Nothing says summer to me like the music of an ice cream truck coming down the street. Its one of those sounds that instantly invokes childhood memories of playing outside all day, hearing the familiar jingle and chasing the ice cream truck down the street with your friends to enjoy a cool treat.
I didn't realize how much I missed that sound until we moved here. I don't think we once heard or saw an ice cream truck the entire time we lived in the middle of nowhere, MD. Which is pretty logical when you think about it, but the first time I heard that familiar jingle in our new apartment it took every ounce of decorum in me not to grab a dollar and go running outside. Not that I think there is anything wrong with adults chasing down the ice cream truck (because there totally isn't!), I was just in the middle of making dinner and I figured Tom wouldn't appreciate it too much if I left dinner to burn while I hunted down a frozen treat.
For this month's Secret Recipe Club, I was assigned Cupcake Muffin. With a blog name like that, I was instantly intrigued. Muffins are kind of my thing. I make enough of them. So while I scrolled through Sara's recipes, I figured I'd choose a muffin one but then my eye landed on something spectacular. Salty Caramel Ice Cream.
To me this is the epitome of awesomeness. I love caramel. I PPH (pink puffy heart) salted caramel. My ice cream maker attachment had been sitting in the box for over a year (freezer space was my excuse) and I was tired of hearing Tom ask me when I was going to use it.
Recipe
SRC: Salty Caramel Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups whole milk divided
- 1 tbsp. + 1 tsp. cornstarch
- 1 ¼ cups heavy cream
- 2 tbsp. corn syrup
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 3 tbsp. cream cheese at room temperature
- ½ tsp. fine sea salt
Instructions
- 1. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with 2 tbsp. of the milk to create a slurry. Set aside.
- 2. Whisk together the heavy cream and corn syrup in a pitcher with a spout.
- 3. Pour the sugar into a tall saucepan over medium-high heat and let the sugar melt and turn brown. Stir with a heat proof spatula as needed to prevent burning.
- 4. From a distance pour about ¼ cup of the cream mixture into the sugar. It will sizzle and splatter as it hits the sugar. Stir until combined and then continue to add the cream mixture ¼ cup at a time until it has all been combined.
- 5. Return the saucepan to medium-high heat and add the remaining milk. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 4 minutes.
- 6. Meanwhile, mix the cream cheese and salt together in a large bowl until smooth.
- 7. Remove the saucepan from the heat and slowly whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Place the saucepan back over the heat again and cook, stirring until slightly thickened.
- 8. Remove from the heat and whisk the caramel/milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. Cover and chill for at least 4 hours but preferably overnight.
- 9. Pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer, discarding any lumps. Process through an ice cream maker according to directions.
Notes
Around step 5 I got kinda paranoid this wasn't going to work out. I know I've mentioned how sensitive my stove is before. So when I got to the rolling boil I knew if I didn't lower the temperature to low it would immediately bubble over and nothing about cleaning liquified caramel off your stove sounds pleasant. So I turned the heat down as low as it would go and continued staring at it to boil. In this case, a watched pot does boil because I only got 2 minutes in of a rolling boil before it threatened to escape my pan. Then I got paranoid again around step 7 because my mixture was refusing to thicken. I'm telling you, there is just something about homemade caramel anything that dislikes me.
So after exercising an extreme amount of patience while the Kitchenaid Ice Cream Maker attachment whipped everything together, I began to feel more calm. It was the right color. It turned into ice cream! Apparently I did something right.
Sweet salty caramel heaven was this delicious! I immediately ran out to the store and bought waffle cones because really, there is no better way to enjoy ice cream than on a cone! And don't be surprised or anything if you see me making an insane amount of ice cream this summer. While it is time consuming, it sure is addictive!
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