Salted Caramel and Fudge Swirl with Pretzel Ice Cream

I want to apologize for the crappy pictures, but I decided to try to take pictures of this ice cream when there was only one sad little scoop of ice cream left in my apartment. But I wanted to share the recipe because this ice cream was amazing. Sweet and salty and creamy.


I love Chubby Hubby so this was my attempt to make something similar with salted caramel instead of the peanut butter. I love peanut butter, but I had some leftover salted caramel from a batch of Sweet and Salty Brownies from Baked Explorations that I had been wanting to use in some ice cream. I used the vanilla base and fudge swirl recipes from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop.

Salted Caramel and Fudge Swirl with Pretzel Ice Cream
recipe adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz and Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

Makes 1 quart

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
6 large egg yolks
3/4 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup fudge swirl (see recipe below)
1 cup salted caramel (see recipe below)
1 cup crushed pretzel pieces (I crushed some pretzel logs, but you could use any type, even chocolate covered pretzels)

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the milk, sugar, 1 cup of the cream, and salt over medium heat. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the warm milk and add the bean halves as well. Cover, remove from the heat, and steep for 30 minutes.

In a large bowl, pour the remaining 1 cup of cream and place a mesh strainer over top of the bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Carefully pour the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, and then pour back into the saucepan.

Heat over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom until it thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the mesh strainer into the remaining cream and add the vanilla beans back to the custard. Place the bowl into an ice bath, add the vanilla extract, and stir until cool.

Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator. When it is chilled and you are ready to churn the ice cream, remove the vanilla bean and rinse and reserve it for another use.

Freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions. In the last few minutes, add the pretzel pieces.

When it is done churning, layer the ice cream with spoonfuls of the fudge swirl and the caramel. Do not stir the ice cream together with the fudge swirl and the caramel. Freeze until firm in your freezer.


Salted Caramel:
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp fleur de sel
1/4 cup sour cream

In a medium saucepan, carefully stir together the sugar, corn syrup, and 1/4 cup water, taking care not to splash the sides of the pan. Cook over high heat until the temperature is 350ºF or until a dark amber in color, about 6 to 8 minutes. Keep a close watch on the caramel because once it starts to brown it goes quickly.

Remove from heat and slowly add the cream and then the fleur de sel. Whisk in the sour cream, and set aside to cool.


Fudge Swirl:
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup water
6 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, corn syrup, water and cocoa powder. Heat over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it begins to bubble at the edges.

Continue to whisk until it just comes to a low boil and then continue to cook for an additional 1 minutes, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla, then set aside to cool. Chill in the refrigerator before using.