October 12, 2011

Pear Caramel Ice Cream

In the midst of our pear eating marathon I was also in the midst of an intense dessert craving.

The result? Pear Caramel Ice Cream on Pear-Ginger Skillet Cake with a drizzle of Easy Caramel Sauce. No, not made all in the same day. Luckily ice cream waits patiently until you’re ready.

Do I need to tell you that this was heaven on a little plate? Because it was.

The ice cream recipe? Below. So easy. And you don’t have to crack eggs.

The caramel recipe? The sauce from this Pioneer Woman recipe. Gets thicker and better tasting in the fridge overnight. Just so you know.

The cake recipe? Coming. I promise. I’ll be doing a review and giving away a couple copies of Farmers’ Market Desserts by Jennie Shacht in November. I’ll share the recipe then, along with another one that might make your head spin. (Here’s the link!)

Plus I need to make this cake again because I screwed up the first time. Apparently cakes need baking soda to rise. Psh.

Pear Caramel Ice Cream

Prep Time: 20 minutes + chilling and freezing

Ingredients:

3 medium-sized ripe pears, peeled, cored, and diced
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

Spread the sugar in a large saucepan. Cook over medium heat, watching it carefully. When it begins to liquify and darken around the edges, use a heatproof spatula to (very) gently stir the sugar, coaxing the liquified sugar to moisten and melt the crystals in the center.

Once the sugar becomes deep amber in color and completely melted, stir in the pear pieces. There might be some splattering, so be careful. As you stir you may find that the sugar has hardened into a rock-hard lump. Keep stirring. As you cook the pears, the liquid will dissolve the sugar chunk. Continue to cook until the mixture is entirely liquid and the pears are cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in 1/2 cup of the cream, then mix in the remaining cream, along with the salt and lemon juice. Let the mixture cool to room temperature.

(Optional step. To me anyway, I didn't do this part.) Puree in a blender, then press the mixture through a strainer.
Chill the mixture thoroughly in the fridge, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Nat's Note: Because I didn't strain out the pear fibers the ice cream had a slight grainy texture (like pears do). It didn't bother me.

very slightly adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Desserts - Frozen, Gluten-Free

30 comments »

30 Responses to “Pear Caramel Ice Cream”

1

warmvanillasugar — October 12, 2011 @ 12:14 pm

This sounds so yummy!

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2

Rosemary — October 12, 2011 @ 12:16 pm

Have to admit, never dreamed of pear ice cream. (Nor garlic!) But this looks delicious, especially with that dripping caramel sauce. Waiting for the cake recipe!

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3

The Three Little Piglets — October 12, 2011 @ 12:56 pm

Ooh I haven't tried that one yet – I've got the White Chocolate Ice Cream on my to make next list from his book…

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4

April — October 12, 2011 @ 2:28 pm

That PW caramel sauce recipe is my GO TO!! I kinda take a little liberty and use heavy cream and vanilla bean paste! It's ridiculous how good that stuff is!

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5

Karly — October 12, 2011 @ 2:41 pm

You are so creative in the kitchen! I love it!

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6

Jodi — October 12, 2011 @ 3:25 pm

I had never thought about pear ice cream but I'm sure it is heavenly. I make pear jam and before a couple years ago I had never heard of that either. But its heavenly too!

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7

Natalie — October 12, 2011 @ 4:05 pm

warmvanillasugar – Yes. These three were seriously the perfect trifecta. :)

Rosemary – I know! There are so many crazy flavors out there. I'm not sure if I could go for garlic, though…

Jen – Let me know how the White Chocolate ice cream turns out!

April – Oh man… I bet cream and vanilla bean would take it to a whole other level.

Karly – Why yes, I AM creative in the kitchen – with other peoples recipes. lol.

Jodi – I've never had pear jam, either! I bet it's delicious!

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8

Cookin' Canuck — October 12, 2011 @ 4:53 pm

I don't know which is more tempting – the ice cream or the cake. Together they seem like a match made in heaven. We have a little pear tree in our backyard and a HUGE bowlful of ripe pears. This looks like a wonderful thing to make with them.

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9

Brandi — October 12, 2011 @ 5:57 pm

This looks so, so good. I love pears + caramel together.

