Summary

Preparation Time for Day 1: Candying bacon and making the custard for the ice cream takes approximately one hour. That is including time in the oven and time on the cooling rack.
Preparating Time for Day 2: Ice Cream Machine: 25 minutes
Servings: 3/4 quart
Meal type: Dessert

Recipe Rating:  

Ingredients for Candied Bacon

• 5 strips bacon
  around ¼-inch or ½ centimeter
• 2Tbsp light brown sugar

Ingredients for Ice Cream Custard

• 3 tablespoons (45g) salted butter
• ¾ cup (packed) brown sugar (170g), light or dark (you can use either)
• 2¾ (675ml) cup half-and-half
• 5 large egg yolks
• 2 teaspoons dark rum or whiskey
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
• optional: ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions for Candied Bacon

1. Preheat the oven to 400F (200C).
2. Lay the strips of bacon on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or aluminum foil, shiny side down.
3. Sprinkle 1½-2 teaspoons of brown sugar evenly over each strip of bacon, depending on length.
4. Bake for 12-16 minutes.
5. Midway during baking, flip the bacon strips over and drag them through the dark, syrupy liquid that’s collected on the baking sheet.
6. Continue to bake until as dark as mahogany. Remove from oven and cool the strips on a wire rack.
7. Once crisp and cool, chop into little pieces, about the size of grains of rice.

Note: Bacon bits can be stored in an airtight container and chilled for a day or so, or stored in the freezer a few weeks ahead.

Instructions for Ice Cream Custard

1. Melt the butter in a heavy, medium-size saucepan.
2. Stir in the brown sugar and half of the half-and-half.
3. Pour the remaining half-and-half into a bowl set in an ice bath and set a mesh strainer over the top.
4. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks, then gradually add some of the warm brown sugar mixture to them, whisking the yolks constantly as you pour.
5. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.
Using brown sugar and half-and-half as opposed to cream gives a healthy allure to this ice cream — makes me forget the contrasting allure of candied bacon!
6. Cook over low heat, constantly stirring and scraping the bottom with a heatproof spatula, until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula.
I would say it’s best to stick to low heat as it is important not to let the mixture boil because that results in the eggs being cooks and that’s just not cool. On lower heat you will have to stir for longer, but then you also don’t have to worry about whether the temperature is going to cause your mixture to boil any second. Like David says, you know your custard has thickened enough when it coats the back of a spatula. Another sign is when a trail is formed behind the spatula as your are stirring.
7. Strain the custard into the half-and-half, stirring over the ice bath, until cool. Add liquor, vanilla and cinnamon, if using.
I opted to use the cinnamon and also decided to add half a cup of cream to the custard prior to adding the liquor, vanilla, and cinnamon. For the liquor portion I used Bourbon. The smoky aftertaste of the Bourbon combined with the marriage of the salty bacon and the sweet brown sugar may seem an unlikely union, but in your mouth it will be a festival of flavours!
8. Refrigerate the mixture.
I find that refrigerating over night is best. End of Day 1.
9. On Day 2, once thoroughly chilled, freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Approximately 25 minutes.

10. Add the bacon bits during the last moment of churning, or stir them in when you remove the ice cream from the machine.
11. At this point the ice cream is ready to be devoured, if you like. Although I find that I like my ice cream a bit firmer, and so I usually leave in freezer for at least 2 hours prior to consumption.

Results

The bacon ice cream usually expects cringes and reactions of confusion and disgust. But let me tell you, it is amazing! You would have bacon, eggs, and cream if not in frozen form, no questions asked. So why not embrace this “breakfast” ice cream and while you’re at it, have some Bourbon too.