Creamy Caramel Pear Ice Cream Recipes

CREAMY CARAMEL-PEAR ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Cook pears, 2 tablespoons white sugar, lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt, and vanilla extract in a saucepan over medium heat until pears are soft, 6 to 7 minutes. Remove from heat; cool pear mixture for 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender. Puree pear mixture and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl.
• Whisk egg yolks and 1 cup white sugar in a bowl. Heat 2 1/2 cups cream and milk in a large saucepan over medium-low heat just until bubbles appear at the edge; do not boil. Remove cream and milk from heat and whisk egg yolk mixture into cream and milk by small amounts until all egg yolk mixture is incorporated. Return to medium heat, whisking constantly, until custard is thickened, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and chill in refrigerator for 10 minutes. Stir strained pear mixture into custard. Transfer to a bowl, cover, and chill in refrigerator overnight.
• Combine corn syrup, brown sugar, unsalted butter, and 1/8 teaspoon sea salt in a heavy saucepan. Place over medium-low heat and stir until smooth; bring to a low boil. Stirring constantly, cook caramel until thickened and light golden brown, about 3 minutes; remove from heat, and let caramel cool for 5 minutes. Whisk 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons cream into caramel. Transfer caramel to a bowl, cover, and chill overnight.
• Pour custard into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. When ice cream is softly frozen, lightly mix about 1 cup caramel into ice cream to make caramel swirls. Transfer ice cream to a bowl, cover, and freeze overnight.

BLUE CHEESE-PEAR ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a saucepan, combine the pears, wine, nectar, 2 tablespoons of sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the pears are tender and the liquid is reduced by 1/2. Puree in a food processor and transfer to a bowl to cool. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the cream to a gentle boil over medium heat. Remove from the heat.
• Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Whisk 1/2 cup of the hot cream into the egg yolks. Whisking, gradually add the egg mixture to the hot cream. Return to medium-low heat and cook, whisking, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean bowl. Add the blue cheese and salt, and whisk until fairly smooth. Cover with plastic wrap, pressing down against the surface to keep a skin from forming. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 2 hours.
• Whisk together the pear and cheese mixture and pour into the bowl of an ice cream machine. Freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until ready to serve.
• To serve, scoop the ice cream into bowls, 2 scoops per person. Drizzle with honey and sprinkle with chopped nuts. Place 2 phyllo cookies in the ice cream and serve.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet and set aside.
• Place the phyllo on a work surface and cover with a damp kitchen towel. With a pastry brush, paint the top sheet with melted butter, and lightly sprinkle with nuts and sugar. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Fold the phyllo stack in 1/2 over itself. Cut the phyllo twice lengthwise and twice across to make rectangles.
• Bake until golden brown and just crisp, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool on the pan until ready to serve.

BANANA-CARAMEL ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Vigorously whisk together egg yolks and 2/3 cup sugar in a medium bowl until pale yellow and slightly fluffy, about 2 minutes. Meanwhile, bring milk and 2/3 cup cream to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from heat, and gradually whisk into egg mixture. Pour mixture into pan, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium, and cook until thick enough to coat the spatula, about 1 minute (do not let boil). Pour custard into a bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water, and let cool, stirring occasionally. Puree bananas with half the custard in a blender until smooth, and transfer to bowl with remaining custard. Stir in vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 cup cream until combined, and pour through a fine sieve into another bowl. Refrigerate until cold, at least 2 hours but preferably overnight.
• Place water, corn syrup, and remaining sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, swirling pan occasionally (do not stir). Raise heat to high, and continue to cook in same manner until mixture turns deep amber, about 9 minutes more. Remove from heat, and slowly pour in remaining cream. Add remaining salt, and simmer caramel 1 minute. Place pan in a bowl of ice water, and let cool until warm but not hot. Remove from ice bath, and whisk in butter, a few pieces at a time, until fully incorporated.
• Place a 5-by-10-inch loaf pan (9 cups) in freezer at least 10 minutes. Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Spread one-third of ice cream in pan, and drizzle with one-third of caramel (it should be fluid but just barely warm; reheat slightly if necessary). Swirl caramel into ice cream with a wooden skewer. Repeat 2 more times until all the ice cream and caramel have been used. Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours and up to 1 day.

CREAMY BAKED PEARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon butter. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar into buttered dish.
• Rub remaining 1 tablespoon butter over pear halves; arrange pears cut sides down in prepared baking dish and sprinkle with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Pour cream over pears and continue baking until tender, about 20 minutes more.