Salted Butter Caramel Ice Cream

Yield:  about 1 quart

Recipe from:  Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 cup heavy cream, warmed

4 Tbsp salted butter*, at room temperature

1/2 tsp. sea salt

2 cups whole milk, dividied

5 large egg yolks

1 tsp. vanilla extract.

*If using unsalted butter, increase the sea salt to 3/4 tsp

Directions:

Add the sugar to a medium saucepan in an even layer.  Heat over medium until the sugar at the edges of the pan begins to melt.  Use a heatproof spatula to stir the melted sugar from the bottom and the edges to the center, until all the sugar is dissolved.  Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the caramel reaches an amber color (test a drop on a white plate if needed).  Once the caramel reaches the correct color, immediately remove from the heat--caramel can go from perfect to burnt in seconds!

Add a bit of the warmed cream in a slow drizzle down the inside edge of the pan, whisking to incorporate before adding more, to prevent seizing.  Once all the cream has been added, whisk in the butter.  If the mixture has seized, return the pan to the burner over low heat and stir gently, breaking up lumps, until the mixture has returned to a liquid state.  Whisk in the salt and 1 cup of the milk.

Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup and whisk to blend.  Slowly pour a bit of the warm caramel mixture into the bowl with the eggs, whisking constantly to prevent the eggs from curdling.  Continue to add slowly until most of the caramel has been mixed in.  Return the custard to the saucepan over medium-high heat.  Continue to cook, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan to prevent the mixture from burning, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon (about 170-175 degrees F).  

Pour the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl or storage container.  Stir in remaining 1 cup of milk and the vanilla.  Let cool slightly (set bowl on an ice bath, stirring occasionally, to speed this process), then cover and refrigerate until completely chilled.  Freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions--I churned my ice cream for about 20 minutes before transferring to a freezer-safe container to finish freezing.