Salted Caramel Ice Cream Recipe

This Salted Caramel Ice Cream recipe is one of those rich pleasures in life that is totally worth making from scratch, especially since it’s a flavor that can be hard to find in stores. The combination of the decadent texture with the salty kick is just sublime!

It’s much easier to make than you might think, and I find it’s not as sweet as those store-bought varieties too. That’s another reason I like homemade ice creams you can control the sweetness! 

Serve it with some tasty Langue de Chat cookies and you have a fantastic finish to any meal! This ice cream is also quite delicious when turned into ice cream sandwiches!

Try sandwiching between my Classic Peanut Butter Cookies or my Brown Butter Chocolate Chip cookies for the ultimate summertime dessert idea! Or they would be pretty fantastic served in some Homemade Profiteroles too! 

HOW TO MAKE SALTED CARAMEL ICE CREAM

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STEP#1: MAKE THE CARAMEL

This first step to making this ice cream is to make the caramel. Place the granulated sugar in the bottom of a heavy-bottom saucepot on medium-high heat until it starts to melt and turn amber brown. 

Once it starts to look like this, start swirling the pan around and adjusting your heat as needed so that it doesn’t burn. This takes a bit of practice as you’ll find it’s a balance between the right amount of heat, swirling, and lifting the pot off the heat periodically to prevent it from burning!

TIP: If your caramel starts to burn, and you will smell it if it does! It’s best to start again. You can’t really mask the taste of burnt caramel. 

The best method is patience. Just keep swirling the sugar, resisting the temptation to stick a whisk in the caramel “to help it along” this will just force the sugar to seize up and stick to your whisk and it will take a day of soaking to remove the burnt sugar! Steady as she goes and eventually, it will look like this, a smooth amber color caramel. 

Then you’ll add the heavy cream. It should be room temperature or slightly warm because cold liquid going into hot caramel will just seize up and create a big sugar mass! The cream will make the caramel pliable and allow it to be stirred into the ice cream base. 

After you add the cream it will bubble up and resemble a witches brew! For this, it helps to have a high profile pot, nothing too shallow. But just let it bubble and it will eventually calm down. 

Once it does THEN put your whisk in it and whisk it up to smooth the mixture out. You’ll then add the butter to create a silky texture. 

Then you will add the salt. I like to use Fleur de Sel sea salt, which I find to be less salty than regular table salt and great in desserts like this. But if you don’t have any Fleur de Sel, you can also use a pinch of Kosher salt, which is also better than table salt for this recipe. Table salt is just too salty.

Then transfer your caramel to a heat-safe bowl (since it will be hot!) and set aside while you work on the ice cream base. Once you master homemade caramel you can also use it for my Salted Caramel Puddings or drizzle over my Apple Cinnamon Crepes.

STEP#3: MAKE THE ICE CREAM BASE

This ice cream recipe uses a cooked egg base which I think adds to its rich and creamy texture. But you do need to cook the base to 165F in order to remove the bacteria in the eggs before processing your ice cream. It doesn’t take long and once you take your first bite of this ice cream you’ll agree it was well worth the effort! 

After heating the milk and cream in a pot, you’ll add it to your egg yolk and cornstarch mixture. Then place it in a clean saucepot to cook and reach 165F. 

It’s important to use a clean pot so that no remaining residue from the “warming of the cream/milk” remains. Because that will create an environment for the custard to stick and eventually scorch while heating. 

As the custard cooks it will thicken and coat the back of a wooden spoon. Check the temperature with a candy thermometer and once it reaches 165F it’s ready!

For the ultimate smooth and creamy texture, strain this mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. The straining will catch any bits of egg that overcooked and any lumps so that all you have left is a smooth silky ice cream base. 

Then add the caramel into the ice cream base and stir to combine. Place the base in the refrigerator, covered, for at least 2 hours until well-chilled. 

STEP#3: PROCESS THE ICE CREAM

Transfer the base to your ice cream machine and process according to your manufacturer’s instructions. 

