With all this warm, sunny weather, there’s only one thing on my mind… home-made ice cream! I got my trusty Cuisineart machine out of the loft this week and made us some pecan toffee ice cream.
First off, I made the toffee. This step takes no more than 10 minutes and the toffee can be made days in advance, if needed, just store it in an airtight container until needed.
You can make the toffee with other types of nuts if you prefer; Brazils, macadamias, almonds (use almond extract instead of vanilla paste/extract in the ice cream recipe), peanuts, walnuts… or a mixture of nuts.
Second, I made a basic vanilla ice cream mixture. Once churned, I stirred in the bashed up pecan toffee – don’t forget to set aside a few shards for decoration.
If you’re anything like me, you like to add even more toppings to your ice cream – chocolate, butterscotch, maple or caramel syrups are all good… chocolate chips or chunks are even better!
Click here or on the image below to save my recipe to Pinterest
Pecan toffee ice cream
Ingredients
For the pecan toffee
- 100 g pecan halves
- 50 g butter
- 150 g granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp water
For the ice cream
- 180 ml/6 fl oz/¾ cup full fat milk
- 140 g/5oz/⅔ cup granulated sugar
- 300 ml/10½ fl oz/1½ cups double cream
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract, to taste
Instructions
For the pecan toffee
- Grease & line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Lay out the pecan halves on the prepared sheet. Put the sheet of pecans next to, or actually on, the stove-top
- In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan (a cast iron skillet would be ideal) over a medium heat, add the butter sugar and water. Stir to until the butter is melted and the sugar has dissolved
- Turn the heat up to high and allow the mixture to bubble and begin to evaporate. Do not stir during this stage
- Keep a close eye and nose on the bubbling mixture, you're looking for the colour to start turning brown to begin smelling like caramel. It can get to this stage and suddenly go over in an instant and begin to burn. Just as you think the mixture is at this point, pour it carefully over the pecans. Be very careful, the mixture is exceedingly hot and sticky
- Allow to cool completely
- Break up into fairly large shards. Set aside 6 of these shards and put the rest of the pecan toffee into a large mixing bowl
- Using a large pestle (or the end of a rolling pin, like I did) grind the toffee into smaller pieces - not quite a powder, you want small chunks
- Set aside while you make the ice cream
For the ice cream
- In a large saucepan over a very low heat add the milk and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside and allow to cool completely
- Stir in the cream and the vanilla paste/extract
- Pour the mixture into your ice cream machine and churn following the manufacturer's instructions
- A couple of minutes before the end of the churning process, with the machine still turning, spoon in the ground pecan toffee
- When the toffee has been combined well into the ice cream, turn the mixture out into a 1-litre lidded tub and put into the freezer to 'ripen' for at least a couple of hours
To serve: Scoop portions out into bowls or coupes and garnish with the reserved shards