Maple Bacon Pecan Crunch Ice Cream
Bacon might not seem like it goes with ice cream, but it works so well. You get a kick of salty flavor that balances with the sweet maple at the end of each bite, but it's not overwhelming. The maple pecan brittle adds the perfect hit of sweetness and extra crunch.
Servings: 3 cups
Equipment
- Ice cream maker/churner
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup half and half or substitute heavy cream
- 1 1/2 cups milk whole milk or 2%
- 1/3 cup maple syrup
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 5 egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract optional
- 4 strips cooked bacon chopped into small pieces
- 1/2 cup maple pecan brittle broken into small pieces
Instructions
- In a small pot, combine heavy cream, half and half, milk, maple syrup, and salt. Simmer for around 5 minutes over medium low heat. Meanwhile, add the egg yolks to a medium bowl.
- Remove pot from heat and add around 1 cup of the hot cream mixture to the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Then add the egg yolk mixture back to the pot with the rest of the cream. Return the pot to medium low heat and cook until the mixture thickens and can coat the back of a spoon (around 170ºF). Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla extract, if using.
- Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl and cool to room temperature. Then cover and transfer to the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
- Once chilled, churn in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. Around 5 minutes before it is done churning, add the chopped bacon and maple pecan brittle bits. Serve straight from the machine for soft serve or transfer to freezer for firmer ice cream. If frozen overnight, thaw the ice cream at room temperature for around 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
Notes
Feel free to skip the bacon and the maple brittle for a delicious and simple maple ice cream.
You can use 4 egg yolks instead of 5 if you prefer a slightly lighter ice cream.
I like to cook my bacon by baking it at 400ºF for 15-20 minutes. You can try drizzling some maple syrup over the bacon before baking for more maple flavor.
See above in this post for my homemade maple pecan brittle recipe.