Salted Caramel Toffee Chunk Ice Cream

Here I was thinking that this recipe would be a fully loaded last nod to summer (given the darker mornings and cooler evenings) when Cape Town surprised us with a whopper of a hot day yesterday. Temperatures soared as high as forty degrees in some places - definitely ice cream weather! We spent our public holiday wandering around the V&A Waterfront visiting our favourite haunts (the aquarium and food market are always a must) and strolling around the harbour past the buskers, interesting curio shops and overheating tourists. 

Not that ice cream is for hot weather only, no no - let's not kid ourselves here. I could enjoy a scoop of salted caramel ice cream, or any ice cream really, at any time of the year! 

I adapted a vanilla ice cream recipe from Tessa Kiros and used this as the base of the ice cream. It is an interesting one as she uses the whole egg, unlike many recipes that call for the egg yolks only. It yields an ice cream that is slightly less rich, but I like it as the mixture is easy to make and there is minimal cooking, reducing the chance of a curdled egg custard. (Been there, done that, got the ice cream fail t-shirt.) I then added a salted caramel sauce and some chewy caramel toffees for good measure.

Cook's notes - 

• Allow the caramel sauce to cool at room temperature rather than in the fridge to prevent it from getting too thick and difficult to mix into the egg custard mixture. 

• Any leftover caramel sauce can be stored in the fridge and served with waffles, apple pie and pancakes. 

• If you do not have an ice cream maker simply pour the mixture into a freezer proof container and pop into the freezer. Whisk every 1-2 hours until completely frozen. 

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SALTED CARAMEL TOFFEE CHUNK 

ICE CREAM

Makes approximately 1.25 litres

3 large eggs
120g castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup full cream milk
2 cups single cream 
120g cream caramel toffees, cut into small chunks 

For the caramel sauce:

150g castor sugar 
50ml water 
125ml pouring cream 
1/4 tsp salt flakes
40g butter, cubed

Step 1.) Whisk the eggs and castor sugar together on high speed for 2 minutes. Whisk in the vanilla extract. Set aside. 

Step 2.) Heat the milk in a large saucepan until it is just about to reach boiling point. Remove from heat. Whisk about 1/2 a cup of the hot milk into the egg mixture. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk. 

Step 3.) Cook the egg custard mixture over a very low heat for 3 minutes while whisking continuously. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream. Set aside to cool completely. 

Step 4.) Prepare the caramel by dissolving the castor sugar in the water over a low heat. Once the syrup begins to bubble you can stop stirring it. Use a pastry brush dipped in water to wash away any sugar crystals that collect around the sides. 

Step 5.) Allow the sugar syrup to boil gently for 12-15 minutes or until it turns a deep golden colour. Keep a close eye on the pot as sugar syrup can burn quickly! Remove from the heat and add the cream, salt flakes and butter. Whisk vigorously but carefully as the mixture will bubble up and steam. Continue to whisk until the sauce is smooth. Set aside to cool at room temperature. 

Step 6.) Once the egg custard mixture is cool whisk in half a cup of cooled caramel sauce. Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and churn as per the instructions. Towards the end of churning stir the cream caramel toffees into the ice cream. 

Step 7.) Store in the freezer. Serve with lashings of leftover caramel sauce.