I made this ice cream to go with a fresh fig tart, which will be up here on the blog tomorrow, but I honestly think it would be fantastic with any fruit dessert. It has an unexpected saltiness, which complements the sweetness of baked fruit. After the fig tart was gone, we finished it off with the best peach crisp I’ve ever baked, made with local peaches and the last of my Michigan maple syrup (see my recipe for apple betty; make the topping and add it to a panful of peaches tossed with a little lemon juice and maple syrup or sugar; bake).
The recipe was suggested by a post on Pim’s blog, although I used a variety of different techniques – the blender seemed completely unnecessary, and I found that a hand whisk was indeed more than adequate. As well, I’ve adopted Jeni’s ice bath technique for all ice cream preparation around here, because it speeds up the chilling process significantly. Since I have a toddler who doesn’t need to get salmonella from undercooked egg yolks, I made sure I cooked the custard thoroughly, just to be completely safe. Finally, I felt the custard was too thin, so I used a slurry to thicken it up at the end of the cooking process.
This is a very rich ice cream, thanks to the full cup of butter in it, and a little goes a long way.
Browned Butter Ice Cream
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted sweet cream butter
1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon cornstarch
1-1/2 cups whole milk
1-1/2 cups heavy cream
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup superfine sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
To brown the butter:
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat, stirring or swirling the butter in the pan as you do. Continue to cook until the butter comes to a boil. First, it will get foamy, then the bubbles will become larger and clearer. At this point, watch it carefully – all of a sudden, the formation of bubbles will slow down a bit and the butter will go golden-brown. As soon as you see this color change happening, remove from the heat and pour the butter into a heat-proof bowl or glass measuring cup to stop it from overcooking. There will be little brown bits in the bottom – make sure you get them all into the bowl, as they contain the best of the flavor.
Prepare a large bowl with ice and water and set aside. This will be an ice bath to quickly bring the warm custard to a cold temperature. It works much more quickly than the refrigerator.
In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch with two tablespoons of the milk to make a slurry. Set aside.
In another saucepan, combine the milk and cream, and set over medium heat. This needs to come to a full simmer.
While the milk and cream are heating, in a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth and creamy. Whisk in the sugar and salt.
Still whisking, slowly begin to add the cooled browned butter, a little at a time. Just kind of drizzle it in, and if it forms a layer on the surface, stop drizzling until the butter has disappeared into the egg yolks as you whisk, then start drizzling again. Continue to slowly whisk in the butter until it has all been fully incorporated into the egg yolk mixture.
By now, the milk and cream should be simmering. Slowly whisk in the egg yolk mixture, and let the whole thing come to a boil, increasing the heat if necessary. When you’ve reached a rolling boil, whisk in the cornstarch slurry, continuing to cook for a minute or so, just until thickened.
Remove the pan from the heat and pour the custard into a gallon-size zippered plastic bag, squeeze out all the excess air, and submerge in the ice bath for 30 minutes, or until completely chilled.
When the custard is cold, pour it into your ice cream maker and churn for about 30 minutes. *Note: this makes a generous quart, so watch that it doesn’t overflow out of the ice cream maker as it’s churning.
When it’s ready (the texture of soft serve ice cream and pulling away from the sides of the ice cream canister), pack it into one quart or a couple of pint containers, cover with a layer of parchment, and freeze for at least four hours, until firm.
Enjoy!
