Sunday, Mar 8, 2009

Maple Bacon Ice Cream

*Evil mad scientist cackle*

Lara and I were discussing—actually, I don't know what we discussing at the time. Maybe this idea was unconsciously inspired by the Bacon Explosion. Or the must-try bacon-wrapped date (no seriously, must try).

Maple. Bacon. Ice Cream.

You know it would be criminal not to act on that sort of inspiration when it comes [1]. After one false start [2], this is what I came up with tonight. I think it was inspired by the homemade lollipops I made with my mom as a kid.

INGREDIENTS: 4 strips of bacon 1/2 cup mountain spring water (just kidding; use the tap) 1/4 tsp maple extract [3] 1/8 cup white sugar 2 cups Breyer's vanilla ice cream Cook bacon on a frying pan until crispy. Cool and crumble. Set aside. Bring 1/2 cup of water to boil, mixing in 1/8 cup of sugar and 1/4 tsp maple extract. Boil on med-high for 5-8 minutes. Set aside all but a small amount (~1/8 cup?). Mix bacon crumbles into remaining candy mixture. Stir to coat. (I had a little too much liquid, and needed to add some sugar to get a good consistency, although that made the final candy a little grainy.) Cool bacon/sugar mixture in the refrigerator. When sufficiently cool, break into small chunks with a fork. Fold the bacon candy crumbles into 2+ cups of ice cream. Use the set aside maple syrup as an additional topping, if desired.

The bacon taste comes second, but it is unmistakable. I'll let Lara provide a critique in the comments section.

[1] I've purposefully avoided googling "maple bacon ice cream" out of fear that its already been done—and also so I'm not influenced by any other person's methods. Also, I'm a little embarrassed by this recipe, because Lara and I don't eat a lot of meat (however we do usually keep some chicken, shrimp, and bacon in the freezer to supplement or flavor the occasional meal).

[2] I thought I'd be clever and make a maple marinade on the bacon, which seemed to work well, until it came time for cooking. The maple extract quickly burned, and the bacon was not salvageable.

[3] We have the real stuff, but it's much too precious for the Phase I Maple Bacon Ice Cream trial.