Rhubarb Ice Cream With a Caramel Swirl
Updated May 2, 2024
- Total Time
- 1 hour 15 minutes plus chilling and freezing time
- Cook Time
- About 1 hour 30 minutes, plus overnight chill and freeze time
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1and ½ cups whole milk
- 1and ¾ cup plus 6 tablespoons granulated sugar
- Pinch fine sea salt
- 1vanilla bean, split and scraped
- 4large egg yolks, lightly beaten
- 1and ½ cups sour cream
- ¾pound rhubarb, cut into ½-inch dice
- ½cup heavy cream
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Preparation
- Step 1
In a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, whisk together the milk, ¾ cup sugar, the salt, the vanilla bean seeds and its pod. Simmer gently until sugar dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, and steep 30 minutes. Discard the vanilla pod and return mixture to a bare simmer.
- Step 2
Place the yolks in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in hot milk mixture. Scrape the custard back into the pot and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Whisk in sour cream. Chill at least 3 hours or overnight.
- Step 3
In a saucepan, combine the rhubarb with 1 cup sugar. Simmer until rhubarb is just tender and has begun releasing its juices, but has not started to fall apart, 4 to 5 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer rhubarb to a bowl. Continue to simmer the juices until syrupy, 5 to 10 minutes more. Pour the syrup over the rhubarb. Cool completely.
- Step 4
In a clean, dry and preferably nonstick skillet, sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over medium heat. When it begins to melt and lightly color, sprinkle in 2 more tablespoons and start swirling pan to help evenly distribute sugar. Add the final 2 tablespoons and cook, swirling pan until all the sugar has melted. Let cook, swirling occasionally, until the sugar syrup caramelizes and turns dark brown. Pour in the heavy cream and 2 tablespoons water (stand back; it may splatter). Simmer, stirring with a heatproof rubber spatula until smooth. Cool completely.
- Step 5
Pour the custard base into an ice cream machine and churn. Add rhubarb compote for the last minute of churning.
- Step 6
Scrape a quarter of the caramel into the bottom of a freezer-proof quart container. Top with a quarter of the ice cream. Repeat layering until all of the caramel and ice cream has been used, ending with the ice cream. Freeze until firm for at least 2 hours and up to 1 week.
Private Notes
Comments
I made this exactly as written, using sour cream. Best ice cream I have ever made, and one of the top I've ever eaten! Thanks again, Melissa.
Rather than spend $18.99 for two sad little vanilla beans in a jar at the supermarket, I skipped the steeping in Step 1 and added 2 tsp. vanilla along with the sour cream in Step 2. I'm sure vanilla bean would add depth of flavor--but at the speed with which this ice cream disappeared at a hot 4th of July party, I'm not sure it made that much difference. Wonderful recipe.
This is absolutely delicious! I didn't add the caramel swirl because after tasting both the base and rhubarb compote, I thought it was plenty sweet enough (and I did scant cups in measuring the sugar for both). However, if the caramel was cooked until quite dark, I could see it adding a welcome hint of bitterness. An extra large pinch of salt in the base, or a small sprinkle of salt on top would be great too. All tasters have been impressed so far - will definitely be making this one again!
Delicious! Haven’t tried it with the caramel yet, was making for a chef friend who gave me rhubarb from her garden and preferred to try without the caramel. She LOVED it. I cannot wait to to make this again and again, might try with some other fruits too like cherries or peaches (using less sugar). I did use less sugar with this recipe, 175 gm instead of 200 in the rhubarb, 130 gm instead of 150 gm in the base, and thought it was perfect. Stays a scoops le texture right from the freezer. Also with Lactaid milk and Lactaid sour cream this could be made lactose free for my friends who are lactose intolerant!
made a half batch without eggs and blended about 1/2 the rhubarb chunks/syrup in with the milk and sour cream. I sampled a little as I transferred it to the freezer to harden and I thought the sour cream flavor was a bit overpowering, we’ll see if that verdict remains the same. Making the caramel it turned fairly dark very quickly and the second splash of cream I added to the caramel made it split instead of continuing to mix. To fix this, I stirred aggressively for a few minutes and put it back on medium-low heat until it recombined. Added flaky salt to the caramel and think I’d add even more next time.
Absolutely amazing! I added 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract at the end of Step 2 instead of using a vanilla bean (they are so pricey now). Did not make the caramel, as I had some leftovers from another dessert. Will definitely make this again!
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