It’s the first day of BACON WEEK ladies and gents!  Let’s start it off with a bang!

Or, y’know.  Ice cream.

Why is it large mugs seem to be more perfect for ice cream than bowls?  Maybe it’s the faux portion control, or maybe it’s because I rarely put crazy toppings on my ice cream, so a simple mug with a few scoops of one flavor is all that’s necessary as opposed to a wide-mouthed bowl with all the trimmings.

Or maybe it’s because I have a lot more fun mugs that bowls.

Regardless!  The second I found this recipe from the infamous David Lebovitz I was sold.  I’ve been having way too much fun with ice cream since my buddy bought me an ice cream maker last fall, and with it finally getting warmer here it was time to ratchet into serious ice cream making mode.

This was a simple recipe that in addition to bacon also included bourbon (I’m not sure why, but it works – trust me).  The flavor is dark and sweet with almost a full cup of brown sugar.  It requires a lot of egg yolks (which rates it high on the “Mary hates wasting ingredients scale”, but naturally only makes it taste even more amazing), but otherwise it’s your every-day sugar + dairy + bacon recipe.  We all know those, right?

I’m sorry for not having more process pictures in this post, but if nothing else I feel like this recipe is worth making once for a sort of novelty; a neat weird thing to bring to a party, maybe.  I actually really like it, though I have at least one friend who decidedly does not; I think she finds the flavors a little too weird.  I don’t feel like the flavor comes off as particularly “bacony”; instead the bits of candied bacon floating around only serve to enhance the bite a little bit or add a slightly chewy texture.  If you’re looking for something tasty and novel to try out, definitely give this a go!

Don’t forget to get your own posts up this week for Bacon Week!  Let me know if you post anything; I’d love to link to it!

Bacon Ice Cream

Slightly altered from David Lebovitz for ingredient already in my fridge.
Makes ~3/4 quart.

Ingredients for Ice Cream:

• 3 tbs salted butter
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (light or dark)
• 1 1/2 cup milk (I used 2% – whole works too)
• 1 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
• 5 large egg yolks
• 2 tsp whiskey
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. To candy the bacon, preheat oven to 400F.
2. Lay the strips of bacon on a baking sheet and sprinkle 1 1/2 – 2 tsp brown sugar evenly on each piece.
3. Bake for 12-16 minutes.  Midway through baking, flip the bacon strips over and drag them through the liquid that’s dripped into the pan.  Bake until the strips are dark mahogany.  Cool on a wire rack.
4.  Once cooled, chop into small pieces, about sizes of grains of sand (I left mine bigger, but I also didn’t quite cook them long enough so they were still slightly chewy).
5.  For the ice cream, melt the butter in a saucepan, then stir in brown sugar and half of the whipping cream and half of the milk.  Pour the rest of the whipping cream and milk into a separate bowl, and set that bowl into an ice bath.
6. In another separate bowl stir together the egg yolks and slowly add the brown sugar mixture, whisking constantly as you pour.
7. Put this mixture back into the saucepan and cook at a medium heat, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of a spoon.
8. Strain the custard into the ice-bathed milk/whipping cream and stir until cool.  Add vanilla and liquor.
9. Refrigerate the mixture until chilled, then freeze according to your ice cream maker’s instructions.
10.  Add in the bacon at the last moments of churning, or fold/stir in after removing from the machine.
11.  CONSUME!