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Seaport Salty Swirl Ice Cream is full of chocolate covered pretzels and peanuts, then swirled with salted caramel and peanut butter sauces.

Seaport Salty Swirl Ice Cream

You'll need to plan ahead to make this ice cream since the base needs to refrigerate overnight. I made the base the day before and the sauces the day of serving. Once the ice cream is layered with the sauces, you'll need another four hours of freezing time.

Ingredients

For the ice cream base:

  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste optional

For the salted caramel sauce:

  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 3/4 cup unsalted butter room temperature
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream room temperature
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt I used fleur de sel

For the mix ins:

  • 1/4 cup chopped salted peanuts
  • 1/2 cup chopped chocolate covered pretzels

For the peanut butter sauce:

  • 1 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 2 Tablespoons whole milk
  • 2 Tablespoons heavy cream
  • 4 Tablespoons honey

Instructions

  1. Prepare an ice bath in a bowl large enough to accommodate a medium heat proof bowl.
  2. Make the ice cream base by mixing the heavy cream, milk, sugar and salt in a medium sauce pan. Heat to 170 degrees F on an instant read thermometer. Do not boil.
  3. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla paste, if using, then pour mixture into a medium heat proof bowl (I used a pyrex bowl.)
  4. Place bowl into the ice bath to help it cool down to room temperature, keeping the water level below the rim of the bowl so it doesn't get into your mixture. Stir occasionally to aid in cooling. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  5. Make the caramel sauce. In a heavy bottom sauce pan heat the one cup of white sugar over medium heat. Do not touch the sugar until you see all of the sides begin to melt. They may already look like they're turning a deep caramel color. Don't let this process go too far or your sugar will burn. Once you see the melted sides, use a spoon or heat proof spatula to pull the melted sides into the center. Stir it frequently until it reaches a deep amber color and becomes syrupy, lowering the heat if necessary.
  6. Once it becomes syrupy, remove the caramel from the heat and add the butter. Stir until it is completely melted. You may have clumps of caramel that form. Don't worry about it. Add the cream and the salt and combine as best you can, then return to the heat, stirring frequently until the mixture completely combines. If you had any clumps of caramel, they should melt and combine with the butter and cream as you heat it. Once your sauce has come together, remove from heat. I had a few tiny clumps of caramel left, so I strained my mixture into a mason jar to remove them. If you don't have that issue, just pour your sauce into a heat proof container to cool.
  7. Make the peanut butter sauce. Combine all ingredients for the peanut butter sauce in a sauce pan and warm until combined and smooth. You could also do this in the microwave. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  8. Once your ice cream base has been chilled overnight, pour into an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's directions. When the ice cream is nearing the end of churning, add the chopped chocolate covered pretzels and peanuts and finish churning.
  9. Spoon a small layer of peanut butter and caramel sauce into the bottom of a freezer safe container. Spoon a layer of ice cream on top and lightly spread to even it out. Continue layering sauces and ice cream until container is full. I like to end with a layer of sauces.
  10. Cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent freezer burn and seal the container with a lid, if you have one, or cover tightly with more plastic wrap or foil. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours.

Recipe Notes

*I mention heat proof containers a few times throughout the recipe. I used mason jars or pyrex bowls. If you pour a hot mixture into a glass container that isn't tempered, you will risk it cracking, which will ruin your container and your sauce. So choose your containers carefully.

*My peanut butter sauce cooked a bit too long while I was doing camera adjustments and it was more thick than saucy. I decided to use it that way so that I had soft spoonfuls of the mixture throughout my ice cream. I could have added a bit more milk or cream and heated gently to bring it back to a saucy consistency. Either way will work out fine, if it happens to you.

*The sauces will take some time to cool before you use them. They must be cooled to room temperature before you layer them with the ice cream or they will melt it. So don't even worry about churning your ice cream until your sauces have both cooled and are ready to use.

*You will have leftovers of both sauces. I had about half of each left over. These should be refrigerated and used within two weeks. They will get very thick in the refrigerator, but can be brought back to their saucy consistency with gentle heating. Do not overheat or bring to a boil.

*Since you will layer as much as you want into your ice cream based on preference, I left the full recipes in. I wouldn't halve the caramel, because I like having caramel sauce on hand for other recipes. The peanut butter sauce can be easily halved if you don't want left overs.

*If you want a short cut, use a good quality prepared salted caramel sauce. I would probably use Trader Joe's Fleur de Sel Caramel Sauce. I'm giving you a link so you know what it looks like. It's less expensive to buy it in the store. Feel free to use what you like. However, the homemade sauce is really good and adds lots of flavor.

Recipe slightly adapted from Scoop Adventures The Best Ice Cream of the 50 States

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