Pear Caramel Ice Cream - Everyday Annie

Pears are such a wonderful winter fruit, but often I find that their mild flavor can be masked or easily lost in some recipes. So when I heard of this pear caramel ice cream, I was interested to see if the pear flavor would really come through. Of course, I never should have doubted that David Lebovitz would hit the nail on the head. The pear flavor comes through beautifully, followed by the deep, rich caramel taste. This is also one of the creamiest ice creams I have made yet, even though it is not made with a custard base.

If you have not had much practice with making caramel, this recipe could make you a bit nervous because the whole batch seizes up as soon as the pears are added to the pan. However, this is completely expected and you just need to continue cooking the mixture until it has smoothed out once again. The mixture is pureed, but I think it would also be great with some chunks of pear left in the batter as well and I may try that next time around.

More treats for fellow caramel lovers:
Caramel Corn
Banana Caramel Cupcakes
Caramel Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake
Caramel Cocoa Crispy Bars
Caramel Apples

Ingredients

3 medium-sized pears, peeled, cored and chopped into ¼-inch pieces
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. sugar
2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of salt
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Directions

01
Spread the sugar out in a large, non-reactive, heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over medium-heat, monitoring it closely. Once it begins to liquefy and darken at the edges, stir gently with a heatproof spatula to help the melted sugar from the edges melts the crystals in the middle.
02
Once the sugar reaches a deep amber color, mix in the chopped pear pieces. At this point much of the mixture will likely seize and harden. Continue cooking and stirring until the mixture has smoothed out again and any hard bits of caramel have melted, and the pears are cooked through (about 10 minutes).
03
Remove the saucepan from the heat and stir in ½ cup of the cream. Then mix in the remaining cream, as well as the salt and lemon juice. Let cool to room temperature.
04
Once the mixture has cooled, transfer to a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator.
05
Freeze the batter in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Source

adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz