Winter merriment evokes very particular ice cream flavors – Pumpkin, Peppermint, and Eggnog.  Any of these delicious classics would be a joy to make, but I wanted something slightly more unusual to serve this holiday season.  While flipping through recipes one sleepless night, I came across an ice cream described as a creamy Tarte Tatin, a caramelized apple upside-down cake.  The recipe also called to mind my most favorite autumnal treat, candied apples.  Instantly, I knew that this was just the ice cream I had been searching for.

A decadent marriage of luxuriously rich caramel and bitter tangy apple made for a delectable hybrid.  Candy Apple Ice Cream was certainly not the easiest recipe I have ever made.  The result, however, was to die for – and the accompanying sense of accomplishment was quite literally the cherry on top.  xx tt

Recipe – adapted from The Sweet Life: Desserts from Chanterelle

Ingredients

·  5 cups apple cider

·  ¾ cup sugar

·  1/3 cup water

·  1 + ½ cups heavy cream

·  1 cup whole milk

·  8 egg yolks

·  1 egg

·  ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

·  Don’t forget to put your ice cream bowl into the freezer 14 hours before you want to make the ice cream!

·  Boil cider until it is reduced to 1 + ½ cups (this will take a while, and make sure to keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t burn)

·  Combine sugar and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until it is pale gold

·  Off the heat, add the reduced apple cider – the caramel will FREEZE and look like something is wrong.  Take a deep breath, return it to a medium-low heat, and wait until the caramel disappears into the cider while whisking once in a while (this will also take a while)

·  Once the apple cider and caramel are fluid, whisk in the milk and cream

·  In a separate bowl, whisk the egg, yolks, and salt together until combined

·  Pour a bit of the hot mixture into the egg mixture (around two tablespoons) and whisk

·  Then pour the egg mixture into the hot mixture, while whisking

·  Cook over medium heat until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon

·  Set up a large bowl with a fine mesh strainer, or sieve, or chinois

·  Pour the mixture through the strainer

·  Cover the mixture with saran wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours

·  Follow your ice cream maker’s instructions, I use this and love it!