Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Butter Pecan Ice Cream

We have been talking for months about getting an ice cream maker so we could control what goes into our ice cream. Since ice cream is by far my favorite dessert, it seems to be what we decide to have for dessert night almost every week. So a few weeks ago, we finally decided to get one. It was so exciting to try our first recipe of chocolate peanut butter and we waited with anticipation as the ice cream froze, only to be disappointed by both the taste and texture of our first creation. It was so bad that it was inedible, so we decided to try again the next weekend. This time, with just a basic vanilla. It was better, but still not that great. I began to think that maybe homemade ice cream was not all it was cracked up to be. But, I was determined to find a recipe that not only tasted good, but had a good ice cream texture when it was frozen. Since butter pecan is one of my favorite flavors I did a little hunting around on the Internet and found this recipe for Ben and Jerry's butter pecan ice cream. We decided to give it a try and it was amazing! Creamy and sweet with just a hint of salty and oh so buttery. Yum! So, here is the recipe with just a couple of slight adjustments from the original:

1/2 c butter
1 heaping cup pecans
1/2 t. sea salt
2 large eggs
3/4 c sucanat
2 cups heavy cream
1 c milk

Melt butter in a heavy skillet over low heat. Add pecans and salt and saute, stirring constantly until they begin to turn brown. Remove pecans with a slotted spoon and place on a plate to cool. Pour butter into a separate bowl and allow to cool as well.
In a mixing bowl, whisk eggs until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in sugar a little at a time until fully incorporated. Add butter and mix very well. Add milk and cream and beat just until fully mixed together. (please note that there really are only two eggs in the picture. We just got lucky with a double yoke.)
Transfer mixture to an ice cream maker and follow manufacturer instructions. About 2 minutes before the ice cream is done, pour in those delicious pecans. When they are well mixed in, remove ice cream to container and freeze.
When the ice cream is firm, serve it up and enjoy!

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