Jeni's Salty Caramel egg-less ice cream with carmelized peaches

I am back! It hasn't been easy shifting house with a little one year old boy/monkey on the loose, climbing into boxes, toppling piles of laundry, and giving me frequent heart attacks and then smiling up at me angelically, with four, four! brand new teeth in the last week. But, we survived! I still have a lot of unpacking to do, and I am enjoying taking a break from cooking while I (very slowly) set up my brand new kitchen which I will post pics of soon! Because I am so excited about it! and the new place which is a short walk away from a Farmers Market (yay!!), and a little park for the kiddo to go run around, chase birds and expend all his limitless toddler energy.


But in the mean time I have been digging up some stuff that I made earlier which I somehow didn't get to post, all lined up for you all to enjoy. Like this truly wonderful sultry! yes, that is the only way to describe this sophisticated ice cream that I am sure will blow your mind, which I made last summer and am posting now, just as we eagerly await a new one, with barbecues! and picnics! and trips to the beach! to think of at least to get my mind of the crazy depressing rains we have been having recently.



Yes for a brief two weeks last summer, I owned an ice-cream maker. Not just any ice cream maker but the  Cuisinart Flavor Duo! ( If you don't have one, you can still make ice cream using this method) Yes it was awesome, but it was way larger than it had looked online and when it finally arrived my heart sank because it took up so much counter space. I immediately knew that I had made a mistake but could not resist using it, not once but twice, to make the most wonderful pistachio ice cream from Jeni Britton ( the ice cream Goddess behind Jeni's Splendid Ice cream), and then this salty sweet treat inspired by Jeni's most popular flavor! They also sandwich this ice cream in between giant macarons and it is - so freakingly awesome! I tried to replicate it here with pretty great success :)

Anyways the hulking ice cream machine sat on my crowded little apartment kitchen counter, intimidating the puny little stick blender and toaster and other counter dwellers, which I had to keep moving around to make room, to you know, chop and dice and well cook, real food. Not unnecessary ( but oh so delicious) sweet creamy heavenliness. In short, the machine took up too much space on my counter and the ice cream took too much space on my hips. So off the hulk went, back to the store, thanks to their awesome return policy -a boon for those afflicted with the deadly shoppers remorse syndrome like me :(


I am now back to buying haagen daz for the occasionally guilty icy treat and trying to ignore the fact that Jeni is coming out with a cook book Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home!


Yesterday the sweet and awesome Happy cook posted a picture of her gorgeous Salty Caramel sauce on Facebook, and I immediately remembered that I hadn't posted this recipe, mainly because I was unhappy with the pictures. It is tricky shooting ice cream because it keeps melting and then you just have to take a lick and then it melts some more and before you realize it, it is all gone :(  But this one tasted so good, and its unlikely that I will have the opportunity to make it again soon, so here it is- ugly, totally unjust picture and all.


Salty Caramel Ice-cream.
Recipe source: Base ice cream recipe from here. Salty caramel recipe is my own, inspired by the popular flavor at Jeni's.


Ingredients

• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 1/2 ounces *cream cheese, softened (3 tablespoons)
• 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon Fleur de sel ( sea salt like Maldon. If you only have regular table salt remember it can be quite harsh tasting so use just a pinch) 

Method

• In a cup, mix 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. In another large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth and keep aside
• Heat the sugar in a dry heavy skillet or sauce pan ( non stick is ok) over medium heat, stirring with a fork/wooden spoon to heat sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and cook, swirling skillet occasionally so sugar melts evenly, until it is a dark amber liquid. Make sure it just starts to splutter at the edges of the saucepan, but that it doesn't burn for best toasty flavour. You have to watch it like a hawk because once melted, the sugar can burn fast, especially in that one second that you turn your back! If you end up burning it, you will know by a bitter sort of smell and smoke, discard and start again, best to waste a little sugar than ruin a whole batch of ice cream!
• Add the remaining milk with the heavy cream, and the corn syrup. Don't worry if you hear a crackling sound and the sugar hardens, keep stirring it until it melts
• Bring the milk mixture to a boil and cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Turn off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened, about 1 minute.
• Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Whisk in the vanilla extract and salt. Set the bowl in another bowl filled  with ice water and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 20 minutes. Jeni suggests keeping the base in the fridge overnight to develop the flavours, but you don't have to.
• Strain the ice cream base into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions.

I used the Cuisinart ICE-40 Flavor Duo Ice Cream Maker and after about 20-30 mins the ice cream was creamy and had a soft serve consistency-good enough to eat right away.
However, to make it firmer:
Pack the ice cream into a plastic container (I used a zip lock freezer safe container)
Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream and close with an airtight lid. Put the container in a plastic bag and freeze the pistachio ice cream until firm, about 4 hours or overnight.
It might be really hard after, so leave for about 5 mins before serving so that it become a tad bit softer and easier to scoop.


Notes: According to Jeni, the cream cheese adds "scoopability". You might be ( like I was) tempted to skip it since there isn't a lot of it used. Instead I recommend you double or even triple the batch to use up the left over cream and cream cheese because according to the FDA and David Lebovitz my other ice cream guru- ice cream stays in the freezer well for 2-4 months ( of course not in my house) Plus in case these type of egg-less ice creams get a little gritty in the freezer, you can apparently melt them down and re-churn them. Why not use the basic ice-cream base and try other flavors? like my pistachio ice cream that I now suddenly SO want to make adding some rose water and a drizzle of honey :( 


Here is a link to how to make ice cream without an ice cream maker


For Caramelized Peaches:
Slice the peaches
Place about 3 slices at a time in ramekins and sprinkle 1/2 a tsp of butter as well as some brown sugar or even regular sugar ( I used about 1 tbsp for 3 slices)
Bake in the oven set at 400 F for about 15-20 mins until the peaches are tender and juices start to pool.
You can also use caramelized bananas or pears too, (and these are great on their own or with custard too)


Put a scoop of ice-cream on top of the fruit and enjoy! 
For an even more decadent treat, top this with spoonfuls of this decadent Salty Caramel sauce that my dear friend Finla the Happy Cook posted today as well.


Verdict: Did it taste as good as the salty caramel at Jeni's? You bet! I love this egg-less ice-cream base which lets the flavor of the ice cream really stand out. The basic recipe can be tweaked in so many ways to come up with your own flavors! I loved the salty caramel combo because I am a major caramel girl. It went awesomely well with the super simple caramelized peaches, warm from the oven. The pairing of cold and warm, sweet and salty was simply addictive, tho it would taste just as great on its own, with chocolate or caramel sauce, nuts, to fill cakes, cookies, meringues....you get the idea :) 


Sending a scoop over to the Let's Relish Ice-Creams Event
The Kid's delight event hosted over at seduce your tastebuds
As well as the Serve it Chilled Event