Salted Caramel Ice Cream
Makes approximately 1 quart of ice cream
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
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
This is a dry-burn technique without adding water to the sugar before putting it on the heat. It caramelizes faster, but watch very carefully so that it doesn't burn and have the cream ready to add.
Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.
Whisk the room temperature cream cheese and salt in a medium, heat-proof bowl until smooth. (I used a 2 qt Pyrex bowl with spout.)
Mix the cream with the corn syrup in a large 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 gold to dark amber in color. Jeni advises not touching the sugar until you see the sugar start to melt on the edges. Then carefully stir toward the center and keep stirring until all of the sugar has melted and reaches a dark, golden amber color.
Remove from the heat and, stirring constantly, slowly add a spoonful of the cream and corn syrup mixture to the caramel: It will fizzle and pop but keep stirring until well combined, then add a little more, a little more, etc., and keep stirring 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, stirring 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 and cream 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. Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface, and seal with an airtight lid.
Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.
My Notes:
Be sure to have the cornstarch mixture, cream cheese mixture, cream mixture, milk and vanilla all ready and waiting by the stove when you start to caramelize the sugar.
I didn't pour the mixture into a zip-lock bag since I didn't want to risk having melted plastic in my ice cream. I simply kept the mixture back in the 2-qt pyrex container and put that in a sink of cold, icy water up to the level of the mixture. I stirred it every 5 minutes. When cool enough, I then put it into a zipper bag and refrigerated until cold, about 45 minutes and then added it to my ice cream maker.