Friday, June 19, 2009
Butterscotch Ice Cream
I’m pretty much obsessed with my KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker Attachment. Before I was even done with the first batch of ice cream, I was dreaming of making a second batch. One of my new favorite past times is just browsing ice cream recipes. I’ve made homemade caramel before, so when I came across this recipe for butterscotch ice cream I knew I’d want to try it. Basically the difference between caramel & butterscotch is that butterscotch uses brown sugar while caramel uses granulated sugar. I love desserts with brown sugar in them, so there were pretty good odds I’d like this!
I was able to use restraint when it came to making the ice cream. I held off for a couple weeks. Finally I gave in to my frozen dessert desires & made it. Let me tell you, all that restraint went right out the window once I tasted this. It was smooth, creamy, rich, and most of all, absolutely & incredibly delicious. The buttermilk ice cream I shared with coworkers, but I got greedy with this butterscotch flavor. This batch was consumed in a mere 6 days I think. LESS THAN A WEEK! Granted, this batch made a little bit less than the last batch, but it was still a nice amount! Also, this time, The Boy was an active eater of the ice cream. I was really glad he liked it too. I like having a partner in my calorie consumption.
I must admit though, I screwed up a little when making this. I didn’t “temper” the eggs correctly, and probably brought the heat too high. When I strained the custard through a fine mesh strainer I ended up with what looked a lot like little chunks of scrambled eggs. I was a little grossed out, and very discouraged. I went ahead and strained all of it, and put it in a bowl to chill in the refrigerator while deciding what I should do. I asked for some advice on a cooking board, and I googled it. I went against the advice on the board, but found some other advice online that said you can go ahead and churn it, it just won’t be as smooth, and may have a “weird mouth feel”. I hate wasting ingredients so I just thought, rather than dump it, I might as well churn it first to see what I’d end up with. It ended up churning beautifully. I honestly could not tell a THING wrong with this ice cream. I’m so glad to know that I can screw something up, and it still turn out awesome! So, don’t be intimidated by custard-based ice creams. As I’ve said before, if I can do, you can do it!
Butterscotch Ice Cream
from Sunset Magazine
Ingredients:
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
2 cups half-and-half (light cream)
6 large egg yolksDirections:
In a 1- to 2-quart pan over medium heat, stir brown sugar, butter, and vanilla until butter is melted, sugar is dissolved, and mixture is bubbly, 3 to 4 minutes. Whisk in 1/2 cup whipping cream until smooth; remove butterscotch mixture from heat.
In a 3- to 4-quart pan over medium-high heat, combine remaining 1 cup whipping cream and the half-and-half; bring to a simmer.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat egg yolks to blend. Whisk 1/2 cup of the warm cream mixture into egg yolks, then pour egg yolk mixture into pan with cream. Stir constantly over low heat just until mixture is slightly thickened, 2 to 4 minutes. Immediately remove from heat.
Pour through a fine strainer into a clean bowl and whisk in butterscotch mixture. Chill until cold, stirring occasionally, about 2 hours; or cover and chill up to 1 day.
Freeze mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve softly frozen, or transfer ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 6 hours or up to 1 week.
*PS. It tastes great with Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Syrup drizzled on! Thanks for the help Boo!*
**Edit** D’oh! I can’t believe I forgot that I was planning on submitting this to Joelen’s Tasty Tools event for June, the tool featured is Ice Cream Makers! You might remember I also submitted the Buttermilk Ice Cream! Be sure to check back to see all the other ice cream flavors people submitted. I can’t wait to see the round-up and get more ice cream inspiration!