If you love caramel as much as I do, this is the best ice cream I’ve ever made. There is a bit of time commitment in learning how to make caramel– twice. The end result is so worth the wait. The buttery caramel ice cream has bits of salted caramel praline that is incredibly good.
I do believe that I have found the Holy Grail of Ice Cream recipe! I adore caramel. It’s my weakness. I love it more than– gasp— chocolate. I’ve made caramel flan sauce before, but I’ve never made my own buttery caramel sauce.
Would you believe that, up until now, I had never ventured into making my own caramel?! Now that I accomplished that, I have no idea what I was so afraid of. It’s easy enough, though you do need to follow three important steps in making this– making a salted caramel praline …
…(with fleur de sel), making a buttery caramel sauce…
…and making an ice cream base with egg yolks.
You have to wait for at least eight hours before churning the ice cream, and then it takes a few more hours to allow the ice cream to set.
EQUIPMENT: A heavy gauge metal pot works best for making caramel. I had success with my non-stick dark bottomed pot, but I finally invested in an All-Clad 2-quart Saucier Pan. I love it!
You’ll also need an ice cream maker. A fine-mesh sieve is important for making ice cream (you’ll soon see why). A silicone mat is perfect for pouring the hot caramel that will become the salted pralines.
My personal advice on making caramel:
- Read the directions a few times and rehearse the steps in your mind.
- Have everything ready, because once you start to work with hot sugar, you can’t stop to measure or look for something.
- Use common sense, in working with hot sugar. It’s sticky and is extremely hot! Tempting as it is, don’t dip your finger into the caramel sauce to taste it. You’ll end up with severe burns!
- Silicone based spatulas worked best in stirring the sauce.
- When adding butter, milk or any liquid– it’s going to bubble up! Don’t panic. Long sleeves are a good idea, just in case there is splatter.
I admit that my greatest fear in making caramel is not wanting to burn the sugar. But, don’t let that stop you! If you burn the sugar, start over! Trust me, I’ve done it myself. Once you have success– as I did with this recipe– you will never buy caramel sauce again. Nor will you ever need to buy caramels and go through the pain of unwrapping them, and melting them. The payoff is knowing that you did it– and caramel is so good!
Let’s make the recipe!
Mis en place: Use quality vanilla; I really like Singing Dog Vanilla. You’ll need to separate the egg yolks (I never waste egg whites, and I have a recipe coming up for those). The yolks will give a beautiful texture to the ice cream custard– and this is my favorite way to make ice cream. You’ll need to set up an ice bath by filling a bowl with ice cubes and enough water to make the ice float. Pour one cup of whole milk into a the smaller bowl, and nestle it into the ice bath. Set a fine mesh strainer on top. Done!
Fleur de Sel is the choice salt, but I have also used a sea salt that I buy at Trader Joe’s. Just don’t use table salt! For the pralines:
Heat the sugar over moderate heat until the edges begin to melt. Use a heatproof utensil to gently stir the liquefied sugar from the bottom and edges towards the center, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved.
(Or, at least, most of it—there may be some lumps, which will melt later.) Continue to cook the melted sugar, stirring infrequently until the caramel starts smoking and begins to smell like it’s just about to burn. This happens pretty fast!
Without hesitating (faster than the blink of an eye), sprinkle in the ¾ teaspoon salt without stirring (don’t even pause for anything at all).
Quickly, but carefully, pour the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet and lift up the baking sheet immediately– don’t be afraid to tilt and swirl the baking sheet to almost vertically to encourage the caramel to form as thin a layer as possible.
I got a little too excited, and stirred the sugar too much. All wasn’t lost. I simply relaxed and let the sugar melt, and it all came together. Whew! Once the sugar is caramelized, remove the pan from the heat…
We’re reaching the home stretch! Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk set over the ice bath, then add the vanilla, stirring frequently until the mixture is cooled down. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled. I broke the pralines into small bits.
I poured it into my frozen ice cream bowl, and turned on the motor for a good 25 minutes…
Still, I added the caramel praline bits, and I poured the ice cream into a 1-Quart container and let it freeze overnight. (That was hard to do, by the way!)
Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Equipment
- Ice Cream Maker
- Silpat (silicone mat, to make the caramel pralines)
Ingredients
For the caramel praline
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon sea salt such as fleur de sel
For the ice cream custard:
- 2 cups whole milk divided
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 5 egg yolks
- 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
To make the caramel praline:
- Spread the ½ cup of sugar in an even layer in a medium-sized, heavy duty saucepan. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or brush it sparingly with unflavored oil.
- Heat the sugar over medium heat until the edges begin to melt. Use a heatproof utensil to gently stir the liquefied sugar from the bottom and edges towards the center, stirring, until all the sugar is dissolved. (Or most of it—there may be some lumps, which will melt later.) Continue to cook, stirring infrequently, until the caramel starts smoking and begins to smell like it’s just about to burn. It won’t take long.
- Without hesitation, sprinkle in the ¾ teaspoon salt without stirring, then pour the caramel onto the prepared baking sheet and lift up the baking sheet immediately, tilting and swirling it almost vertically to encourage the caramel to form as thin a layer as possible. Set aside to harden and cool.
To make the ice cream:
- Make an ice bath by filling a large bowl about a third full with ice cubes and adding a cup or so of water so they’re floating. Nest a smaller metal bowl (at least 2 quart) over the ice, pour 1 cup of the milk into the inner bowl, and rest a mesh strainer on top of it.
- Spread 1½ cups sugar in the saucepan in an even layer. Cook over medium heat until caramelized, using the same method described in making the caramel praline.
- Once caramelized, remove from heat and stir in the butter and salt, until butter is melted, then gradually whisk in the cream, stirring as you go. The caramel may harden and seize, but return it to the heat and continue to stir over low heat until any hard caramel is melted. Stir in the remaining 1 cup of the milk.
- Whisk the yolks in a small bowl and gradually pour some of the warm caramel mixture over the yolks, whisking constantly. Scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan and cook the custard using a heatproof utensil, stirring constantly (scraping the bottom until the mixture thickens). If using an instant-read thermometer, it should read 160-170 F.
- Pour the custard through the strainer into the milk set over the ice bath, add the vanilla, then stir frequently until the mixture is cooled down. Refrigerate at least 8 hours or until thoroughly chilled.
- Freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- While the ice cream is churning, crumble the hardened caramel praline into very little bits, about the size of very large confetti (about ½-inch).
- Once your caramel ice cream is churned, quickly stir in the crushed caramel, then chill in the freezer until firm.
Notes
Nutrition
I will definitely echo your comment as this IS the holy grail of ice cream. I have made this recipe several times with rave reviews! Be very careful and don't get burned…I burned my thumb pouring the caramel onto the baking sheet….still worth it, though!
Good to find you on FB ~ I "liked" your page!
This looks beyond amazing and worth investing in buying all the equipment—I'm drooling just looking at the pictures!
My favorite flavor…. maple bacon ice cream at Molly Moon's in Seattle.
As we speak I am eating ice cream from a local shop called "The Kick". It's vanilla and coconut with habanero chiles. DELICIOUS!!
I already like your page and would love a recipe book!
I have specifically asked for an ice cream machine for my birthday this year. I feel like this ice cream would be incredible!!! I would lovvvveee the book!
Oh my…Yum!! That's one I'll have to try. I bought an ice cream maker a couple months ago and have been making ice cream about once a week.
BTW…your Lemon Curd ice cream rocks!!
My all time favorite homemade ice cream right now is peanut butter. It's easy, quick, no cook and I can top it with chocolate and bananas! Yum!
I think my favorite ice cream of all though is Strawberry. If I could find a really good creamy recipe for strawberry ice cream I'd be in heaven!
Thanks for the chance to win David Leovitz's book! I have just about all of his ice cream recipes from his blog bookmarked online.:)
I like you on Facebook! 🙂
I love homemade ice cream…I love your blog. And I follow you on FB. Keep up the good work
i love to make white chocolate ice cream with really great white chocolate
I love a good Pralines & Cream Ice cream
I just love your blog! I really enjoy all the pictures you share! This book sounds wonderful!
OOOOOh Debby you kill me with this recipe! My fav ice cream is and always will be peppermint (pink please! I often use leftover candy canes from Christmas time) I adore being one of your foodie friends. xoxo
Pistachio Almond Ice Cream is my FAVORITE!
