Butterbeer Ice Cream

Today is September 1st, meaning that its time for the witches and wizards of Hogwarts to board the Hogwarts Express and go off to school! And because it’s 2017, this will be the first time Harry, Ron, and Hermione will be sending their kids off as well. Yes, it’s finally Nineteen Years Later! 17 year old me said that I was going to be at Kings Cross station to wish their kids off, but alas, I am here writing this post instead.

So, to celebrate, I made Butterbeer (which is really Salted Butterscotch) ice cream! This is actually perfect for today’s weather, since this record breaking heat wave is insane. Stay hydrated and stay cool with a scoop of this ice cream! I used Bi-Rite’s Salted Caramel recipe as my base, but made butterscotch sauce instead of caramel. Simply Recipes’ butterscotch was perfect, especially since I burned the first batch. I’ve copied both of these recipes down below!

SALTED BUTTERSCOTCH A.K.A. BUTTERBEER ICE CREAM

INGREDIENTS

¾ cup heavy whipping cream
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup of tightly packed dark brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
½ + 1 teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup granulated sugar
¾ cup 1% or 2% milk (I used whole instead though!)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
5 large egg yolks

BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE

In a heavy bottom stainless steel saucepan (about 2 quarts), melt butter over low to medium heat. Just before the butter is melted, add the dark brown sugar at once and stir with wooden spoon until sugar is uniformly wet.
Stir infrequently until mixture goes from looking grainy to molten lava. Make sure to get the corners of the saucepan and watch closely. This will happen in about 3 to 5 minutes.
Right before adding the cream, the caramelizing sugar will begin to look and feel more like liquid and less like thick, wet sand.
Now, add the cream at once and replace spoon with a whisk. Lower the heat a little and whisk cream into mixture. When the liquid is uniform, turn heat back to medium and whisk every few minutes, up to 10 minutes.
After the liquid has been boiling for 10 minutes, turn heat off and let it rest for a minute or two before transferring into a heatproof container and then cool to room temperature.
Once the butterscotch is room temperature, take a small taste. Then whisk in half of the salt and half of the vanilla extract. Taste again to see if it is to your liking. Add more salt and vanilla extract until it reaches your satisfaction. Excess butterscotch can be stored for up to one month in the refrigerator.

ICE CREAM

With the smooth, cooled down butterscotch, stir in the milk along with the 1 teaspoon of salt and put the pan over medium-high heat. When the mixture approaches a bare simmer, reduce the heat to medium.
In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the yolks just to break them up, then whisk in the ¼ cup of granulated sugar. Set aside.
Carefully scoop out about ½ cup of the hot cream mixture and, whisking the eggs constantly, add the cream to the bowl with the egg yolks. Repeat, adding another ½ cup of the hot cream to the bowl with the yolks. Using a heatproof rubber spatula, stir the cream in te saucepan as you slowly pour the egg-and-cream mixture from the bowl into the pan.
Cook the mixture carefully over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened, coats the back of a spatula, and holds a clear path when you run your finger across the spatula, 1 to 2 minutes longer.
Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container. Set the container into an ice-water bath, wash your spatula, and use it to stir the base occasionally until it is cool. Remove the container from the ice-water bath, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the base for at least 2 hours or overnight.
When the base is completely chilled, freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. While the ice cream is churning, put the container you’ll use to stir the base occasionally until it is cool. Remove the container from the ice-water bath, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the base for at least 2 hours or overnight.