Salted Caramel Ice Cream with Caramel Chocolate Truffle Swirl, and Topped with Cacao Nib Crumble

This recipe was so unbelievably delicious on the first try. So I made it three more times.  Why? Partially because I wanted to be sure I could replicate it. And partially because I wanted to add some chocolate and try removing a little fat from it. And...also  because it was just plain fun and exciting.  Caramelizing sugar is full of risk and reward. There is a high risk of burning it, and thus a constant need to watch it and stir...stir...and stir some more. But the satisfaction when we get it right is the best part: the creation of a lovely caramel flavour with no need for artificial flavourings, colours, or added syrups. What a perfect way to make (and eat) ice cream with less guilt!

Please note:
I did find the caramel ice cream recipe (without the chocolate swirl) online somewhere, but for the life of me, I can't find the link again. I've made a few changes to it, but still, as soon as I find it, I will put the link up here!

Salted Caramel Ice Cream Recipe
with Dark Chocolate Caramel Swirl

For the Salted Caramel Ice Cream you need:

1.5 cups whipping cream
1.5 cups milk (homogenized or whole milk)
6 egg yolks
6 tbsp. butter
1.5 cups organic sugar
2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp sea salt

Ingredients for the chocolate swirl listed below.


Ice Cream Instructions:

1. In a dry, heavy-bottomed pot, cook the sugar on medium-high heat. Stir constantly with a whisk and cook for about 3 to 6 minutes until it turns golden brown and melts.

2. Add the butter, cream and milk slowly (and carefully! That sugar is hot and will sizzle!), stir again with the whisk and add the salt and vanilla.  Cook for 1 minute, letting it lightly simmer. Try to melt all the lumps of candy that have formed.

3. Beat the egg yolks in a large bowl (preferably stainless steel, but plastic or glass would be fine if you don't have a stainless steel one). Slowly pour in the hot cream while constantly stirring the yolks. Then, once combined, return everything to the pot (give the bowl a quick rinse and set aside, you'll need it in a moment) and let simmer for a few minutes (while stirring) until the mixture becomes thick and coats your spoon or spatula.

4. Remove from heat and poor the mixture into the bowl you set aside.

5. Prepare an ice bath of ice and water in a bowl that is larger than the bowl holding your ingredients (fill the sink 1/4 way up with cold water and add ice if you do not have a large bowl).

6. Place your ice cream bowl inside the ice bath (the water should not so high as to be in danger of spilling into your ice cream!). Stir constantly until ice cream cools to as low as 4º or 5º C before putting in the ice cream maker.  Or, if you have the time to wait , simply place the ice cream in its ice bath, give it a stir, then place in fridge and stir every 10 minutes or so for about an hour until cooled to refrigerator temperatures.

7. Chill the Ice Cream then Freeze, in two ways:


Using an Ice Cream Maker

Add to ice cream maker and freeze according to the instructions for your specific ice cream maker (about 25 to 30 minutes in my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker!), but in the last five minutes, add the caramel sauce swirl by streaming it in slowly (squeeze through a hole in a decorator bag or a hole cut from the corner of a freezer bag). Once blended throughout, pour your ice cream into an airtight container and freeze in the deep freeze for at least 6 to 24 hours (you can certainly eat it soft right away or within two hours! But to have it hard enough to scoop onto a cone, you'll want it in the freezer for about a day before-hand).

Without and Ice Cream Maker
Stir the custard the ice bath, as described above, until it resembles a thick custard, then squeeze in the chocolate caramel sauce (see below), then freeze as is. The texture will not be quite the same as with an ice cream maker, but still great.


Dark or Milk Chocolate Caramel Truffle for Swirl (Can also be used to decorate a cake or in filled chocolates)

You need:

8 ounces dark chocolate (70% for a bitter dark chocolate sauce, and 50-60% for a sweeter dark chocolate sauce, or milk chocolate for a sweeter, creamy sauce)
1 cup butter
1/2 cup whipping cream + 1/4 cup
1/2 cup organic cane sugar (or white sugar)
1 tsp sea salt

Sauce Instructions:

1. Caramelize the sugar (just as described above in the ice cream recipe) by placing it in a dry, heavy-bottomed medium-sized pan on the stove-up. Turn on the heat to medium-high (about 7.5) and let sit for a few minutes, until the bottom layer of sugar begins to brown. At this point, stir with a whisk often for another 3 minutes. Your sugar will clump a little, but just try to break it up a bit and let it melt with the others. 

2. Just when it begins to simmer, remove from heat for a few seconds and add the butter and cream. Immediately stir and add back onto the heat. Be careful not to splash any on yourself - this mixture is hot! The sugar may become one big candy, but just keep stirring and working it off the bottom of the pot until all of it melts (or most of it, don't worry it there are leftover crunchy chunks, you can sift them out later). Let simmer while constantly stirring until the temperature reaches about 240º F, or it looks slightly thicker and has simmered for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

3. Remove the pot from the heat and set aside, again being careful not to touch it with your skin, since it will burn you easily now.  Let cool until it reaches about 80º F (about 10 minutes resting time).

4. Chop 8 ounces of chocolate (about 2 and a 1/4 100 gram bars of chocolate) and place in a bowl. Place a sifter over the bowl and slowly pour your caramel sauce over the chocolate, through the sifter.  Immediately stir until smooth.  If your chocolate is not melting fully, you can microwave for 10 seconds or place over a double boiler. The cocoa butter (liquid fat from the chocolate) may begin to separate once the lumps are gone, but adding the extra 1/4 cup cold whipping cream to the mix at this time will likely make it come back together. Once smooth, let rest on counter until it cools (1 hour) before placing in your ice cream.

5. Add the caramel chocolate sauce to the ice cream mix by squeezing it in slowly through a decorator bag, or a plastic sandwich bag with one corner cut off to squeeze it through. Squeeze it through the hole into the ice cream maker or the ice cream custard before freezing (if no ice cream maker) and mix together.

Options for remaining sauce:

1. Reserve by freezing it in a sealed container or in a bag until your next batch of ice cream.
2. Let set 6 hours on the counter, covered, and then roll into balls of truffles, and toss in cocoa powder. Place in mini cupcake or candy papers to serve - delicious!
3. Decorate a cake or cupcakes with it - so yummy as an icing!
4. Use as an 'ice cream sundae' topping on other ice creams.

Like a little crunch? Try this Cacao Nib Topping:
Grind 2 oz cacao nibs with 1 oz sugar until well mixed and crumbled together and melting slightly together.  Press onto a piece of waxed paper and let cool, then chop or break up and crumble onto your ice cream for a nice, sweet-nib crunch!