We Teamed Up with Thrillist to Level Up Your Homemade Ice Cream

Ice cream machines are flying off online shelves, and first-time churners are experiencing the joy (and simplicity) of making ice cream at home. Our head ice cream maker, Tyler, teamed up with Thrillist to teach the basics of churning at home. Once you master those, try one of these three delicious ways to amp up your homemade ice cream: 

1. Freckled Bourbon Caramel
2. Sea Salt w/ Olive Oil Fudge
3. Roasted Strawberry White Chocolate Stracciatella. 

Follow the recipe for our ice cream base at the end of this post, then get churnin’.

 

FRECKLED BOURBON CARAMEL ICE CREAM

2 ounces single-origin chocolate

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

3 cups Ice Cream Base, very cold (recipe below)

½ cup Bourbon Caramel (recipe follows)

1. Pour the Ice Cream Base into an ice cream maker and churn just until the mixture has the texture of soft serve. 
2. While the ice cream is churning, pour an inch or so of water in a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer over medium-high heat. Combine the chocolate and vegetable oil in a heatproof bowl that’ll sit in the saucepan without touching the water. Put the bowl over the saucepan, reduce the heat to low, and heat, stirring occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted. Take the pan off the heat. The chocolate will stay warm until the ice cream is churned. 
3. Put the Bourbon Caramel in a warm place or heat very warm in a small saucepan just until it’s warm enough to be drizzle-able, but not so warm that it’ll melt the ice cream.
4. Once the ice cream is churned to about soft serve texture, lift the bowl of melted chocolate from the pan and dry the bottom of the bowl. With the machine still running, pour the melted chocolate through the chute in a very thin, steady stream. The warm chocolate will scatter and harden into freckles when it hits the cold ice cream.
5. Alternate spooning layers of the ice cream and drizzling on about 1 teaspoon of the Bourbon Caramel in a spiral in freezer-friendly containers. Cover with parchment paper, pressing it to the surface of the ice cream so it adheres, then cover with a lid. It’s okay if the parchment hangs over the rim. Store it in the coldest part of your freezer (farthest from the door) until firm, at least 6 hours. It will keep for at least 3 months.

Bourbon Caramel 

1½ cups granulated sugar

¼ cup light corn syrup

¼ cup water

1¼ cups heavy cream

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into several pieces

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon bourbon, whiskey, scotch or rye 

1. Combine the sugar, corn syrup, and water in a medium saucepan, and stir until all of the sugar looks wet. Cover and set the pan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has completely melted, about 3 minutes.
2. Continue to cook, covered but this time without stirring, until the mixture has thickened slightly, about 3 minutes. Remove the lid and continue cooking, without stirring and paying close attention, until the mixture turns the color of maple syrup, about 3 minutes more.
3. Take the pan off the heat and immediately and gradually pour in the cream, going slowly at first and then speeding up to a nice steady stream, whisking as you pour.
4. Put the pan over medium-high heat again. Attach a candy thermometer to the side of the pan. Let the mixture simmer away, stirring occasionally, until it registers 230F on the thermometer, about 3 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and add the butter, salt and bourbon, stirring slowly but constantly until the butter has completely melted.
5. Let the caramel cool to room temperature, transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Separation is totally normal. Just make sure to stir well before using.

SEA SALT W/ OLIVE OIL FUDGE ICE CREAM

Pinch flaky sea salt

3 cups Ice Cream Base, very cold

½ cup Olive Oil Fudge (recipe below)

1. Pour the Ice Cream Base into an ice cream maker and churn just until the mixture has the texture of soft serve. 
2. Once the ice cream is churned to about soft serve texture, add a pinch of flaky sea salt while the machine is still running.
3. Alternate spooning layers of the mixture and a few generous dollops of Olive Oil Fudge into freezer-friendly containers. Cover with parchment paper, pressing it to the surface of the ice cream so it adheres, then cover with a lid. It’s ok if the parchment hangs over the rim. Store it in the coldest part of your freezer (farthest from the door) until firm, at least 6 hours. It will keep for at least 3 months.

Olive Oil Fudge

¾ cup dark chocolate, chopped

1 ½ ounces water 

½ cup light corn syrup

⅓ cup heavy cream

½  ounce (1 tablespoon) olive oil

⅛ teaspoon xanthan gum

¼ teaspoon kosher salt

1. Place chocolate in a food processor or heavy-duty blender. Heat water, corn syrup, cream and olive oil in a pot. Bring to a simmer, stirring often. 
2. Mix xanthan and salt together and whisk into cream mixture. Pour cream over chocolate and blend until smooth. Cool completely before using.

ROASTED STRAWBERRY WHITE CHOCOLATE STRACCIATELLA ICE CREAM

3 cups Ice Cream Base, very cold

2 ounces white chocolate

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

¾  cup Roasted Strawberry Jam (recipe below)

1. Pour the Ice Cream Base into an ice cream maker and churn just until the mixture has the texture of soft serve. 
2. While the ice cream is churning, pour an inch or so of water in a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Combine the chocolate and vegetable oil in a heatproof bowl that’ll sit in the saucepan without touching the water. Put the bowl over the saucepan, reduce the heat to low, and cook, stir occasionally, until the chocolate is completely melted. Take the pan off the heat. The chocolate will stay warm until the ice cream is churned. 
3. Alternate spooning layers of the ice cream, drizzling a little of the melted chocolate, and spooning on about 1 teaspoon of Roasted Strawberry Jam, in a spiral in freezer-friendly containers. Cover with parchment paper, pressing it to the surface of the ice cream so it adheres, then cover with a lid. It’s okay if the parchment hangs over the rim. Store it in the coldest part of your freezer (farthest from the door) until firm, at least 6 hours. It will keep for at least 3 months.

Roasted Strawberry Jam

(Makes about 3/4 cup)

1 cup fresh strawberries, trimmed and roughly chopped 

1 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1. Heat oven to 350F. Put the strawberries on a baking sheet and drizzle with sugar and lemon juice and toss everything together to ensure the berries are completely covered in sugar. Spread them in an even layer and let sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes so the berries macerate a bit, then stir. 
2. Bake in the oven, stirring every 5 minutes or so, until the berries on the edge begin to caramelize a bit and get a little bit of roasted color to them, about 25 minutes. Stir the strawberries and be sure that the sugar is completely cooked into the strawberry juice, if there are any sugar granules remaining, continue baking until they have dissolved, usually another 5 minutes. 
3. Remove from the oven, cool to room temperature, and use the back of a spoon to lightly mash the strawberries. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

SALT & STRAW ICE CREAM BASE

(Makes about 3 cups)

½ cup granulated sugar

2 tablespoons dry milk powder

¼ teaspoon xanthan gum

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

1 ⅓ cups whole milk

1 ⅓ cups heavy cream

1. Combine the sugar, dry milk, and xanthan gum in a small bowl and stir well.
2. Pour the corn syrup into a medium pot and stir in the whole milk. Add the sugar mixture and immediately whisk vigorously until smooth. Set the pot over medium heat and cook, stirring often and adjusting the heat if necessary to prevent a simmer, until the sugar has fully dissolved, about 3 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat.
3. Add the cream and whisk until fully combined. Transfer the mixture to an airtight container and refrigerate until well chilled, at least 6 hours, or for even better texture and flavor, 24 hours. Stir the base back together if it separates during the resting time. The base can be further stored in the fridge for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 3 months. (Just be sure to fully thaw the frozen base before using it.)