Maple Bacon Ice-Cream is a frozen treat like no other. This unique use of our smoked bacon is ideal as a dessert with a difference this summer. Maple syrup and bacon are a popular combination of flavours so this recipe will guide you through creating maple ice cream with brittle bacon to churn into it.
You’ll need an ice cream maker to make around a litre of bacon ice cream with this recipe. The bacon mixture will produce enough for multiple batches of ice cream.
Ingredients for Bacon Ice Cream:
3 large eggs
85g sugar
A pinch of salt
240ml milk (full fat)
240ml maple syrup
480ml whipping cream
A tablespoon of unsalted butter, plus a little extra to grease a baking tray
Three rashers rindless smoked bacon
340g sugar
Half a teaspoon of baking soda
A small pinch of chilli powder
How to Make The Ice-cream:
Extract the yolks from the eggs.
Whisk the sugar, salt and egg yolks together so that they become a yellow colour.
Move the mixture to a saucepan and whisk in the milk. Heat at a medium temperature and stir as it simmers. Continue until the mixture thickens.
Stir in the maple syrup then put the mixture in a bowl and cool. Place in a fridge for around thirty minutes.
Next you need to prepare the bacon:
Grease a baking tray with butter.
Fry the bacon at a medium temperature until crisp. Drain any excess juices – unlike much supermarket bacon, we don’t add water when curing our rindless smoked bacon so you won’t find it shrinking in the pan.
Once the bacon has cooled, chop it into very fine pieces.
Stir the sugar whilst heating at a relatively high temperature in a saucepan. It will melt and turn golden; keep cooking until its colour is nearer an amber shade, then remove from the heat.
Add the butter as soon as the pan is off the heat and continue stirring. Add the baking soda, chopped bacon pieces and a small amount of chilli powder.
Pour out the syrup onto the baking tray and allow it to cool.
Remove the sugary bacon sheet from the tray and break into a few pieces. Take as much of this as you wish (around a third is generally good for the quantity of ice cream). Smash it into smaller pieces that can be mixed into the ice cream. Set aside the rest in an airtight container. This should last for around three days before they need to be put into a different batch of ice cream.
Stir the cream into the ice cream mixture and churn in an ice cream maker, stirring in the bacon pieces. Move to a container and freeze before enjoying your homemade bacon ice cream.
