Burnt Sugar Ice Cream Food

BURNT CARAMEL PUDDING

Steps:

• 1. Heat the oven to 300°F.
• 2. Pour the cream into a small saucepan. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the cream; toss the scraped pod in there too. Turn the heat to low to gently warm the cream.
• 3. Reserve 2 tablespoons of the sugar. Pour the remaining sugar and the 1 1/2 tablespoons of water into a heavy-bottomed saucepan, set over medium heat, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Then crank the heat to high and let the liquid bubble away-don't stir, just swirl the pan occasionally-until it turns dark amber. This takes about 4 minutes, but watch closely, because it happens fast. Reduce the heat to medium.
• 4. Moving quickly, fish the vanilla pod out of the cream (rinse it and save for another use) and slowly stir the warm cream into the caramel. Once it comes to a boil (this will happen fast), remove from the heat and let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes.
• 5. Whisk the egg yolks with the reserved sugar and a pinch of sea salt in a medium bowl. Whisk a little of the cream-caramel mixture into the egg yolks, then gradually whisk in the rest until it's all incorporated.
• 6. Strain the mixture into a pitcher or large measuring cup and pour it into four 6-ounce ramekins (see Tips and Techniques). Place the ramekins in a shallow baking pan filled halfway with cold water. If you like your caramel a bit salty, like me, sprinkle a few grains of sea salt on top of each pudding. Cook for 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, until just set.
• 7. Chill the puddings for at least 3 hours; but it's best if you can chill them overnight. Serve with freshly whipped cream.

BURNT-SUGAR ICE CREAM WITH BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE

Steps:

• Pour the milk into a saucepan, and bring to a simmer.
• Combine the egg, flour and 1/2 cup of the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Start beating the mixture until it is thoroughly blended, and pour in the hot milk. Pour and scrape the sauce into a saucepan, and start beating over moderate heat. Cook until the mixture is thickened and smooth.
• Put the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar into a small nonstick skillet, and cook, stirring, until the sugar is melted and starts to take on a light caramel color. Immediately add the orange rind, and blend, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat. Immediately add the caramel-orange mixture to the sauce and blend.
• Line a mixing bowl with a sieve, and pour the sauce into it, pressing all around with the sides of a rubber spatula to extract as much flavor as possible from the orange rind. Discard the rind.
• Add the 1 cup of heavy cream, and stir. Let cool. Pour the mixture into the container of a hand-cranked or electric ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.
• Meanwhile, to prepare the butterscotch sauce, put the 1 1/2 cups of sugar into a 12-inch nonstick skillet, and cook, stirring, until the sugar is melted and becomes a dark caramel in color. Add the corn syrup, stir to blend, and remove from the heat. Stir in the butter to blend. Stir in the 2/3 cup of cream and the bourbon. Spoon the sauce over the ice cream and serve.