Pear-Caramel Ice Cream

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.

Pear-Caramel Ice Cream
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

Directions:

1. Dice the pears into 1/4-inch pieces.
2. Spread the sugar in a large, heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, carefully watching and stirring occasionally with a heatproof spatula until melted.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. Cool to room temp, puree until smooth, press through a strainer.
6. Chill according to your ice-cream maker manufacturer's instructions.

Source: Summarized from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz