Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Salted caramel is one of the best inventions of all time. Whoever came up with the idea of sprinkling a bit of salt on caramel is a genius. Salted caramel macarons, salted caramel frappuccinos, salted caramels, period. I just can't get enough.

So when I was reading a blog and found a recipe for salted caramel ice cream, I stopped everything I was doing and saved the recipe right away.

This is by far the most involved ice cream recipe I've ever made, but it was definitely worth all the effort. Plus, I may or may not have licked off all the spoons, whisks, bowls and pans that came into contact with that luscious salted caramel. It helps with the cleaning process.

SALTED CARAMEL ICE CREAM (from Epicurious)

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
2 1/4 cups heavy cream, divided
1/2 tsp flaky sea salt (such as Maldon)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole milk
3 large eggs

Directions
1. Heat 1 cup sugar in a dry 10-inch heavy skillet over medium heat, stirring to heat sugar evenly until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and cook, swirling until it is dark amber.
2. Add 1 1/4 cup cream (be warned, mixture will splatter) and cook, stirring, until all the caramel has dissolved. Transfer to a bowl and stir in sea salt and vanilla. Cool to room temperature.
3. Bring milk, remaining cream and remaining sugar just to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, stirring occasionally.
4. Lightly whisk eggs in a medium bowl, then temper with half of hot milk mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly. Pour back into saucepan and cook over low-medium heat, stirring constantly until custard coats the back of a spoon and registers 170F on an instant-read thermometer (do NOT let boil).
5. Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl, then stir in cooled caramel.
6. Chill custard, stirring occasionally until very cold (3-6 hours). Freeze custard in ice cream maker (it will still be quite soft), then transfer to an airtight container and put it in freezer to firm up.

Notes
When I made this ice cream, I used a different recipe. However, I ran into a few hitches using that original recipe. For example, the sugar for my caramel didn't completely dissolve and some of it eventually hardened onto my pan while I made the caramel. Then, I was instructed to heat the custard base to 185F, which in my desperate troubleshooting after the custard curdled, I learned was a sure-fire way to curdle custard.

If I ever attempt making this ice cream again, I'll be using this (above) recipe instead - it's basically the same but uses whole eggs, 1 less cup of milk and tells me not to let the custard boil. I need good instructions like that.