Vanilla Caramel Gelato

Combine yolks and sugar in a medium bowl and whisk for 2 minutes, or until thickened; set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine milk and cream and set over medium heat. Cook until mixture begins to bubble on the sides; remove from heat.

Slowly, whisk the milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Whisk until combined. Pour entire mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches 170ºF, about 5–7 minutes, or until it leaves a coating on the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours.

Prepare the caramel sauce. Have all of your ingredients nearby as making caramel is a quick process and it gets very hot very fast!

Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 2-quart or 3-quart saucepan. As sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on.

As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add butter to the pan. Whisk until butter has melted.

Once butter has melted, take pan off heat. Count to three, then slowly add cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Note than when you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up considerably. This is why you must use a pan that is at least 2 quarts (preferably 3 quarts) big.

Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass Mason jar and let sit to cool to room temperature. (Remember to use pot holders when handling the jar filled with hot caramel sauce.)

Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Warm before serving. This makes about 1 cup of caramel sauce, whereas the gelato recipe calls for roughly 2 ounces so enjoy the rest with other treats!

Back to the gelato. Pour the custard into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. In the last 3 minutes of freezing, and while the ice cream is still churning, pour about 2 ounces of the caramel sauce into the ice cream machine. You can use less or more (always go with more).

When finished, transfer gelato to an airtight container and freeze for 5 hours. When serving, let sit out for about 5 minutes to soften up a bit like gelato and not ice cream.

Yields 4 cups.

Recipe adapted from Diethood. Caramel sauce from Simply Recipes.