Ooooo Debby you are killing me with this recipe. My fav ice cream will always be peppermint- pink please! I will use leftover candycanes from Christmas to make. I love being your foodie friend. xoxox
I'm fairly certain I could live off of salted caramel if it were in any way socially acceptable…this ice cream looks amazing!
My favorite flavor ever has to be a pumpkin cheesecake ice cream I had in Boston when I lived there…SO GOOD.
Usually, I favor ice cream with dark chocolate – either as a chocolate base, covered in chocolate or, with chocolate flakes or brownie bits stirred in … but, my-oh-my, you certainly make me want to give this recipe a try!
After reading the mint chip ice cream recipeon Sticky Gooey Creamy Chewy the other day I realized just how much I WANT this book. Now I really hope I'll win. Maybe I'll get lucky. I'm not generally a lucky person. I don't win many random contests except for in the food blog world. I enjoy food blog swag! One day I want to have a big big giveaway of my own.
This ice cream does look wonderful. I have been making a nice recipe from Chow.com that I love,but I think this one looks even better.
I always love your blog. The caramel ice cream looks intimidating, but I'm sure like most things, if you just start somewhere, you find that's it's not so bad. I have a few favorite flavors that are like a bong goes off around my spine when I taste one of them. Caramel has always been one of those.
I tried to make caramel once and burned it. So sad. Your ice cream looks delicious.
My favorite ice cream is peach. yum!
I'm a fan on facebook. 🙂
My mouth was watering reading this post! I am SO excited that I have an ice cream maker so that I can actually make this 🙂 I tweeted about your giveaway and I already like your Facebook page! Fingers crossed!!
That looks so awesome!!!
My favourite ice cream is actually Dulce de Leche 😀
Favorite ice cream is cookies n cream!!! The oreo cookies mix perfectly with the ice cream!! ^^
I liked you on facebook as well! 🙂
Lordy! This is the closest I've ever come to licking my monitor.
I will be making this ice cream as soon as I get a new ice cream machine. Mine died trying to make Lemon Frozen Yogurt at Easter. This looks divine!
Welcome summer–almost!!
PS: Debbie I have an american address even though I live in Canada if that is OK. If not, that's OK too! I love your site.
Gail
I liked your Facebook Fan Page too
Gail
****GIVEAWAY COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED**** However, thank you for visiting, and please leave a general comment!
yum yum yum yum yum. this ice cream looks fantabulous. great post!
This does look awesome and I'm bummed you didn't send me the picture last week when you said you would. That's okay, all if forgiven because I'm now drooling 🙂
Those praline bits about to be mixed into the ice cream look like candied bacon and the thought of that excites me a bit! ha!
This ice cream screams out to be made. My favourite flavour is salted caramel and this is in that same category!!!
Ice cream is liked by each and every person and the way you made this, it's taste yummy and the only thing is that you have to kept in mind is that not to burn the sugar.
Gluten Free Recipes
I need to bust out the ice cream maker for this one! I love salty and sweet combinations – amazing!
Amen!
~ingrid
Like Jen from NJ, the ice cream maker is coming out this weekend!
I just made this ice cream! It's in the freezer at the moment begging to be eaten. I did a taste-test of the custard and it tasted divine. A little on the sweet side but still heavenly. My chilled mixture didn't freeze or harden up in the ice cream maker as well. It was thick but quite runny. So I googled the "problem" and found David Lebovitz's tips for making homemade icecream: http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2007/07/tips-for-making-1/
So according to David, sugar doesn't freeze, and we know that his salted caramel icecream is loaded with sugar! But he also advises that one shouldn't reduce the sugar content in his recipes as it would affect the smoothness of the icecream. I'm so glad I stuck with the recommended amount of sugar in the recipe (I tend to reduce sugar in most of my cooking).
Anyway… Fingers crossed that my ice cream will turn out smooth and creamy :).
– Elaine in Sydney, Australia
Dear Anonymous:
I had the same problem, with the ice cream being very soft. The next day, though, it hardened just right– very creamy and smooth. I hope you love it as much as we do. It is a bit more work, but such a lovely and rich custard.
This salted butter caramel ice cream is perfect for the holidays because it's continually one of the best ice cream recipes too.