Somehow I’ve gone the entire  summer without making any ice cream.  This is a shame and a travesty, and I should be ashamed of myself (it’s bad and I should feel bad).  Here, let me make it up to you:

I didn’t have much time to do any cooking blogging during July, so I’m a bit behind on my blog reading.  Perusing Google+ (which, in my opinion, is the best way to see giant, colorful pictures of food right after Pinterest), I came across this recipe for brown sugar ice cream by Katrina from In Katrina’s Kitchen.  I liked the sound of it so much that I immediately pinned, bookmarked, and made a draft-post including the recipe.  If once is good, three times is better, right? >.>

I’m a big fan of anything that requires brown sugar; its warm and mellow flavor appeals to me in foods both sweet and savory, and I was excited to see a recipe using it in ice cream.  How had I never thought of doing this myself??

The only small tweak I made to this recipe was to add a vanilla bean to give it a little vanilla-y ‘oomph’.  In the end I was really happy with how it turned out – creamy, sweet, and a hint of caramel flavor from the brown sugar.  I would definitely recommend this recipe as a simple deviation from your typical vanilla ice creams, and a great base for topping, mixed-in flavors, or an addition to a pie or cake.

Easy peasy y’all.  Enjoy some ice cream before the summer ends!

Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream

Vaguely adapted from In Katrina’s Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 1 cup 2% (or whole) milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 vanilla bean

Instructions:

1. Steam milk, cream, sugar, and salt in a saucepan (the mixture should never simmer or boil.  Instead watch from steam rising and small bubbles around the edge of the mixture and pan).
2. Once hot remove from heat and add vanilla seeds and pod.  Let soak for 30 minutes.
3. Refrigerate the mixture for ~2 hours or until chilled.
4. Churn the mixture per your ice cream maker’s instructions.
5. CONSUME!