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A friend of mine once told me the difference between a “cook” and a “chef.”  To her, a “cook” follows recipes and a “chef” can tweak and adjust a recipe to create something new.  I thought of those words when I came up with this caramel ice cream recipe.  Truth be told, the idea came to me one day while I was making some burnt caramel custards.  As I was heating the cream on the stove, I thought to myself, “what if I added milk and threw this in the ice cream maker?”  And, one day, I did just that.  The rest is history.

As with most of my ice cream recipes, this caramel ice cream starts with making custard using egg yolks.  I find that custard-based ice creams are richer and creamier than their egg-free cousins.

Place your egg yolks in a mixing bowl and whisk until smooth, then set aside.  Heat your cream in a small saucepan with half a vanilla bean (split and seeds scraped) until it starts to simmer.  Reduce the heat and let keep warm while you melt the sugar.

Place your sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and cook over medium heat until the sugar melts and turns deep amber.  Remove it from the heat and pour in the warm cream, a little bit at a time.  The mixture will steam and possibly splatter, so use caution.  At this point, you will likely still have some clumps of hardened sugar in your mixture.  If this happens, return the pot to the heat and reduce the heat to medium-low, stirring the mixture gently until no clumps of hardened sugar remain.

When that is done, remove the pot from the heat again and stir the hot cream mixture into your whisked egg yolks, a little bit at a time.  Once about 1/3 of the cream mixture has been added to the yolks, pour the yolk  mixture into the pan with the remaining cream mixture.

Return to the heat and cook on medium to medium-low, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.  Do not let the mixture come to a boil!  While this cooks, pour your milk into a medium bowl and set a strainer over it.  When the custard mixture is done, remove it from the heat and slowly pour it through the strainer into the bowl with the milk.  Do not do this too fast, or you might make the milk curdle.

Cover this mixture and refrigerate for 4 hours or until the mixture is sufficiently chilled.  I usually leave it overnight.  When ready, freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions, then transfer to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm.

This ice cream tastes great on its own, but also works great with all sorts of toppings.  Try chocolate sauce or candied peanuts.

Caramel Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)

Directions

In a small saucepan, heat the cream and vanilla bean over Medium heat until the cream starts to come to a simmer.  Reduce heat to Low to keep warm.  Whisk egg yolks in a small mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, heat the sugar over Medium heat until the sugar melts and turns a deep amber color.  Remove from heat, then take the hot cream mixture, remove the vanilla bean, and slowly pour into the melted sugar mixture.  Careful, as the mixture might splatter.  If clumps of hardened caramel remain, return mixture to heat (reduce to medium-low) and stir until the mixture is smooth and no clumps remain.  While this cooks, pour the milk into a medium bowl and set a fine mesh strainer over it.

Remove the mixture from the heat and whisk into the egg yolks, a little bit at a time.  When about 1/3 of the mixture has been added to the yolks, add the yolk mixture to the saucepan.  Return to the heat and cook on medium to medium-low, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.  Slowly strain the mixture into the bowl with the milk (not too fast, or the milk might curdle).  Cover and refrigerate until completely chilled (usually takes about 4 hours).  When ready, freeze the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s directions for your ice cream maker.  Transfer the caramel ice cream to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm.

Makes about 1 1/2 quarts.