…this weekend was the local village show and even though I have great fun taking part, it still gets me every time quite how aggressively competitive the natives are. One imagines a sea of grey-haired dears hand-beating scones and gently offering them up for the judging but it’s more like an apron-wearing army of baking bad-ass ninja warriors intent on proving that they’re better at baking than me… and some of these women are my friends! It was a mixed bag this year for me… I won the ‘small bread loaf’ category but came third in the ‘Party Cake’ category when my chocolate cherry cake, which was initially placed first, was marked down because one of the judges thought it was burnt… which upon cutting and sharing out, turned out not to be the case… my scones and victoria sponge didn’t even get a look-in this year. I really should know better and not put myself through this misery but something tells me I won’t heed my own advice and the scone wars will continue anew next year…
salted caramel custard ice cream – a random recipe
as many of you will know, this month I’m sharing random recipes with my blog-sister Kavey from Kavey Eats who hosts her bloggers challenge Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream, so it’s all about random ice cream recipes although you are free to submit any ice or frozen based recipe such as frozen yoghurt or home-made ice lollies… it is funny though how we’ve had such an incredible run of hot weather this summer and then the moment we hit August we’ve kind of slipped into an autumnal dip so ice cream has not really been on anyones radar. Saying that, i’m more than happy to scoff the stuff all year round, so do join in if you can, we’d love to have you on board…
… I found my recipe by randomly opening the brilliant Desert Island Dishes which is a book introduced by the inimitable Jay Rayner and contains recipes from the world’s top chefs celebrating 130 years of the incredible Maldon sea salt… and there on page 166 is a recipe for salted caramel ice cream… I really cheated here as I used the new Rodda’s clotted cream custard instead of making my own but I did make my own caramel sauce with some gorgeous Rodda’s clotted cream so I feel slightly vindicated, anyway, it was the random recipe which inspired me…
you don’t need an ice-cream maker for this, you can simply freeze the vanilla custard but I used my basic ice cream maker and it does of course speed things up… as long as you remember to put it into the freezer 24 hours before you need it.
for the custard
200ml egg yolks – roughly six eggs
200g caster sugar
500ml double cream
500ml milk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
… or you can cheat and use two pots of ready-made, good quality custard
for the salted clotted cream caramel sauce
200g sugar
80g salted butter
100g clotted cream
60ml double cream
2 tsp sea salt flakes
start with the caramel sauce by gently heating the sugar in a large pan (choose a pan larger than you would imagine you need) and stir it constantly until it melts completely and begins to turn a caramel colour
next add the butter and the clotted cream and stir – be careful at this point as the butter will make the sugar bubble up the pan… stir until the butter and cream have melted then slowly pour in the double cream and stir all the time
allow the caramel to come to a boil for one minute or so and then remove from the heat and stir in the salt – set aside to cool
to make the custard, beat the egg yolks with the sugar in a large bowl, until there are no lumps – then set aside
boil the cream, milk and vanilla, then pour half the hot mixture over the the sugary egg yolks and whisk quickly to incorporate, then pour the whole lot into the remaining hot milk and cream and gently heat, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon until the mixture thickens… if you do this gently and stir constantly it shouldn’t split – once nice and thick, take it off the heat and pour it into your ice cream maker (if using) or into a tuppaware container and into the freezer…
once the ice cream begins to harden, pour in the runny (but cooled) caramel sauce and stir it in, then place it back in the freezer to fully set
the left-over caramel sauce will keep for two weeks in a sterilised jar in the fridge.
don’t forget you have until the 28th of the month to enter random recipes bloggers scream for ice cream
eat and of course, enjoy!
Kavey says
Ha you've made me salivate sitting here in the open plan office, had to stop myself making gibbering noises!
Choclette says
Oh clotted cream caramel sauce – I am swooning at the very thought. If only I wasn't on a fast day, I'd be dashing out to buy some clotted cream right now – (the cream I bought for the scones is long gone)! Lovely pics. I've selected my recipe, just looking for the right time to make it.
Choclette says
Oh and well done and commiserations both on the village show awards. BUT you must carry on – the wars would be very tame without you.
Galina Varese says
What a divine combination of flavours! Pure delight.
Kate Glutenfreealchemist says
I have the funniest visions of scone and cake wars with completely batty villagers running through my head! This ice cream sounds divine though and that caramel sauce is to die for! I really wanted to do the random ice cream challenge, but I am fast running out of time………
The Kitchenmaid says
You should have made my scone recipe – if all else failed you could have lobbed them at the WI ladies! This looks insanely good – and now I know what to do with the coffee custard I have sitting in the fridge, I can freeze it!
Magnolia Verandah says
Those natives can be dangerous sometimes!! But at least you had some small wins. This ice cream sounds lovely even though we are in the depths of winter I could still be tempted by this one. And as my ice cream machine went “walkabout” many years ago I am drawn to recipes that don't require the equipment. Lovely
Becs @ Lay the table says
Oh Dom, sounds like you are as competitive as me, which is why I stopped doing cupcake comps up here because I am not good at losing! And after you did all that scone research as well. Never mind, we are you loyal followers and I love all your recipes (you're a winner in my eyes!) PS You had me at salted caramel, drool
Karen S Booth says
Salted and caramel in the same sentence is like magic to my ears Dom and this is a fabulous looking bowl of deliciousness! My entry will be made this week…..
Maite SweetFood says
Delicious ice-cream!!!! =)
Sally Sellwood says
This looks utterly divine, Dom.
Shaheen says
I am licking the screen, well I might as well be – yoru Salted Caramel Custard Ice-cream sounds really really appealing.
magical says
ooh this looks so good. Thanks for sharing x
Camilla Hawkins says
Oh that looks totally lush Dom and yes you're right about the weather! What happened to summer?
Pam says
Well this is a perfect ice cream. Love that custard. It throws me every time I see “Lincolnshire” here, the next town from us is Lincolnshire, but you're definitely not nearby.
lawstudentscookbook says
Salted caramel is wonderful. This looks delicious!