Pear Caramel Ice Cream

Pear Caramel Ice Cream
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
Instructions
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.
This sounds so yummy!
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!
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…
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!
You are so creative in the kitchen! I love it!
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!
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!
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.
This looks so, so good. I love pears + caramel together.
This combination might just be the death of me…or make me eternally happy.
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.)
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 :)
This ice cream looks sinfully delicious.
Wow. So lovely. I have 3 pears that have been sitting on my counter waiting for something to do. This looks perfect!
Pear cake & ice cream…heavenly!!
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. :)
Holy cow – you're a genius! AMAZING! I can't wait to explore the recipes and bookmark!
Natalie, that dessert sounds positively fabulous! I should really know better than to read your blog before bedtime. I need a snack.
I always see such amazing ice cream recipes (like this one) and then really, really wish I had an ice cream maker.
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!! :)
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!)
Oh, my, this recipe is yours? I saw it on Foodgawker and instantly saved it!
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
Ok, I need to invest in an ice cream maker!!
Just circling back again to let you know that I will be linking back to this pear bliss tomorrow :)
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.
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
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.
Gracious, that looks good. Might have to pull my ice cream maker out for this one!