Simple Bacon Ice Cream

Bacon ice cream is always a huge hit.  Least Kosher of all the ice creams, if you allow the bacon flavor to collide with the rich sweetness of maple syrup (once very eloquently described by Agent Cooper), you will be assured of great success.

The danger is too much bacon fat -- it coats the tongue unmercifully.  The greatest enhancement are Stroopwafels.

1 lb (hickory) smoked (streaky) bacon
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup maple syrup


Flavoring the milk:
Begin by frying 3-5 strips of the bacon.  When it is very crispy, almost burnt, remove it from heat and dry it on a paper towel.  Next, add the cup of whole milk to a small sauce pan and simmer it with the strips of bacon.  After simmering for about 15 minutes.  Add 2/3 cup brown sugar and 1/3 cup maple syrup.  Cool in the refrigerator (about 2-3 hours).

Caramelized bacon bits:
Take the remainder of the bacon and place it in a large, rectangular pyrex dish.  Put the bacon in an oven preheated to 375 degrees.   When the bacon begins to redden after about 10 minutes, remove from the oven and coat completely with about 1/3 cup of brown sugar.  Cook until well caramelized as in the photos above (about an additional 10-15 minutes).  CAUTION: bacon grease and melted sugar will be very hot and dangerous.  Let the caramelized bacon cool.  When cool, separate meaty streaks from fat, which can be discarded.  Break the meaty strips into bits.

The base:
Use a Philadelphia style base -- simply combine the bacon infused milk with the cream.  When the ice cream is almost as firm as anticipated in the maker, add caramelized bacon bits.