Butter Pecan Ice Cream

This weekend my family celebrated my Gramps' 87th birthday.  My sister always remembered that Gramps' favorite ice cream flavor was butter pecan.  So, I asked if I could make some for the soiree.  I researched a few recipes and came up blank.  How is it that the internet has no satisfactory butter pecan ice cream recipes?  Come on, internet!  I mean, ice cream should not include sweetened condensed milk or copious amounts of cornstarch.  Real talk.

In my humble opinion, - okay...I'm not being very humble right now...- maple syrup is a great way to intensify pecan flavor, so my recipe includes a splash of Grade B.  And check out my post from last week to see how to make the pecans crunchy and buttery.

Ingredients

-5 eggs yolks
-16 oz heavy cream
-16 oz whole milk
-pinch of salt
-1 vanilla bean
-230 g (~1 c.) light brown sugar
-120 g maple syrup (~1/3 c.)
-desired amount of caramelized pecan pieces

1. Heat the cream, milk, salt and scraped vanilla bean in a medium saucepan to a simmer.

2. In a bowl, whisk together sugar, maple syrup and egg yolks.

3. Pour the hot cream mixture into the bowl over the eggs and sugar, whisking and adding only a little at a time until fully incorporated.  Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

4. Cook mixture, stir constantly with a wooden spoon.  Cook until any bubbles dissipate and the mixture coats the back of the spoon when a finger is dragged across it.

5. Strain and chill the ice cream base until cold.

6. Spin ice cream per the instructions on your ice cream maker.  Fold in pecans and freeze.