Sous Vide Caramelized Honey Ice Cream

Did you know you could caramelize honey using the Anova Precision Cooker? When caramelizing honey, it develops a deep rich and slightly nutty taste to it. And now that summer is upon us, I like to use the caramelized honey in place of sugar in a vanilla bean ice cream recipe. The combination of caramelized honey with vanilla bean and fleur de sel creates a rich, sweet, floral taste with nutty hints to keep things exciting. Use the extra caramelized honey to drizzle over the ice cream for a toffee-like topping.

Author

Chris Jay

Prep Time: 04:30

Recipe Time: 24:00

Temperature : 181F / 82.8C

Ingredients

• 1 cup honey
• 1 3/4 cups heavy cream 
• 1 1/4 cups 2% milk
• 1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large egg yolks
• Fleur de sel or other flaky salt, for serving

Directions

1. Attach the Anova Precision Cooker to a vessel of water and set the temperature to 181°F (83°C).
2. Seal the honey in a vacuum seal bag. Transfer to the water bath and cover the vessel with a container lid or plastic wrap. Cook for 24 hours. Remove from the water bath.

Finishing Steps

1. Transfer 1/2 cup of the caramelized honey to a 2-quart saucepan. (Reserve the remaining honey for serving.) Add the cream, milk, vanilla bean, vanilla bean seeds, and salt. Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat.
2. In a medium heatproof bowl whisk the yolks. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot cream until combined.
3. Place the bowl over a second saucepan of simmering water. Slowly heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture registers 165 to 170°F (74 to 77°C). (Because of the honey, the ice cream base won’t thicken to the point where it will coat the back of a spoon like a typical recipe.) 
4. Strain the ice cream base into a 1-quart container and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the fridge until completely cool, at least 4 hours.
5. Churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. 
6. Serve, drizzled with extra caramelized honey and sprinkled with fleur de sel, right away or store in the freezer until needed.