Salted French Vanilla Brownie Ice Cream
Vanilla ice cream with brownies is a classic combination. This ice cream recipe adds a little bit of flaky salt for a fun & delicious, sweet & salty spin on a classic.
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Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ tsp table salt
- 6 egg yolks
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 tsp flaky salt (such as Maldon)
- 1 - 1 ½ cups brownies, cut into small pieces (pre-made, boxed brownies, or homemade - recipe below)
Brownies - Mini Batch (Optional)
- 1 oz dark chocolate
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 egg
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 pinch table salt
- ¼ tsp vanilla
- 2 tbsp cocoa powder
- ¼ cup flour
Instructions
- Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in medium bowl until light and fluffy. Set aside.
- Add whole milk, cream, vanilla, and table salt to a pot and place over medium heat. Stir constantly until warm.
- Slowly pour or ladle some of the warm milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture, while whisking constantly to temper the egg yolks. Continue until all of the milk mixture has been added.
- Pour the mixture back into the pot and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly. Cook until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon well.
- Pour the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve (optional) into a heat-safe container. Cover and let cool slightly at room temperature for 20 minutes. Then, place in the fridge and chill overnight, or until completely cold.
- If baking brownies to use in this recipe, prepare them now. A recipe for a mini batch of brownies is provided below, if needed. If using store-bought brownies, I recommend chilling them in the fridge so that they're cold when you're ready to add them to the ice cream.
- Churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer's instructions. You'll want to keep an eye on the ice cream as it's nearing the end of the churning process. When it is almost done churning, but still soft enough to incorporate ingredients, add the flaky salt and allow it to mix in.
- Manually mix in the brownie pieces, transfer to an air-tight container, cover, and freeze until firm.
Brownies - Mini Batch (Optional)
- Preheat oven to 325℉.
- Melt the butter and chocolate together in a microwave-safe bowl. Set aside.
- In a separate bowl, whisk egg, sugar, and salt until light and fluffy. Add the butter mixture and mix until combined.
- Add vanilla and cocoa powder and mix until combined. Then, gently mix in flour just until combined.
- Spread into a parchment lined or greased loaf pan and bake for 15 minutes or until edges are set and the middle no longer appears wet.
- Allow to cool, then place in the fridge to chill so they're cold and ready to add to the ice cream.
- Before adding to the ice cream, chop brownies into tiny bite-sized pieces.
Notes
Prepare Your Ice Cream Machine - If your ice cream machine has a bowl that needs to be frozen, remember to freeze it in advance so it's ready when you need it. I prefer to freeze it overnight to ensure it's fully frozen before using.
Tempering the Egg Yolks - This step is important because it allows the eggs to heat up slowly, so they don't curdle and cause little egg lumps in your ice cream mixture.
Cooking the Ice Cream - When cooking the ice cream, you'll know it's done when it coats the back of a spoon well. If you want to use a thermometer, it should reach this point around 160 - 180℉.
Strainer - Pouring the cooked ice cream base through a strainer or fine-mesh sieve is optional, but it ensures that you don't end up with any lumps or pieces of cooked egg yolk in your mixture.
Chilling the Mixture - I prefer to chill the ice cream base overnight to ensure it's fully cold and allow everything to meld together. If you don't want to wait that long to churn your ice cream, you can move onto the churning step once the ice cream base is fully cold.
Serving - If the ice cream has been in the freezer for an extended period of time, you may want to let it sit out on the counter for a few minutes to allow it to soften slightly before scooping.
Churning without an Ice Cream Machine - If you don't have an ice cream machine, I show an alternate method for churning ice cream here (https://brooksidekitchen.com/how-to-make-ice-cream-without-a-machine/).