Egg Nog Ice Cream with Hot Buttered Rum Sauce

Ingredients

For the ice cream:

3 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
1 vanilla bean
6 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup dark rum optional
1/2 to 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

For the sauce:

6 tablespoons salted butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup whipping cream
2 Tablespoons light corn syrup
1 Tablespoons dark rum
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Instructions

For ice cream, combine whipping cream and milk in a heavy sauce pan.
Scrape in vanilla bean and seeds. Bring to a simmer.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl to blend.
Very gradually add hot cream mixture to eggs whisking constantly to distribute the heat. I usually whisk in a ladle full of hot cream to start, then slowly pour the rest in while whisking. You don't want to scramble your yolks so you want to bring them up to temperature slowly.
Return mixture to sauce pan and stir constantly over medium heat until custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon when finger is drawn across.
Strain into a large bowl.
Mix in rum, vanilla and nutmeg. (I didn't use the rum.)
Let cool, cover then refrigerate overnight.
The next day, process the mixture in an ice cream maker according to your manufacturer's directions. Transfer to a container and freeze.
For the sauce, melt butter in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Add brown sugar, cream and corn syrup and stir until sugar dissolves. Boil 1 minute, no longer. Remove from heat. Mix in rum. Cool slightly. It will thicken as it cools. Can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. If it needs to be thinned after storing, reheat with a bit of cream, stirring until mixture is desired consistency.

Recipe Notes

* I don't like to put a steaming hot bowl of liquid into my refrigerator, so I place the bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice and water and stir the mixture every so often to bring it to a cooler temperature before placing it in the refrigerator.

*I put a range in for the nutmeg measurement. I love nutmeg so I used the full teaspoon. Nutmeg makes it taste like egg nog to me. If you like less, use less.

*The rum will also give it a traditional egg nog flavor if you're used to your eggnog spiked. We don't use it in the ice cream because of the kids, but if you like your desserts a little boozy and love the taste of rum, definitely add it in.

*The original recipe had 2 Tablespoons of rum in the sauce, if you like more rum, increase it to this amount. I think 1 Tablespoon gives it plenty of flavor without overpowering the sauce.

*You may need to add a pinch more of salt to your rum sauce depending upon what kind of butter you use. I love a salted caramel; the salt brings out the flavor, so season to taste.

Recipe Source from a trusted friend