"Splendid" Salted Caramel Ice Cream

I started picking up inklings of Jeni Britton-Bauer late last fall, when a local coffee shop here in Nashville started carrying her artisan ice creams flown in from Ohio. While I never made it over to the coffee shop and subsequently stopped thinking about artisan ice cream through the winter, in early spring I read that Jeni was opening her first store outside of Ohio in - you guessed it - Nashville.

Shortly thereafter, Josh decided on a whim to buy me an ice cream maker.

A few weeks later, I saw Jeni's book in a store in New York City, with recipes for her signature flavors.

Then, my good friend Krista managed to get to Jeni's before I could and proceeded to rave about it.

That was the last straw - the universe wanted me to have Jeni's in my life, damn it, and who was I not to take heed? I bought the book.

The book, aside from the fact that it's a page turner if only because you cannot wait to see what crazy combination Jeni teases you with on the following page, is outlined by season so you can make a point of using the freshest ingredients possible. In addition to ice creams, the book includes recipes for sorbets and frozen yogurts, as well as for ice cream cookies, cocktails and sundaes. It is comprehensive and gorgeously photographed, and judging by the first one I tried, the recipes themselves are foolproof. The ice cream froze as solid as you'd find it in any scoop shop, which can sometimes be difficult to acheive at home. The pure flavors of caramel and sea salt blasted through the custard, as well as a surprising taste of pure butter - even though there is no butter in the recipe. I am still amazed that I made this quart of amber heaven, but I did - and I'm ready for round 2 with Jeni at my side.

You will need:

2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus one teaspoon corn starch
1 1/2 ounces (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used vanilla bean paste)

Prep:

Make sure the bowl of your ice cream maker has been frozen for at least 24 hours. Do not remove from freezer until the moment you are ready to spin the ice cream macine.

Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.

Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.

Mix the cream with the corn syrup in a measuring cup with a spout.

Fill a large bowl with ice and water.

Heat the sugar in a 4-quart saucepan over medium heat until it is melted and golden amber in color. Remove from the heat and, stirring constantly, slowly add a bit of the cream and corn syrup mixture to the caramel: it will fizzle, pop and spurt. Stir until well combined, then add a little more and stir. Keep adding the cream a little at a time until all of it is incorporated.

Return the pan to medium-high heat and add the milk. Bring to a rolling boil and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.

Bring back to a boil over medium-high and cook, sitrring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat. If any caramel flecks remain, pour the mixture through a sieve.

Gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the vanilla and whisk. Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.

Pour into frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

Recipe and method copied from Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream at Home.

Blondies with Caramel Sauce

I had never even heard of a blondie before last night.

Josh, PJ and I worked for a few hours in the backyard yesterday, 'un-rednecking it' as I like to say. The backyard is a steep upward slope, and of course most of the crap we needed to get rid of was near the top of the hill. Since it turned out to be such a good workout, I thought we all deserved a brownie after dinner. But I didn't have boxed brownies. So as I went in search of a from-scratch brownie recipe in my trusty Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, I stumbled upon an interesting recipe title: Blondies.

"Blondies?" I questioned Josh. "I've never heard of blondies." He said he'd heard that they were a cookie/brownie type of concoction, but that he'd never actually tried one himself. Reading on, I learned that blondies are a butterscotch-based cookie bar studded with chocolate chips. Oooh. Given my recent discovery of homemade caramel, and needing to utilize the jar of leftover homemade caramel in the fridge (before I ate one more cold spoonful), I went for it. Blessedly, I had everything in the pantry.

Oh. My. Goodness.

Blondies will make you sing. They had me so transfixed that I forgot to take several pictures during the baking process, and they were so incredibly rich and delicious that I had to send them with Josh to work just to get them out of my grasp.

You will need:

2 cups packed brown sugar
2/3 cup butter (1 stick plus all but 3 tbs from another stick)
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup semisweet chocolate pieces
1 cup chopped nuts (if you want, but I left them out)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 13x9 baking pan; set aside. In a medium saucepan heat brown sugar and butter over medium heat, until butter melts and the mixture is smooth, stirring constantly. You should just barely be able to taste the grit from the brown sugar, if you give it a (or many) taste as I did. Allow me to warn you of the molten temperature sugar can reach...and how much it hurts when it's too sticky to get off your finger. So use a spoon.

Remove from heat and cool slightly. Break an egg into a separate bowl and temper with a little bit of the sugar mixture. This means you will add a small amount of the hot liquid into the egg to raise its temperature while you beat it, so the egg won't immediately scramble when it meets the hot sugar. Stir in tempered eggs one at a time; add vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder and baking soda.

Spread batter in prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with chocolate chips and nuts.

Bake in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. The blondies will more than likely puff up around the sides, appearing to sink in the middle. This is good; this is what you want.

Cool slightly in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars while warm. Die. Repeat.

For an even more terribly decadent treat, heat some caramel and pour it over blondies individually, right before serving.

Here's a quick homemade caramel:

1 cup (2 sticks) butter
1 cup packed light brown sugar
Pinch sea salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter and brown sugar together, and stir it over medium heat until it begins to boil. Once it has begun boiling, let it bubble for three more minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and add the salt and vanilla, and then quickly pour it into a glass jar if storing, or onto a prepared dessert.