I usually follow the Ben and Jerry's® ice cream book directions for making an ice cream base. Their recipe uses whole eggs. Well, there is one exception in this recipe ... the use of light brown sugar instead of white sugar, due to the desire to have that taste in the ice cream itself. Well, actually there is more than one exception ... a very important exception ... read the next paragraph.

Here is a great update. You can use the Food Nirvana recipe for Custard Ice Cream Base, using light brown sugar instead of white sugar, plus two teaspoons of vanilla, and add the butter brickle pieces for the last few minutes of freezing the ice cream in the gelato maker. You will be thrilled with the creaminess and richness of the result. Do adjust either the amount of butter brickle to accommodate the Custard Ice Cream Base recipe, or, adjust the Custard Ice Cream Base recipe amount to match the butter brickle amount in this recipe.

My favorite is the Custard Ice Cream Base, but the result using the Ben and Jerry's® base is good too. What I love to do with this ice cream is serve it in a dark brown sugar ice cream cone. Yummy! I also make three to four times the amount of butter brickle as needed and then I save the extra for later batches of the ice cream. That is a fine labor saver. Just keep the extra butter brickle in a sealed Ziploc® freezer bag.

Butter Brickle

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter

1/3 cup of light brown sugar

1/4 cup of white sugar

1 tbsp. of dark Karo®

1 tbsp. of water

Directions:

Add the brown sugar, white sugar, Karo®, water and butter to a small heavy bottom saucepan.

Bring to a boil over medium heat.

Continue to cook on low heat, stirring regularly, until a candy thermometer reaches 290 degrees F.

Pour the mixture onto a piece of parchment paper in a cookie baking sheet, as thin as you can (don't dump it into a pile!), and allow it to cool.

Once it has cooled, break up the butter brickle into pieces.

Put the butter brickle pieces into a one quart Ziploc® freezer bag, seal it and use a wood kitchen mallet to crumble them. Then set the bag with the crumbled butter brickle aside in the freezer.

Now proceed to make the ice cream and when it is frozen to a fairly firm texture add the crumbled pieces of butter brickle. You can use the nice Ben & Jerry's type of recipe below, or, use the Food Nirvana recipe for a custard ice cream base, flavored with vanilla, but also using brown instead of white sugar.

Ingredients: (makes about 5 cups)

1 cup of whole (4% butterfat) milk

2 cups of heavy cream

2/3 cup of light brown sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

3 extra large or 2 jumbo eggs

Directions:

Turn on the gelato machine to pre-chill it.

Use an electric mixer to mix the eggs for one minute on medium speed.

Add the vanilla and the brown sugar and continue mixing for two minutes.

Add the heavy cream and the milk and continue mixing for two minutes.

Transfer the mixture to the gelato machine.

Run the machine until the ice cream is fairly firm.

Add the butter brickle pieces and continue to run the gelato machine for two to three minutes to let the pieces blend into the ice cream.

Package the butter brickle ice cream in a six cup chilled plastic storage container with a tight fitting lid.

Hard freeze the ice cream in the deep freeze for four or more hours.

Serve. You will love this stuff!