As the wedding falls further and further into the past, and my list of “thank you” notes to write grows (SLOWLY) shorter and short, I also get to USE the gifts we received: AWESOME. Some were contributions to our honeymoon, which will happen after Derek finishes school, and some were donations to our favorite charities, but some were tangible THINGS. For example: ice cream maker. HUZZAH.
You may remember earlier in the summer when I played around with no-churn ice cream — totally delicious and perfect if you don’t have an ice cream maker; however, now that I DO have an ice cream maker I feel like the possibilities are endless! So far I’ve only made variations of chocolate (plain, with cookie dough, with peanut butter covered pretzels, etc.), until this salted caramel ice cream. Oooh boy. This is seriously good.
One of our favorite splurges from the grocery store is Talenti Salted Caramel Gelato. If you’ve never tried it, rush to your nearest grocery store and buy one STAT. Seriously, it’s pretty ridiculously good. Once you’ve convinced yourself you can’t live without salted caramel ice cream in your freezer AT ALL TIMES, you can make this recipe! Considering Talenti is not exactly kind to the wallet (hence a splurge), making it is far far better. And, you get more volume in a batch! Yay!
This was my first ice cream with a custard base — not nearly as intimidating as you might think. Basically, make the caramel, then make the custard, mix them together and chill for a while. Throw them in the ice cream maker, and BOOM: delicious, salty, caramel ice cream. I threw in a bit more salt, because I was skeptical about the salt content — it was a bit salty. Stick to the recipe (unless you really love salt, and then you can totally go for it!).
- 1¼ cups sugar, divided
- 2¼ cups heavy cream, divided
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp vanilla
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3 large eggs
- In a large, dry skillet heat 1 cup of the sugar over medium heat. Stir with a fork to heat evenly until the sugar begins to melt - then stop stirring. Swirl occasionally until the caramel is a dark amber.
- Add 1¼ cups cream (be careful!) and whisk until the caramel dissolves and is smooth. Pour into a separate bowl and stir in salt and vanilla. Let cool.
- While the caramel is cooling, bring the remaining cream, milk, and ¼ cup sugar to barely a boil in a large saucepan.
- In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs, then slowly add half off the hot milk while whisking. Add the egg mixture back to the saucepan with the rest of the milk, while whisking.
- Cook, stirring constantly, without letting the mixture boil, until it coats the back of a spoon and reads at 170 degrees F.
- Pour the custard through a fine sieve, then mix in with the caramel. Chill for at least 3 hours, or until very cool (stir every hour or so).
- When the mixture is chilled, pour into your running ice cream maker and churn until thickened. Pour into an airtight container and allow to freeze for 3-6 more hours, or until firm.
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I have made a lot of different kinds of ice cream in the past couple years, but this recipe is by far THE BEST. The texture is perfect, it’s not too hard after sitting in the freezer for a a few days, and it is super delicious. Thank you thank you!
Thanks for the kind words, Rachel! I’m so glad you liked it! This is also my favorite (so far)!
Can the mixture sit in the fridge overnight? I just mixed up a batch but will be going to bed soon.
You definitely could! I hope it worked out well! Xo
Is there any way to make this without an ice cream maker? Cause it sounds delicious!
Hi Nicoline! This would be tough without an icecream maker… sorry! I have a few (this and this) recipes that don’t require an ice cream maker, but not for salted caramel!