best ice-cream ever

Ok, so it may sound like I'm tooting my own horn, but that's actually a direct quote from the hubby. He was also overheard debating himself on which was his favorite flavor, Rocky Road vs. Salted Caramel ice-cream. That's right ice-cream so good it makes you a lil' wacky. I am not a food stylist(I wish) so the picture of my latest foray into ice-cream does not do the final product justice. I guess you'll have to come over to try a scoop :)

salted caramel ice-cream

I have not had time to play in my kitchen lately and tinker with my new ice-cream maker attachment. Today, I finally had a chance to recreate one of my(many) ice-cream flavor favorites, salted caramel ice-cream. It sounds like a weird combination, but for the nay sayers all I have to say is don't knock it till you try it. I used some authentic fleur de sel from the Camargue region in France to make this an even more luxurious treat.

First, I combed the internet for salted caramel ice-cream recipes and since I had pored over

David Lebovitz's Perfect Scoop, I had an idea of what to look for in a recipe. I decided on epicurious' version, from Gourmet magazine's August 2009 issue, it seemed pretty straight

forward.

Since I am an ice-cream novice and have never made caramel before, I will share photos and

attempt to offer an impromptu tutorial in hopes that my experiences demystify the process for other newbies or better yet save you a batch of ingredients. Here goes.....

I melted the sugar in a saute pan, stirring with a fork until dissolved and turned into an amber color. Cream is then added. The mixture is will froth up, just like picture don't be alarmed, just keep stirring until all the caramel is dissolved. The caramel is then cooled in a bowl to room temperature.

While the caramel is cooling, whisk the eggs in a separate bowl and bring just to a boil the remaining milk, cream, and sugar. Watch for the tiny little bubbles on the milk instead of bring it to a full boil. Take about a cup of hot milk and carefully pour it into the eggs in a steady stream while whisking. The first time I made custard for ice-cream I overzealously whipped the egg/milk mixture resulting in a mountain of foam. No need to go into a whipping frenzy, just incorporate the hot milk in to temper the eggs. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan with the milk and stir constantly until it thickens and coats the wooden spoon or 170F. DO NOT ALLOW TO BOIL!

If like me your eggs weren't tempered properly and there is some semblance of scrambled eggs in your custard, don't fret, strain the custard into a bowl. By some miracle(or more likely practice) my custard came out beautifully this time around. Pour cooled caramel into custard and let cool to room temperature. Cover and put batter in fridge for 3-6 hours. Ta-da! Home made ice-cream to rival high falutin' creameries and restaurants are now just hours away. Yummy! Pictures of final product to follow later tonight.

please don't judge me cause i licked the bowl

As I've mentioned earlier the super thoughtful hubby gave me an ice-cream maker for my birthday. Awesome, I know! I wasted no time and put that baby to work.

It's also my dad's birthday tomorrow so the inaugural ice-cream flavor was his choosing, he readily requested the classic, Rocky Road. I suppose the apple doesn't fall far from the tree(or in this case the bowl from the spoon?) because I was also craving some Rocky Road. I made the chocolate batter this morning and chilled it for eight hours. The batter needed that much time to chill and I needed that time to recover. Whew! With a custard base the batter was not the easiest to make. A fine line exists between scrambled chocolate eggs and creamy chocolate custard. Thankfully my attempt landed on the custard side and the ice-cream experiment was still on track. I toasted some chopped almonds and purchased ludicrously priced gourmet marshmallows(definitely worth the $), which were then folded into the batter. I was unsure on when to add the nuts and after reading and re-reading David Lebovitz's recipe and introduction and not finding the answer, I decided to add the almonds before the batter was churned. BIG MISTAKE! I almost broke my new toy. It made this horrible clicking sounds as it attempted to turn the batter. The ice-cream gods must have been smiling at me because the batter did not have to be churned for as long as recommended before it was at my desired consistency thereby saving my beloved ice-cream maker from a certain death.

Perhaps I am a tad biased, but my Rocky Road ice-cream rocks(excuse the pun)! It is creamy without being too dense and the roasted almonds and marshmallows are the perfect foil to the richness of the ice-cream. YUM! I wonder what I should make next...

presents

My birthday is not actually till Sunday, but I received early bday presents from my hubby and best friend and I can't help but share them.

Ta-da!!! My very own ice-cream maker attachment for my Kitchenaid. It's my very first attachment and also the one I have been lusting for the most. It doesn't look like much but this baby is the key to my own homemade concoctions. I've had nearly 31 years experience with ice-cream and all it's many incarnations so I think I'm ready to whip up my own creation. To help me in this worthy endevour is the gift my best friend gave me, The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz.

Before the ice-cream maker was even a glint in my eye, I was already coveting this book. I'm pretty much a sucker for most ice-cream related items so a whole book devoted to the pursuit of its perfection is a fitting gift. YAY! I wuv bufdays :)

These lovely presents deserve to be worshipped and thus I dub a new holiday, Sundaes on Sunday. It will be the day we gather together in the house of dairy to genuflect upon this sacred altar of ice-creamery.