Salted Caramel Pretzel Ice Cream
A tempered custard base is the restaurant trick here: slowly bringing the hot dairy into the yolks keeps the ice cream smooth without scrambled bits, and any home cook can do it with one saucepan. I…
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cups whole milk
- 6 egg yolks
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 1/2 cups mini pretzel twists, roughly crushed
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons water
Instructions
- Warm the heavy cream and milk in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming and just beginning to ripple; do not let it boil. In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the granulated sugar until the mixture is pale and slightly thickened.
- Slowly whisk about 1 cup of the hot dairy into the yolks in a thin stream. Pour the tempered mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it lightly coats the spoon and reaches 175°F to 180°F, about 5 minutes.
- Strain the custard into a clean bowl, then stir in the vanilla and kosher salt. Set the bowl over ice or refrigerate it until completely cold, at least 2 hours; a cold base churns into smaller ice crystals and a smoother scoop.
- Make the caramel while the base chills. Put the brown sugar, butter, and water in a small saucepan over medium heat and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring until glossy and slightly thickened. Cool until barely warm.
- Churn the cold custard in an ice cream maker according to the machine's instructions. In the last 2 minutes, add 1 cup of the crushed pretzels so they stay crisp instead of dissolving into the base.
- Spoon one-third of the churned ice cream into a freezer container. Drizzle with one-third of the caramel, scatter with some of the remaining pretzels, and repeat the layers. Drag a knife through the layers twice for broad caramel ribbons.
- Press parchment directly onto the surface and freeze for 4 hours, or until firm. For a casual street-snack service, scoop into small paper cups and finish each portion with a few extra pretzel pieces.
Watch the Salted Caramel Pretzel Ice Cream cooking video
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