Salted Caramel Ice Cream

This Salted Caramel Ice Cream is made with simple, delicious ingredients. It’s rich and decadent and will instantly win you over. It’s the perfect ending to any meal.

This is my last “Days of Debbie” post, but I think I saved the best for last.

This Salted Caramel Ice Cream is amazing! I’d say it left me speechless, but it didn’t because I couldn’t shut up about how incredible it was.

I have made it four times since being home from Arizona and I see no signs of me stopping. I really should though because the last batch I made, I’m pretty sure that I am the only one who ate any. I really shouldn’t hide stuff in my freezer.

I know this may not look like much, but trust me when I tell you this ice cream is AMAZING!

The texture is smooth and silky, and the flavor is incredible! The sweetness of the caramel flavor along with the sea salt is so, so good. Salted caramel is a beautiful thing my friends.

The first night my Aunt Debbie served this, she put a scoop on top of a slice of dutch apple pie. It was heavenly! The second night she pulled it out of the freezer, we just ate bowls of it and I’m slightly embarrassed to say that I ate way more than anyone else. In fact, I finished off what was left in the container after everyone twisted my arm (lol).

After making this four different times, I figured out a few tips along the way that should make this easier for you to make. Make sure you read through them carefully.

HOW DO I KNOW WHEN THE SUGAR IS THE RIGHT COLOR?

This can be a tricky one. If you get it too light, the caramel flavor won’t be as strong. If you get it too dark, then your ice cream is going to have a burnt caramel taste. You want it to be a deep amber color. I forgot to take pictures so you could see the color you want (I thought about making this a fifth time so I could take pictures, but my waistline can’t handle it right now, haha).  So below is a picture that shows the perfect color. (Photo credit : https://bakerbettie.com/how-to-caramelize-sugar/)

IMPORTANT TIPS FOR MAKING THIS ICE CREAM:

• If there are sugar crystals on the sides of your pan, you can cover the pan and let it steam for a few minutes to melt those crystals from the sides. If there are still crystals after removing the lid, wash them down with a pastry brush dipped in warm water.
• Use a larger pan than you think you need. The mixture will bubble severely when you add the cream, but it will calm down as you continue stirring.
• Use a spoon or spatula with a long handle. You don’t want to use anything with a short handle here,  because like I mentioned in the tip above, you are going to be adding cream to the caramelized sugar and it’s going to bubble vigorously in the beginning.
• Stay close-by and make sure you’re paying attention. As soon as the melted sugar turns a deep amber color, remove it from the heat and make sure the cream is warmed, measured and ready to pour in.
• Pour the whipping cream into the melted sugar SLOWLY, a little at a time and stir/whisk continually while you are pouring the cream in. If the sugar ends up turning into a clump, DON’T FRET, IT WILL STILL TURN OUT! Just keep stirring over low heat and the clump of sugar will eventually melt down. (This has happened to me a couple times when I’ve made this and it still turned out and it was because I poured too much cream in, too quickly at the beginning.)
• After chilling the ice cream mixture for several hours or overnight, it will be extremely thick, this is ok and is how it’s supposed to be. Give it a good stir before you pour it into your ice cream freezer.
• This ice cream seems to take a lot longer than most to freeze. I use my countertop Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker and even with the mixture being chilled overnight, it still takes about 45 minutes to get it to a “thick” consistency. Once it’s about the consistency of a thick shake, I put it into a freezer safe container, place a piece of Saran Wrap up against the ice cream and then put a lid on the container and freeze several hours or overnight. It will firm up, but it still is more of a softer ice cream.
• With the chilling time involved in this recipe, make sure you plan ahead when making this.
• If you don’t have vanilla bean paste, you can just use a good quality vanilla extract.

Ok, there you go, hopefully these tips will help. You guys are going to love this, I promise.  If you have anymore questions, leave a comment or DM me on Instagram and I’ll get back to you.

Enjoy!

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Recipe Source: My Aunt Debbie who got the recipe from a cooking class she took at Sur La Table