Yesss!
Yesss!

After some trial and error, I finally nailed it. I got a little tired of making chocolate ice cream so I focused on something new and different. I love pecan pie so pecan pie ice cream is naturally the next thing to make. I experimented a bit while learning the do’s and don’ts of making boozy ice cream and finally came down with this recipe. It isn’t quite as boozy as I initially wanted but it turned out great.

Ingredients

Makes approximately 1 quart:

Base

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 6 egg yolks
  • ¾ cup of brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp molasses
  • 2 tbsp golden syrup
  • 2 tbsp of bourbon
  • pinch of salt


Pecans

  • 4 oz pecan pieces
  • 3 tbsp of bourbon


Pecan bar(for mix-in)

  • ½ cup flour
  • 2 tbsp graham cracker crumbs
  • ½ stick butter
  • ¼ tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • 1 egg
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • pinch of salt


Pecan bar filling

  • 2 tbsp of butter
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp of light corn syrup
  • ½ tbsp of heavy cream
  • 1 tbsp of bourbon

Directions

Baking up some mix-ins
Baking up some mix-ins

It goes with out saying, but you will need an ice cream maker for this.

Pecan bar(for mix-in)

  1. Combine flour, graham cracker crumbs, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a bowl
  2. Whisk sugar, egg, vanilla extract and softened butter together
  3. Combine wet and dry ingredients together and stir until it forms a batter
  4. Melt the butter for the filling and Combine all the ingredients for the filling until well mixed
  5. Pour your pecan bar batter into a baking pan
  6. Pour ¾ of your filling on top and use a knife to gently swirl in filling. Keep in mind that the filling is much heavier than the batter and will sink a bit when baking. This is ok.
  7. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes
  8. Refrigerate overnight then chop into pieces

Pecans

  1. Put pecan pieces and bourbon in container and let the pecans soak in the bourbon for at least 10 minutes
  2. Roast pecans in a skillet until they start to turn dark
  3. Pour remaining pie filling on pecans and toss for about 1 minute or until they start to caramelize. Do not burn.
  4. Refrigerate overnight

Base

  1. Combine ½ cup of milk and 1½ cup of cream in a pot and simmer on medium low heat.
  2. Combine the remaining milk and cream (½ and ½) in a bowl and chill.
  3. Melt the butter in a pot and let it start to brown
  4. Add bourbon to butter, stir for a minute or two then set aside
  5. In a separate bowl, whisk egg yolks, salt, brown sugar, molasses and golden syrup until completely combined and they start to ribbon
  6. Temper the egg and sugar mixture with the butter/bourbon mixture by adding a little at a time while simultaneously whisking.
  7. Temper the new mixture with the simmering milk and cream mixture by adding a little at a time while simultaneously whisking.
  8. After tempering at least half of the milk and cream mixture pour everything back into the pot and simmer on low heat. Stir until mixture thickens and it holds a line when you dip a spoon into it and run your finger across(do not overcook)
  9. Turn off your stove and add the remaining cold milk and cream mixture and stir.
  10. Refrigerate the custard for at least 6 hours (or overnight).
  11. Pour mixture into your ice cream machine and follow the instructions for your ice cream maker.
  12. After churning, fold in mix-ins and freeze

How did it turn out?

Off the hook. The base is buttery and sweet with hints of molasses. The pecans are like what you would find in super premium butter pecan ice creams and the chopped up pecan bars really reminded me of pecan pie. The only thing that might need improvement is that the bourbon flavor could come in a little stronger. Feel free to increase the amount of bourbon but be wary of the consequences of too much alcohol in your ice cream(it won’t freeze).

9.5 /10