Buttered Popcorn Ice Cream

I'm sure you think that, from the look of my last few posts, all I make at home during the summer is ice cream.

....well, you're right. Kind of.

In between making recipes with the food we've been getting from our produce and fish shares each week, there is plenty of ice cream in this house.  Though we still go to our favorite ice cream place down the road for special occasions (watching Big Brother! Long day at work! It's too hot out to do anything except eat ice cream for dinner!), I've seen some interesting recipes that I couldn't not try. Besides, if they turned out to be awful, all we need to do is hop in the car for a little bit of black raspberry or chocolate peanut butter for her, and butter crunch or black raspberry for him.

I stumbled along this recipe at least a month or so ago. I skimmed it quickly, then almost dumped the recipe-all because it had eggs involved. Though I love eggs, I have a very hard time cooking things like ice cream or curds with them-without a doubt I'll scramble the eggs, no matter how careful I am. Since this recipe also included eggs, I actually stopped reading it and went searching on the internet for a Philadelphia-style (no eggs) duplicate. Of which none existed-that I could find, anyway. So I went back to the recipe and read it again, where I found that it wasn't a traditional type custard like I had seen, where you combined the eggs into the hot liquid and prayed it wouldn't curdle. This time, you cooked the dairy, let it cool, combined it with the egg yolk mixture, then heated it through together. I liked this option much better.

The weird thing here is the popcorn. I had no idea what to expect. Would it be too salty? Would it be too buttery? Would it even taste sweet at all? When I finally got a bite, I found that the ice cream kind of reminded me of the jelly belly buttered popcorn flavor. A little bit sweet, really rich, and an aftertaste that kind of made you want to take another bite. Then another. (In full disclosure, though I generally don't care for jelly beans, the Jelly Belly Buttered Popcorn is the only flavor I used to like.) I tried to follow the directions on this recipe and instead of adding the caramel corn to the actual mixture, I put it on top, like I would chocolate sprinkles. This way, I got the richness of the buttered popcorn combined with the crunchy sweetness of the caramel corn, finishing it off with a velvety sweetness at the end (I really don't know where all this descriptive is coming from. I'm going to blame it on excessive watching of the Food Network).

I don't know if I'll be feeling like making this ice cream as often as I would coffee oreo, vanilla, or salted caramel. Knowing what this one tastes like, though, and that I can not only do it successfully, but also keep in my wheelhouse of ideas for unique flavors, makes me feel like this could be a good party-type ice cream. If you're feeling like something a little different, this ice cream is certainly for you.

Buttered Popcorn Ice Cream (recipe from Serious Eats)

• 2 c. heavy cream
• 1 c. whole milk
• 2 c. freshly popped butter-flavored popcorn (the recipe recommends using a microwave buttered flavor popcorn, to infuse the flavors better. I used Orville Redenbacher movie theatre butter, which also was able to be purchased in boxes with single serving bags. When popped, it came very close to the 2 cup amount).
• 6 egg yolks
• 3/4 c. sugar
• Salt, to taste
• Optional: 1 c. Cracker Jacks or caramel corn, roughly crushed

In a medium sized pot, bring milk and cream to a minimum simmer, with bubbles around the edges, but not at a boil. Remove from heat, stir in cooked popcorn, cover, and let steep for 1 hour.

In a second pot, mix together egg yolks and sugar well, by a whisk, until the mixture is thickened slightly. Place, covered, in refrigerator until the popcorn/dairy mixture has finished steeping.

Pour popcorn/dairy mixture through a fine mesh strainer into pot with egg-sugar mixture, then whisk quickly until well mixed together. Make sure to press on strained popcorn with a spoon against the strainer to squeeze out all remaining dairy.

Put saucepan on medium heat. Stir occasionally as it cooks, until a custard forms on the back of a spoon but a swiped finger across the back leaves a clean line. Add salt to taste. Strain custard-like mixture into a covered container and chill overnight.

When you are ready to make the ice cream, put the mixture into an ice cream maker, and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. If using Cracker Jacks or caramel corn, crush them in a plastic bag using a rolling pin while the ice cream is churning. The caramel corn does not need to be pulverized-just smashed into smaller pieces. Scoop into a bowl, and add some crushed popcorn pieces on top.