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10

Joanne — October 12, 2011 @ 6:20 pm

This combination might just be the death of me…or make me eternally happy.

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11

Natalie — October 12, 2011 @ 7:26 pm

Dara – They really are a match made in heaven… and the stars were perfectly aligned!

Brandi – I do, too! I think they're perfect complements.

Joanne – It made me eternally happy. If I made it every week, I think death would be involved. (Or much larger pants.)

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12

Natalie — October 12, 2011 @ 8:10 pm

can't wait for those november recipes! I'm drooling at this once…I've been making more ice creams lately too, soon to be posted are coconut rum, snickerdoodle, and salty caramel. time to take a break from the heavy cream :)

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13

Eliana — October 12, 2011 @ 8:34 pm

This ice cream looks sinfully delicious.

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14

Amy from She Wears Many Hats — October 13, 2011 @ 12:12 am

Wow. So lovely. I have 3 pears that have been sitting on my counter waiting for something to do. This looks perfect!

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15

marla {Family Fresh Cooking} — October 13, 2011 @ 1:53 am

Pear cake & ice cream…heavenly!!

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16

Natalie — October 13, 2011 @ 3:33 am

Natalie – I can't wait for yours, either! Especially the snickerdoodle one. Does it actually have pieces of snickerdoodle cookies in it?? (That's an idea…)

Eliana – Sinfully? :) I never feel guilty about anything I eat!

Amy – Thank you! I think you should recruit those pears. They'd feel right at home in there!

Marla – Yes, exactly. :)

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17

Ann — October 13, 2011 @ 3:55 am

Holy cow – you're a genius! AMAZING! I can't wait to explore the recipes and bookmark!

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18

Budget Gourmet Mom — October 13, 2011 @ 3:56 am

Natalie, that dessert sounds positively fabulous! I should really know better than to read your blog before bedtime. I need a snack.

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19

Jolene - EverydayFoodie — October 14, 2011 @ 5:04 am

I always see such amazing ice cream recipes (like this one) and then really, really wish I had an ice cream maker.

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20

Natalie — October 14, 2011 @ 5:08 am

Ann – You're way too nice. :) I'll have the cake recipe for you soon!

Krista – Thank you! I'm learning not to be on the computer period before bedtime. Everywhere I go makes me hungry!

Jolene – Get an ice cream maker. Now!! :)

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21

pinksuedeshoe — October 14, 2011 @ 3:52 pm

Wow. My mouth is watering and I haven't even had breakfast yet. (probably part of the problem. I can totalyl justify cake and ice cream for breakfast!)

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22

Carolyn — October 14, 2011 @ 11:00 pm

Oh, my, this recipe is yours? I saw it on Foodgawker and instantly saved it!

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23

Food Jaunts — October 15, 2011 @ 3:04 pm

Holy crap, this looks a-maz-ing! I'm such a huge fan of pears but never thought to combine them with caramel. Great post

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24

peanutbutterandpeppers.com — October 16, 2011 @ 11:16 am

Ok, I need to invest in an ice cream maker!!

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25

marla {Family Fresh Cooking} — October 17, 2011 @ 4:00 am

Just circling back again to let you know that I will be linking back to this pear bliss tomorrow :)

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26

Cara — October 18, 2011 @ 1:59 am

Can't wait to read more about this book you speak of!

The ice cream sounds fantastic. And I am with you on that blending step being optional; I would like to keep the chunks of fruit too. I bet it would be delicious with a crumbly granola-like topping too.

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27

Amanda — October 22, 2011 @ 2:57 pm

Wow! this would be a great Thanksgiving dessert in place of the normal pumpkin/apple pie. Or, you could put the ice cream in the middle of a poached pear. oh the ideas!

Amanda
softandstiffpeaks.blogspot.com

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28

Melanie Flinn — October 23, 2011 @ 3:15 pm

Oh that looks awesome. Bought a huge bag of pears a couple weeks ago and really wanted to make cake but ended up with a pear bread.

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29

Kate — November 14, 2011 @ 7:01 pm

Gracious, that looks good. Might have to pull my ice cream maker out for this one!

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