The Echo Chamber Blog

I probably first heard about bacon ice cream back in the days of playing the Iron Chef drinking game.  One fact remains the same: whether hammer-faced off of Milwaukee’s Best in 2001 or stone cold sober on a Wednesday evening in September ‘09, bacon ice cream sounds incredible.  Unfortunately, I’ve never had the opportunity to indulge in this instant-artery-clogging delight.

However, today’s Providence Journal featured a step-by-step recipe for David Uygur’s maple bacon ice cream.  And while I’m not crazy for much of anything maple flavored (that shit hurts my teeth), he suggests at the end of the recipe to serve over hot waffles with caramelized apples and cider syrup, which sounds like a delicious melding of flavors good enough to be any fat boy’s last meal.

I’d like to make it.  Problem is, I don’t have an ice cream maker, I haven’t caramelized apples before, nor have I ever even heard of cider syrup.  So, fellow TECB foodies, fat boys, and/or yuppies, I ask you these questions:

• Do you have an ice cream machine, and, if so, why haven’t I been invited to your residence to eat bacon ice cream?

• Which type of apples would be best to caramelize?

• And is cider syrup like a reduction of apple cider, or is it something I’d have to pay twenty-dollars a jar for at Whole Foods?

Any feedback/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Uygur’s recipe below the cut…

MAPLE BACON ICE CREAM

1 cup maple syrup
1/2 pound uncooked bacon
8 egg yolks
3/4 cup granulated sugar
4 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk

In saucepan over medium heat, reduce maple syrup to 3/4 cup.

In another saucepan, render the bacon until it is very crisp.

Drain the fat and dry the bacon very well with several paper towels. Transfer the cooked bacon to a cutting board and chop the bacon into very small pieces. Set aside.

In a bowl, whip the egg yolks with the sugar and maple syrup until the mix is light in color.

Blot the pot you cooked the bacon in with paper towels, then add the cream and milk. Heat over medium heat until hot to the touch but not boiling.

Ladle 1 cup of the hot cream and milk mixture into the egg mix and stir thoroughly to combine. Pour the egg mix into the rest of the hot cream mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture coats the back of the spoon.

Strain the mixture into a bowl set on top of another bowl that is filled with ice. This will chill the mixture more quickly and ensure that it will not overcook.

Once the mixture is quite cold, freeze it in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Once the ice cream is frozen, fold in bacon bits and freeze overnight.

Serve with a hot waffle, caramelized apples and cider syrup.

Makes approximately 2 to 2 1/2 quarts

Nutritional analysis per 1/2-cup serving, based on 2 quarts: 395 calories, 31 grams fat, 23 g carbohydrates, 7 g protein, 190 milligrams cholesterol, 238 mg sodium, no dietary fiber, 70 percent of calories from fat.

— Recipe from Chef David Uygur, Lola The Restaurant, Dallas