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Maple Caramel Swirl
Maple Caramel Swirl
I am always searching for new and exciting ice cream flavors, even if they are not my own. Ever since I heard about the new Ben & Jerry's flavor Maple Blondie, I was excited to try it. Maple Blondie is a limited edition flavor inspired by Vermont's own famous blondie, Hannah Teter, an olympic gold and silver-medalist snowboarder. Ben & Jerry's has honored many famous people/groups with custom flavors, but Hannah was the first athlete to be bestowed the honor. Maple Blondie is composed of sticky swirls of maple caramel and blondie brownie pieces mixed into a sweet maple ice cream base. A portion of sales of this ice cream will be benefiting Hannah's Gold, Teter's charity which funds human aid projects in Africa. Through sales of its Vermont maple syrup, Hannah's Gold donates 100% of its profits to funding infrastructure and humanitarian needs in the African village of Kirindon, Kenya.
The ice cream has been available in scoop shops for a few months, but I only recently found it in my grocer's freezer (apparently pints have been in stores since mid-December but I could not find any). What could be better than buying ice cream that benefits a good cause?
After purchasing the pint, I realized that it had been well over a year since I bought a pint of Ben & Jerry's (tragedy I know), and apparently I had forgotten how freakin' good this ice cream tastes! Rich and creamy texture but not too heavy. Bold maple flavor that is enhanced by the maple swirl. Love the soft blondie mix-ins.
I had to muster up a lot of will power to avoid finishing off the pint in one sitting.
And thus the newest Scoop Adventures flavor was born. Introducing my own version of maple ice cream, Maple Caramel Swirl. It is basically Maple Blondie without the blondie.
A scoop of Maple Blondie
Maple Caramel Swirl Ice Cream
Maple Ice Cream
2 cups (500 ml) whole milk
1 ¼ cups (313 ml) heavy cream
1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon (11 g) cornstarch
3 Tablespoon (1.5 oz, 44 g) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup + 2 Tablespoons (207 ml) dark maple syrup, divided
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 tsp kosher salt
Maple Caramel Swirl
6 Tablespoons (85 g) salted butter
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
1 cup (250 ml) heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (125 ml) maple syrup
Fill a large bowl with ice water. In a small bowl, mix 2 Tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. In another large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth.
Combine the remaining milk with heavy cream and 3/4 cup maple syrup in a large saucepan. Bring milk mixture to a low boil. Cook over moderate heat until the syrup dissolves and milk mixture is slightly reduced, about 4 minutes.
Remove from heat and off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened (draw a line on a spoon), about 1 minute. Gradually pour the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese and whisk until smooth. Whisk in salt. Set the bowl in the ice water bath, and let stand, stirring occasionally, until cold, about 20 minutes. Whisk in vanilla and remaining maple syrup. Chill mixture in refrigerator until completely chilled, about 4 hours (preferably overnight).
To make maple caramel swirl, melt butter in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar is a deep golden brown color (it may start to smoke). Remove from heat and immediately whisk in half of the cream until smooth (be careful, mixture will bubble). Stir in remainder of cream until combined. Stir in vanilla, salt, and maple syrup. Lumps of caramel may form; if this happens return pan to low heat and stir until the lumps are dissolved. Transfer caramel to a heatproof container and allow caramel to come to room temperature. Chill in refrigerator until completely cool.
Once ice cream base is chilled, pour ice cream base into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Pour a layer of caramel sauce into a plastic container (or other container for ice cream) and lightly spoon a layer of ice cream on top. Continue to alternate layers of caramel and ice cream until the container is full. Do not stir.
Press a sheet of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the ice cream (to prevent ice crystals) and close with an airtight lid. Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours. Serve with a drizzle of leftover caramel. Enjoy!
Butter, Caramel, Maple Syrup | in Ice Cream 
Reader Comments (3)
Both your flavor and the Ben & Jerry's sound delicious! I don't make many things with maple, but maple caramel is something I'm going to have to try. Mmm.
I like it! No added fillers just pure goodness ice cream!
Just finished making the swirl tonight in preparation for making the ice cream tomorrow. The instructions for the swirl say to "stir in vanilla, SALT, and maple syrup". However, there is no measurement for the salt in the ingredients for the swirl. I added 1/8 tsp., but guess I could add more tomorrow if the swirl doesn't get too thick when chilling (it's pretty liquid right now--hope that's the way it's supposed to be!). So far, it smells wonderful! Thanks for all your GREAT recipes!