Butter Pecan Ice Cream

     This is hopefully the last super indulgent custard ice cream recipe I'm going to post. After this, I'm going to try some healthier frozen yogurts, sorbets, and almond or coconut milk-based recipes. So for a last fattening hurrah, I chose a classic flavor: butter pecan. Okay so I kind of just lied twice. I actually made this about three months ago, and it was my mom who requested the flavor. Although it wouldn't have been my first choice, it turned out wonderfully. It's like a more exciting version of vanilla and definitely worth a try. I'm going to be really honest about this recipe. It has a lot of butter, a lot of eggs, and a lot of cream, but keep in mind that the quantity of ice cream this recipe makes is almost double that of my previous ice cream recipes. I think it's close to a half gallon.

INGREDIENTS:
6 pasteurized egg yolks
3/4 stick of butter
1 cup brown sugar
pinch of salt
2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
1 cup roughly chopped pecans
extra  melted butter and salt for the pecans

DIRECTIONS:
1. In a medium pot over medium heat, melt the butter and brown it, but be careful not to burn it. Then stir in the brown sugar and salt until it dissolves and becomes bubbly. This is basically how you cook caramel. Be sure to stir it constantly, so it doesn't stick.

2. Lower the heat a bit and slowly stir in the milk. You want it to incorporate but don't let it boil at this point.
3. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolks. Then, take 1 ladle full of the milk and sugar mixture and whisk it into the bowl with the eggs. The point of this is to avoid cooking the eggs. In my other ice cream recipes, I just put the eggs right in the pot, which would probably work here too, but tempering them is less risky.
4. Now pour the egg bowl back into the pot with the rest of the milk mixture and stir over low heat for 5-6 minutes. It should gradually thicken.

5. Put the cream into a medium bowl, hold a sieve over it, and strain the cooked custard into the bowl of cream. Then whisk it until it's incorporated. Chill this in the fridge for 2 hours.
6. While the ice cream is chilling, toast your pecans. Heat the oven to 350, spread the pecans out on a cookie sheet, brush them with about a tablespoon of melted butter, and lightly sprinkle them with salt. Bake for 7 minutes, not a second longer, or they'll burn. After they cool, you can leave them that size or chop them smaller if you want.

7. After 2 hours in the fridge, run the ice cream through your ice cream maker according to the directions. For mine, I let it stir the custard for 15 minutes, then add the pecans and let it stir for another 15 minutes. Then transfer it to a sealed container and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.

I have found that 4 hours is the ideal time to serve all homemade ice cream. It's normal for it to be way too runny right after you take it out of the machine, so don't be worried about that. It'll last just as long in your freezer as store-bought ice cream, but for some reason, it gets much more solid. So if you're going to serve it a few days later, let it sit out on the counter for 20 minutes before attempting to scoop it. Trust me, ice cream scoop slippage injuries are not pleasant.

Now doesn't that look refreshing?

     On a different note, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who has tried any of these recipes, or even just taken five minutes out of their days to read through them. I have now officially been posting every day for one month, and about an hour ago, I saw that I had reached 500 page views. Maybe that's not a lot in food blog world, but it has already exceeded my wildest expectations. While I do put a lot of work into my cooking, it really is fun for me. Plus, it's all real, practical food I feed my family every day. So I figure as long as I have to do it anyway, why not share it? I sincerely appreciate every time I hear from one of you who has tried any of my food. I'm always looking for suggestions, and I will take requests if you have any. So thanks again for your support this month. Hopefully, the next one will only get better!