English Toffee Ice Cream

Joey loves the English Toffee Ice Cream he gets from our favorite ice cream shop Fosselman's. This weekend we decided to embark on a hands on project of an Ice Cream Pie for 4th of July dessert. As we have done twice before, we make all the ingredients homemade for our ice cream pies which makes them pretty time consuming. This time was no exception and we decided to go all out and make a double layer pie with two different ice creams. We chose English Toffee Ice Cream--which proved to be a really hard flavor to find a recipe for; and chocolate chip which tastes a little too vanilla-y but we aren't sure why. Fosselman's, we want to recreate your chocolate chip too! We'll just have to get a job there...

Anyway, after much searching we found a recipe for Butter Toffee Ice Cream. I guess technically this would be more of a butterscotch but it was the closest we could come. Thinking about it anyway, I looked up toffee recipes and they called for basically cooking brown sugar, so adding brown sugar to our custard I surmised would help make that toffee like background to the ice cream.

After lots of waiting and the churning I found this ice cream to be absolutely delightful. I love the caramely toffee background and the hint of cookie dough (aka brown sugar). The toffee bits mixed in add a nice texture and more flavor. This may be my new favorite! The original recipe that we borrowed this from calls for a dulce de leche swirl and if you are so inclined I bet that would make a lovely addition!

English Toffee Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream, divided

1 cup whole milk

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar

1 pinch sea salt

4 egg yolks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract (we used 1 t double strength vanilla)

3 Skor or Heath candy bars, finely chopped (we used Skor)

3 T vodka, optional

1. In the top of a double boiler heat 1 C heavy cream, 1 C milk, sugars and salt until sugars have dissolved and mixture is steaming.

2. In a small bowl whisk eggs together until combined.

3. Poor a small bit of the hot milk into the eggs and whisk vigorously to avoid scrambling the eggs. This is a good job for two people! When you are sure the eggs have been tempered, poor the mixture back into the top of the double boiler. Add the vanilla extract.

4. Cook custard until thick and coats back of a spoon, about 10 minutes stirring constantly. You will feel the thickness change as you stir.

5. While the custard is cooking prepare an ice bath (ice and water in a bowl large enough to hold the pan, and that won't crack with the heat/cold).

6. When custard is cooked, remove immediately to the ice bath (watch out! there's water on the bottom of the pan! Don't drip it on your toes)

7. Let cool, stirring occasionally. When the mixture is room temperature, poor it into a container and add the remaining 1 C cream. Refrigerate for a few hours until completely cold.

8. Churn mixture in the ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. In the last minute of churning add Skor or Heath pieces.

9. After churning is completed, scoop ice cream into a container and add vodka if you so desire. The vodka is supposed to keep the ice cream from becoming too hard--but if you are serving it to children or pregnant women just omit this step and take the ice cream out of the freezer 5-10 minutes before you serve it.