Molly Moon's Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Ice cream has never been one of my favorite desserts. Don't get me wrong; I've always liked it, but it's never been my first choice in sweets. 

However, Molly Moons makes the BEST ice cream and their ice cream is most definitely at the top of the desserts I love. There is a definite difference between their ice cream and regular ice cream (at least I think so). 

I just recently got Molly Moon's cookbook, and I immediately wanted to make their salted caramel ice cream. 

This ice cream is smooth and bursting with the salt and the caramel flavors. The only thing that's missing is their shop setting! 

They have so many amazing flavors in their shop that are also in their cookbook and I cannot WAIT to try all of them!

To make this particular flavor, you first have to gather your ingredients. You want them to be ready to go because only you get started you don't want to worry about having to measure anything.

Also, have your tools ready. All you need is a shallow bowl, wooden spoon, and a heavy bottomed saucepan (obviously not pictured).

You first have to make your caramel with just a little bit of lemon juice and sugar. The darker the caramel, the stronger caramel flavor you will have and the more balanced the salt will be. Be careful not to burn it, though!

Once you've made your dark amber caramel, slowly and carefully whisk in the butter followed by the heavy cream and whole milk (I usually substitute whole milk for whatever I have, but you really want to use whole for this recipe; It's definitely worth it). Then, pour into a shallow bowl and chill thoroughly. After the mixture has chilled, you want to whisk in your salt.

Once you've whisked in your salt, transfer your liquid caramel to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Then, place in an airtight glass or plastic container and freeze for 24 hours. This ice cream won't freeze as hard as other ice creams, which is so nice because it's a pain to have to wait for ice cream to thaw.

After you've waited for it to freeze thoroughly, take it out and enjoy!

The humidity was pretty terrible the day I photographed this, so just ignore that puddle in the bottom of the bowl. It's still delicious of course, but you know it's too hot when ice cream starts to immediately melt once it gets outside.

And by the way, I served this with chocolate cheesecake mini pies. More on those later! 

Molly Moon's Salted Caramel Ice Cream

makes 1-1 1/2 quarts

from Molly Moon's Homemade Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1/8 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

3 cups heavy cream

1 cup whole milk

1 tablespoon kosher salt

Directions:

Add the lemon juice, followed by 1/4 cup of the sugar, to a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Stirring constantly, gradually add the remaining sugar 1/4 cup at a time. Wait until each batch of sugar has completely dissolved before adding more to the pot. After all of the sugar has been added and has dissolved, continue to cook until the sugar caramelizes to a dark golden brown, 4-6 minutes. The darker the caramel, the richer the flavor will be and the more balanced the flavors will be with the salt. The caramel should be dark when you add the butter; however, you don't want the sugar to burn! Once the sugar has caramelized, carefully whisk in the butter. After the butter has melted, whisk in the heavy cream and milk. Be careful, because the caramel will steam and it will be very hot. Remove the pan from heat, strain through a fine mesh sieve into a shallow bowl, and place in the refrigerator to chill thoroughly, 1-2 hours. 

Once the mixture is completely chilled, whisk in the salt and then pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Then, transfer to a glass or plastic freezer container, cover tightly, and freeze for 24 hours, until firm (it will not freeze too hard).