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Caramel Ice Cream

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Caramel Ice Cream

Cuisine:French

Course:Dessert

10m prep 20m cook 30m ready

A rich caramel ice cream made by blending deep amber caramel into a warm vanilla cream base. Smooth, sweet, and custardy, it's a classic frozen dessert.

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Ingredients

Servings:
½× 1× 1½× 2× 3×
Units:
As Written US Metric
  • 1
    • 1 cup heavy cream
    • ¾ cup sugar
    • ⅛ teaspoon salt
    • 2 cups heavy cream
    • 1 cup whole milk
    • 2 teaspoons vanilla
    • 1 ½ cups whole milk
    • ¾ cup sugar
    • 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (seeds scraped into milk and pod added)
    • ⅛ teaspoon salt
    • 3 large egg yolks
    • 2 cups heavy cream
    Sub-recipe steps
    1. Combine in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar: 1 cup heavy cream; ¾ cup sugar; ⅛ teaspoon salt
    2. Pour into a medium bowl and stir in: 2 cups heavy cream; 1 cup whole milk; 2 teaspoons vanilla
    3. Refrigerate the ice cream base until cold, overnight if possible, or quick-chill in an ice water bath.
    4. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze as directed. Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid and freeze for at least 4 hours to harden.
    5. Combine in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar: 1 ½ cups whole milk; ¾ cup sugar; 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise (seeds scraped into milk and pod added); ⅛ teaspoon salt
    6. Beat together in a medium bowl: 3 large egg yolks
    7. Slowly stir about ½ cup of the hot milk mixture into the beaten egg yolks. Then stir the egg mixture back into the milk. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard reaches 175°F and coats the back of a spoon. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl and stir in: 2 cups heavy cream
    8. Refrigerate the ice cream base until cold, overnight if possible, or quick-chill in an ice water bath.
    9. Remove the vanilla bean pod. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze as directed. Transfer to a container with a tight-fitting lid and freeze for at least 4 hours to harden.
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup water

Let's Prepare

Collect

Gather these ingredients - no prep needed yet.

  • 1 Vanilla Ice Cream
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup water

Let's Cook

  1. Step 1.

    Heat the milk or cream mixture as directed in: Vanilla Ice Cream

  2. Step 2.

    Omit the vanilla bean, if using version II. Keep warm over low heat. Combine in a small heavy saucepan: ¾ cup sugar; ¼ cup water

  3. Step 3.

    Set over medium-high heat and swirl the saucepan gently until the sugar is dissolved and the syrup is clear. Don’t let the syrup boil until the sugar is completely dissolved. Cover the pan and let the syrup simmer for 1 minute. Uncover and continue to boil until it begins to darken around the edges. Gently stir the pan until the caramel turns deep amber. When the caramel is ready, remove from the heat, stand back, and immediately stir in the warm milk or cream mixture until thoroughly blended. Be careful: It will sputter. If the caramel hardens, place the pan over low heat and stir until it softens and blends with the cream. Remove from the heat and proceed with the ice cream recipe as directed. If using version I, reduce the vanilla to 1 teaspoon.

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