Honey Pistachio Brittle Brown Butter Ice Cream

For the honey pistachio brittle:

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Place the pistachios in a small frying pan. Heat the pan over medium-high heat and toast the pistachios, stirring often, for 5 minutes or until fragrant. Remove the pistachios from the pan and set aside.

In a small pot, add the sugar, honey, and water and stir gently to combine, being careful not to get any sugar or honey on the sides of the pot. If you have sugar on the sides of the pot, slide a wet pastry brush along the sides to remove any crystals. Heat the ingredients over medium-high heat without stirring. Once the mixture begins to boil, let it boil for 4 minutes, or until a candy thermometer reaches the hard crack stage (300 F or 149 C). Remove the pot from the heat and carefully stir in the pistachios. Working quickly, pour the brittle onto the parchment paper and use a rubber spatula to spread the candy into a thin layer. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, use a sharp knife to chop the brittle into very fine pieces.

For the brown butter ice cream:

Melt the butter in a small pot over medium heat. Cook, stirring often, until the butter is a dark amber color and smells nutty. Watch the butter closely. It will go through several stages as the water boils off and the milk solids turn brown. It will burn easily, so keep a close eye on it. Once it is a nice amber color and has a nutty aroma, it is done. Remove the pot from the heat and pour the butter through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, brown sugar, salt, and vanilla. Add the brown butter and whisk to combine. Set aside.

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, bring the cream and milk to a simmer. Remove about 1 cup of the hot cream mixture and whisk it into the egg mixture, to temper the eggs. Add the egg mixture into the pot with the cream mixture. Stir constantly until the custard thickens slightly and leaves a finger path on the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Do not let the mixture come to a boil.

Strain the custard through a mesh strainer into a bowl. Place the bowl into an ice water bath and stir to cool the custard. You can also refrigerate the custard, stirring often, until it has cooled.

Process the custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer safe container. Stir in as much of the finely chopped honey pistachio brittle as you like, and freeze until the ice cream is firm, about 4 hours.

Brown butter ice cream recipe adapted from Bon Appetit / Desserts.

Yields 1 quart of ice cream.