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Candied Bacon and Bourbon Ice Cream

Source of Recipe

From "The Perfect Scoop" by David Lebovitz


Recipe Introduction

"I had my first taste of maple-smoked bourbon in Paris, of all places. That's not as surprising as it might seem: the French are the number-one consumers of whiskey in the world. What you might not expect, however, is that there's a world-class Texas barbecue joint in Paris called The Beast. Owner and pit-master Thomas Abramowicz is an exceptionally genial Frenchman who learned his craft in Texas, then spent a couple of years tracking down a smoker before opening his place. In addition to delicious barbecue, The Beast features a world-class collection of bourbons. Thomas once offered me a shot of maple-smoked bourbon, and I was hooked. This ice cream may sound as curious as Texas barbecue in Paris, but once you taste it, I think you'll agree that it combines the best of two worlds: bits of sweet-smoky bacon along with spoonfuls of bourbon-spiked custard."

List of Ingredients

Ice Cream:
â—¦ 3 tablespoons butter, salted or unsalted, cubed
â—¦ ¾ cup packed light brown sugar or maple sugar
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
â—¦ 1 â…” cups heavy cream
â—¦ 1 ¼ cups whole milk
â—¦ 6 large egg yolks
â—¦ ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
â—¦ Pinch of ground cinnamon
â—¦ 3 tablespoons bourbon

Candied Bacon:
â—¦ 12 strips (6 ounces) smoked bacon
â—¦ â…“ cup packed light brown sugar
â—¦ 1 tablespoon bourbon
â—¦ ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
â—¦ Freshly ground black pepper


Recipe

To make the ice cream, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in the brown sugar and salt. Let the mixture come to a low boil and cook for 1 ½ minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from the heat and add â…” cup of the cream, stirring until smooth. Scrape the mixture into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer over the top.

In the same saucepan, warm the remaining 1 cup cream and the milk. In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm cream and milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the mixture into the saucepan. Stir the mixture constantly with a heatproof spatula over medium heat, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the butter-cream mixture. Stir over an ice bath until cool. Add the vanilla and cinnamon, then chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.

To make the candied bacon, preheat the oven to 325° F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set a wire cooling rack on top. In a small bowl, toss the bacon with the brown sugar, bourbon, cayenne, and several generous turns of black pepper. Line up the bacon strips on the wire rack (they can be touching, to fit them all on) and place in the oven.

Bake the bacon for 12 minutes. Using tongs, turn the bacon strips over and bake for another 6 minutes. Turn them again and continue to bake until the strips are a dark mahogany color but are not burnt, about 6 minutes more. Depending on the thickness of your bacon, this may take less or more time, so watch carefully near the end of the recommended baking time. Remove the bacon from the oven, wait 30 seconds, then use the tongs to unstick the strips from the wire rack. Let the bacon cool completely on the wire rack, turning the strips frequently so they don't stick.

Add the 3 tablespoons bourbon to the chilled ice cream custard, then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. While it's churning, chop the cooled bacon into pea-size pieces. When the ice cream has finished churning, fold in the pieces of candied bacon.

Makes about 1 ¼ quarts