Truth is, I don’t really love ice cream, and I never used to take the time to make it myself. With the exception of vanilla, most flavors seem one-dimensional and overly sweet (strawberry being, to my palate, the worst offender in this regard), and there always seem to be other handy ways to blow my fat and calorie budget.
And then I discovered salted caramel ice cream at the Bi-Rite Creamery, which, for better or worse, is about five minutes walk from our place in San Francisco. Deep, rich, creamy, salty, sweet — the flavor is complex, sensuous, adult, and yet accessible to nearly everyone. Straight out of the tub, it’s transporting, but it also gets along well with berries, chocolate and apple pie. Think of it as the sexy older brother of vanilla.
If you’re anywhere near San Francisco, go to the Bi-Rite creamery on 18th Street, order a double scoop to eat on the spot and stock your freezer with a few pints. (And, while you’re at it, pick up the week’s groceries and some wine at the outstanding Bi-Rite market across the street.) But if you’re stranded, in, say, New York, try this recipe. Last summer in the Hamptons, far from my beloved Bi-Rite, I worked it out through trial and error. It’s almost as good as its 18th Street inspiration.
Recipe
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tablespoon butter (approximate)
1 tablespoon corn syrup (approximate)
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
2 teaspoons vanilla
two generous pinches of good sea salt
five egg yolks
Instructions
Make the Caramel. This is where the action is. Making caramel can be a little nerve-wracking the first time out (what with the molten sugar and all), but it’s really pretty simple if you know what to expect, and it takes about five minutes.
1. Put the sugar, corn syrup and butter in a heavy saucepan. Don’t stir it. Ever. Somehow, stirring prevents the sugar from melting properly.
2. Over medium-high heat, let the sugar melt from the bottom. Once the dry sugar is floating on a cushion of molten sugar, you can gently swirl the pan to speed up the caramelization and incorporate the other ingredients, but don’t stir!
3. Keep swirling. At this point, it will look like a hopeless mess and seem like chunks of dry sugar won’t dissolve before the whole thing burns, but don’t worry. It all comes together at the last minute.
4. Swirl until it reaches a dark nut brown color. You’ll need this deep flavor to stand up all the cream and eggs you’re about to add.
5. Pour the cream into the caramel. When the cool cream hits the hot caramel, it will bubble like crazy, the caramel will form into hard globs, and the pan will look like a dog’s breakfast. Not to worry. Stir for a couple of minutes (yes, now you can stir), and the caramel will dissolve into a smooth creamy mixture.
6. Add the Milk, Vanilla and Salt. Nothing tricky here. Add the milk and vanilla, reduce the heat to low and stir. Then add the salt, and taste. The saltiness and sweetness should exactly balance — neither flavor should dominate. If in doubt, err on the side of salty.
7. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs lightly, and then, a bit at a time, whisk in the caramel mixture.
8. Strain into a container and chill. (Straining gets rid of any clumps of unmelted sugar or bits of congealed egg.)
9. Freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. I use the ice cream bowl and dasher attachment for my Kitchen Aid mixer. It’s not as fast as an ice cream maker with a built-in compressor (you’ll need to refreeze for a few hours before serving), and you need to remember to freeze the bowl overnight (I just keep it in the freezer), but it’s far cheaper, cuts down on the proliferation of kitchen small electrics and works just fine.