If you make a lot of ice cream at home as we do, I highly recommend an Ice Cream Machine that has an internal freezing mechanism. This allows you the ability to whip up several batches of ice cream without having to refreeze the bowl in between batches, which is quite fun if you wanted to make a few different flavors for a party.

You could pair this ice cream with my Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream or my Double Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream for an ice cream buffet. 

You’ll know that it’s done when it reaches the consistency of gelato. Then you can transfer it to a storage container and freeze overnight.

To make a nice presentation serve your salted ice cream in footed glasses with some of your favorite cookies on the side!

MORE ICE CREAM RECIPES: 

• Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
• Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
• Red, White and Blue Ice Cream with Homemade Waffle Cones

Please Let me Know if You Make this Salted Caramel Ice Cream 

by leaving me a rating and a review below!

Continue to Content

Salted Caramel Ice Cream

Yield: 1 quart

Prep Time: 1 day

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 1 day 20 minutes

Homemade Salted Caramel Ice Cream is one of those rich pleasures in life.  The combination of the decadently smooth texture with the salty kick is truly sublime!

Print

Ingredients

For Caramel:

• 1 1/3 cup (265 g) of sugar
• 1 cup (240 ml) heavy cream, slightly warm
• 1 tbsp butter (15 g)
• 2 tsp fleur de sel sea salt* (10 ml)

For Ice Cream Base:

• 6 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp (13 g) cornstarch
• 2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream
• 1 cup (240 ml) milk
• 2 tbsp (25 g) sugar
• 1 tsp (5 ml) fleur de sel salt

Instructions

1. In a large saucepan, heat sugar on medium-high until it starts to melt and turn amber brown. Swirl the pan around the heat, being careful not to stir it, but allowing it to melt on its own.
2. Reduce heat to low, add 1 cup of heavy cream, it will boil up but then settle down as you whisk it until smooth. Add butter and fleur de sel sea salt. Transfer to a heat-safe bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl whisk, together egg yolks with cornstarch until smooth. Set aside. In a large saucepan heat cream, milk and sugar until sugar dissolves.
4. Temper egg mixture by pouring a little of the warm cream/milk mixture into the eggs whisking all the while, adding a little at a time until everything is combined.
5. Transfer base mixture back to the sauce pot and heat on medium-high, stirring until thickened. It should coat the back of a spoon and reach at least 165F.
6. Then pour the cooked base through a sieve into a clean bowl. Stir in the caramel sauce until smooth. Refrigerate 2-4 hours until chilled. Process ice cream in an ice cream machine according to your machine’s operating instructions and freeze until firm.
7. Scoop ice cream into fancy glasses and serve with Langue de Chat cookies.

Notes

*Fleur de sel sea salt is much less “salty” than table salt. If you can’t find it, use Kosher salt (better flavor than table salt) very sparingly (start with 1/4 tsp (1.25ml) to taste until desired saltiness in caramel is achieved.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 
  Whynter ICM-15LS Ice Cream Maker, Stainless Steel
• 
  All-Clad 4204 with loop Stainless Steel Tri-Ply Bonded Dishwasher Safe Sauce Pan with Loop Helper Handle and Lid Cookware, 4-Quart, Silver - 8701004419
• 
  Cuisinart ICE-60W Cool Creations Ice Cream Maker, White
• 
  Zeroll 1020 Original Ice Cream Easy Scoop with Unique Liquid Filled Heat Conductive Handle Simple One Piece Aluminum Design Easy Release 40 Scoops per Gallon Made in USA, 2-Ounce, Silver
• 
  Le Saunier De Camargue Fleur De Sel Sea Salt, 4.4 Ounce Canisters
• 
  Oui Love It, French Cat Tongue Cookies (Langues de Chat), 100g Box

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 6 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 94Total Fat: 9gSaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 155mgSodium: 675mgCarbohydrates: 1gFiber: 0gSugar: 1gProtein: 2g