Salted Butter Caramel

Our Sunday slow scoopers have branched out this week; away from 'The Perfect Scoop'. This is a recipe that is found on David Lebovitz's recipe blog. He says that he had to take this recipe out of the book to make room for the photos. I know how those editors can be!

Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream
For the caramel praline (mix-in)
½ cup sugar
¾ tsp sea salt

For the ice cream custard
2 cups whole milk, divided
1½ cups sugar
4 Tbs salted butter
scant ½ teaspoon sea salt
1 cup heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
¾ tsp vanilla extract
To make the caramel praline, begin by melting the sugar over low heat. once the sugar liquefies and turns golden, add the salt. Immediately pour the caramel onto a baking sheet and tilt to create a thin layer. Set aside. To make the custard cook the sugar as before, heating until liquefied. Once the sugar is caramelized, remove from the heat. Stir in butter, and salt. Stir until smooth. Whip in the cream and then add the half the milk. Carefully incorporate the egg yolks and cook over low heat until the custard reaches a temperature of 160° -170° . Pour the other half of the milk in to a bowl over an ice bath. Pour the hot custard into the milk bowl through a strainer to catch the bits of egg that may have scrambled. Stir in the vanilla.
Freeze according to the directions. Add crumbled bits of praline into the ice cream, these will liquefy and form a caramel ribbon. I saved bits of the beautiful praline to decorate. This is one of our favorite ice creams by far (haven't I said that before?). I think next time I won't go to the trouble of making the caramel praline bits. They melt a bit in the ice cream and form a ribbon, I think it would be just as good without it.

This would be wonderful for thanksgiving with a piece of pumpkin pie~

Y'all enjoy!

Sandi