A couple of weeks ago I had a bunch of ripe pears that needed to be used so I decided to make David Lebovitz' Pear-Caramel Ice Cream. This ice cream is SUPER yummy -- it's so rich that I can only handle a 1/2 cup serving at a time (crazy I know!).
I did end up substituting 1/2 of the heavy cream with 1% milk because I didn't have the full amount on hand, but it still turned out great. If you have an ice cream maker I highly recommend David Lebovitz' The Perfect Scoop cookbook. I found it on Amazon for less than $15 and it's full of mouth-watering ice cream, gelato, sherbet, sorbet, and granita recipes.
Makes about 1 quart
Ingredients:
- 3 medium-sized ripe pears, peeled and cored
- 3/4 c. + 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/8 teaspoon coarse salt
- a few drops of fresh lemon juice
- Dice the pears into 1/4-inch pieces.
- Spread the sugar in a large, heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, carefully watching and stirring occasionally with a heatproof spatula until melted.
- When the sugar is a deep amber, stir in the pears. The caramel will seize, that's ok. Continue cooking and stirring occasionally for ten minutes. The sugar will have dissolved.
- Remove from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup of the cream, then mix in the rest of the cream, salt, and lemon juice.
- Cool to room temp, puree until smooth, press through a strainer.
- Chill according to your ice-cream maker manufacturer's instructions.
Source: Summarized from The Perfect Scoop
by David Lebovitz
