I love all things sweet but I can’t say caramel is one of those flavors I consider to be one of my favorites…well, until now. This salted caramel ice cream is rich, creamy and smooth but it’s also savory and salty. Thank you sea salt! At the same time, it’s also slightly burnt but in a delicious, smokey and velvety sweet kind of way. Thank you homemade caramel!

It’s a crazy flavor combination that is purely addicting. The best way to describe it…a soft caramel candy just melting in your mouth, your taste buds discovering a depth of flavor that is like no other! The final touch — a sprinkling of flaked sea salt.

{Makes 1 quart}

Ingredients

3/4 cup – Granulated Sugar

2 1/2 cups – 2% or Whole Milk {or a combination of 3/4 cup Milk + 1 3/4 cups Heavy Cream}

1 teaspoon – Sea Salt

5 large – Egg Yolks

Recipe {Adapted from Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones}

To make the caramel…..

Set the milk {or cream} and 1/2 cup of the sugar near the stove. Put 2 tablespoons of the sugar in heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Once the sugar begins to melt around the edges and begins turning amber in color gently stir {about 2 minutes}. Then add another 2 tablespoons of the sugar.
Continue this process with the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, stirring constantly, making sure the sugar is dissolved before each addition. Watch as the sugar darkens, carefully, as to not let it burn.
When the caramel turns a dark mahogany color, remove the pan from the heat and slowly pour a bit of milk {or cream}. **It will steam and bubble — so be careful!**
Once the bubbling slows down, continue adding the milk {or cream} stirring gently until it is completely combined. **If there are any lumps, heat the caramel over low heat until it’s completely smooth again.**

To make the base…..

In medium heatproof bowl, whisk the yolks, just to break them up, along with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Place the container you’ll be storing your ice cream base in an ice water bath.
Over medium-high heat, stir the remaining milk and salt into the completely smooth caramel. When it reaches a bare simmer, reduce it to medium heat.
Slowly ladle about 1/2 cup of the hot milk-caramel mixture into the yolk mixture, while whisking quickly. Add one or two more ladles of the milk-caramel mixture into the yolks. **Make sure to whisk quickly, so you don’t cook and curdle the eggs.**
With a heat-proof spatula, stir the milk-caramel mixture as you slowly add in the hot egg-milk mixture to the saucepan.
Cook the ice cream base over medium heat, stirring constantly until it has thickened, about 1 to 2 minutes. **The mixture should coat the back of a wooden spoon, holding a clear separated path when you run your finger**
Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean, chilled, container. Using a clean spatula, stir the base frequently until its has cooled to room temperature. Remove it from the ice-water bath and cover the top directly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight*

Freeze the ice cream…..

In your ice cream machine following your manufacturer’s directions, gently pour in your ice cream base as the machine is slowly running. While the ice cream churns, put the container you’ll be keeping your ice cream in the freezer.
The ice cream is ready once it reaches the consistency of soft-serve, or the paddle creates a distinctive path as it churns {about 15 to 25 minutes}. This ice cream is on the smoother side because of its high sugar content.
1. **Be careful NOT to over churn it, there’s no fixing it at that point. The timing of freezing your ice cream will depend on the thickness of you ice cream base, the machine your using and the conditions of your kitchen**
Place the churned ice cream into your container, and freeze up to 2 hours for a firm soft-serve consistency.
1. Then Enjoy it until the last spoonful!!!