Saturday, August 30, 2008

Burnt Sugar Ice Cream and How to Freeze Eggs


After I learned how to make ice cream without an ice cream maker, I started searching for the next flavor I wanted to try. When I came across Dorie's Burnt Sugar Ice cream, I knew I had to try it. I love caramel.

The recipe is quite simple, and not too different from most ice cream recipes. The hardest part is tempering the eggs. This involves adding the hot milk/cream gradually to slowly bring the temperature of the eggs up. Dorie says it's okay to add one-third of the hot liquid initially, but I am always so worried about scrambling my eggs that I only start by adding one tablespoon at a time until the mixture is warm.


The Burnt Sugar Ice Cream was amazing!!! It had a wonderful caramel flavor that was not overly sweet. If you swirled in a bottle of store bought Dulce de Leche at the end, you would have a perfect copy cat recipe for the Haagen Daaz Dulce de Leche flavor. The next time I make this, I'll probably mix in some toffee bits, to make some Toffee Caramel Ice Cream. And of course this paired perfectly with the Applesauce Spice Bars I made.


This recipe calls for four egg yolks. I always hate wasting eggs when a recipe calls for only egg yolks or egg whites. I can never think of what to do with them before they go bad, so I've started freezing them until I come across a recipe I want to make.

I will usually freeze two egg whites in a ziploc bag and then label the bag with the number of egg whites in there and the date (they will keep for about 12 months). Alternatively, you can freeze them individually in an ice tray and then toss the cubes into a ziploc bag.

If you want to freeze egg yolks, you'll need to whisk in some sugar or salt. Without it, they will become too rubbery or gelatinous when frozen to use once they are thawed. I always use my yolks for sweets, so I typically whisk two egg yolks with 1 teaspoon of sugar and then label the bag with the number of yolks, amount of sugar I added, and the date (they will keep for about 3 months).

Always thaw your frozen eggs in the refrigerator, or under cold running water, and use them immediately. Make sure you only use them in dishes that will be thoroughly cooked (at least 160F/71C). If you would like more information on freezing and food safety, click here (also check out the link in my blog sidebar - in the "Useful Links" section).


Burnt Sugar Ice Cream
from Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

1 cup sugar
3 tbsp water
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
4 large egg yolks
pinch of salt
1-1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Stir the sugar and water together in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan. Place the pan over medium-low heat and cook until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil, without stirring, until the syrup turns a deep amber color (watch it carefully - too dark and it will be too bitter!)--from time to time, brush down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush and swirl the pan. (Depending on the size of your pan and the intensity of the heat, it could take about 8 minutes for the caramel to color properly.)

Stand back--things can get a little wild--lower the heat and add the milk and cream. Don't be concerned when everything bubbles and seethes and the caramel hardens; it will calm down and smooth out as you heat and stir. Continue to heat and stir and when the mixture is smooth, remove the pan from the heat.

In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the yolks and salt together until very well blended and just slightly thickened. Still whisking, drizzle in about one third of the hot liquid--this will temper, or warm, the eggs so they don't curdle. Whisking all the while, slowly pour in the remaining liquid. pour the custard back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring without stopping, until the custard slightly thickens and coats the back of a spoon; if you run your finger down the bowl of the spoon, the custard should not run into the track. the custard should reach at least 170F, but no more than 180F, on an instant read thermometer (I recommend this digital thermometer). Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the custard into a 2 quart glass measuring cup or clean heatproof bowl. Stir in the vanilla extract.

Refrigerate the custard until chilled before churning it into ice cream.

Scrape the chilled custard into the bowl of an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. (If you don't have an ice cream maker, learn how to make your own ice cream by hand here.) Pack the ice cream into a container and freeze it for at least 2 hours, until it is firm enough to scoop.

Yield: About 1-1/2 pints

Serving: If the ice cream is very firm, let it sit at room temperature for a few minutes or warm it in the microwave using 5 second spurts of heat.

Storage: packed tightly in a covered container, this will keep in the freezer about 2 weeks

23 comments:

  1. Goodness those applesauce bars AND ice cream look SO good. Gotta go get out my Dorie Baking book and look this one up! Great photos here.

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  2. This ice cream will be perfect with so many fall desserts. Like my spoon. Mmmmmmmm.

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  3. I have a growing list of ice cream flavors to make...this is definitely going to be added to that list!

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  4. Wow, it looks perfect and sounds fantastic! those bars look so good too. Can't wait for someone to pick them both.

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  5. That ice cream looks so good, and I'm impressed that you made it without an ice cream maker.

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  6. The burnt-sugar ice cream in those photographs = total food porn :0)

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  7. Ooo this ice cream sounds and looks so good, and the dulce de leche and toffee variations are making me want to make ice cream!! I read that you should add salt or sugar to your egg whites/yolks before freezing them but then I read somewhere else people don't always do that so I stopped. But now I think I'll start again.

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  8. the ice cream and the apple spice bars look deelicious! next month i will be making these - we would love them!

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  9. The few things that make the word burn sound good, lol! Looks just delicious!

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  10. now this, this is what i call food porn. i can almost feel the slightly melted ice cream-applesauce bar combination on my tongue. too bad i can't be satisfied with almost. :)

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  11. I'm drooling! This looks and sounds too good to be true.

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  12. You just saved me a ton of money with that egg tip. Thanks soo much. I'd love to share it on my blog with a link to you some time; would that be OK? I want that ice cream. I keep wishing someone would choose it for TWD.

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  13. Another yummy-looking recipe! This one has been on my to-make list for a while. Like you, I always freeze my extra egg whites. I sometimes forget to label how many are in there, though. When they're threatening to take over my freezer (as they have been lately, since I've been making lots of ice cream), I make angel food cake. =)

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  14. I can't wait to try this, it looks amazing!! I'm really good at accidentally cooking the eggs. :) I'm sure I'll be extra careful though if I know this will be the end product!

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  15. That ice cream looks really good! Nice egg tip!

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  16. Oooh yum, this looks SO good. I'm sure it was such a delicious complement to those applesauce bars too. I saw the David Liebovitz method too but I've been nervous to try it. Looks like you've had a couple successes with it so maybe I will try it before the summer's up. :)

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  17. This Ice Cream look absolutely delicious! Gloria

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  18. Holy mother that looks good! You hit two of my favorites at once.

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  19. Another egg tip -- I usually freeze my egg whites in a thin sheet and break it up into chunks. That way it's easy to get as much as I want, even if I only want about half a white to make an egg wash. Since I have a scale, I can then measure them out by weight -- one large egg white is 30 grams.

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  20. Thanks Barbara! I knew that an egg white was 30g but am always looking for ideas for what to do w/the leftover whites and yolks and an egg wash is a great idea!

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  21. In the recipe, do you mean to mix the egg yolks and *salt* instead of sugar as it currently reads? Or if so, how much sugar?

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  22. anonymous - thanks for pointing out my typo! Yes, it is meant to say salt, not sugar. I have edited the post to reflect this. thank you!

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  23. I'll bet the applesauce bars were wonderful with this rich and creamy ice cream.

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