1vanilla beansplit and 'caviar' removed or 2 teaspoons pure vanilla paste or extract
1 ¼cupsheavy cream
2 ¼cupswhole milk
2vanilla beans
¾cupgranulated sugar
3egg yolks
¼cupcaramel sauce(recipe shown below)
½cupmini chocolate chips or 1/3 cup standard size chocolate chips
Instructions
Heat half-and-half and sugar in a saucepan over low heat, adding vanilla bean “caviar” to the mixture. (You can also add the scraped vanilla bean to the pan for extra flavor, but be sure to discard the bean before moving to the next step.) Turn off heat when mixture is heated through, but not boiling.
Beat egg yolks with a whisk or an electric mixer until pale yellow and slightly thick. Temper the egg yolks by SLOWLY drizzling 1/2 cup of hot half-and-half mixture into the eggs, whisking constantly. Pour the egg yolk/half-and-half mixture back into the pan containing the rest of the half and half mixture. Cook over low to medium-low heat until quite thick, stirring constantly. You will know the custard is ready when it reaches 185 degrees F. or coats the back of a metal spoon.
Strain custard through a fine mesh sieve to remove any possible pieces of cooked egg, then pour into bowl with the heavy cream. Stir to combine and refrigerate until chilled completely.
Prepare in an ice cream maker per manufacturers directions. Add chocolate chips and caramel sauce to machine during last 10 seconds of processing.
Place container in freezer until ice cream is frozen, approximately 4-6 hours.
For the Caramel Sauce
Heat sugar on moderately high heat in heavy-bottomed 2 or 3-quart saucepan. As sugar starts to turn liquid, stir gently with a silicone whisk or wooden spoon. DON'T OVER STIR! Just let the sugar work its magic and stir from time to time to assure that the sugar on the bottom doesn't burn.
As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, STOP STIRRING. You can swirl the pan a bit if you want, from this point on, but don't stir. Note: This recipe works best if you are using a thick-bottomed pan. If you find that you end up burning some of the sugar before the rest of it is melted or you have large clumps of sugar, turn the heat to low and let it sit untouched...the clumps should melt. Next time you attempt it, add a half cup of water to the sugar at the beginning of the process, OR start with lower heat to help sugar cook more evenly.
As soon as the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color, like an old copper penny), immediately add butter and whisk until butter has melted.
Remove from heat, count to three, then slowly add cream to the pan and whisk to incorporate. Note: When you add the butter and cream, the mixture will foam up considerably.
Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass jar or other heat proof container and allow it to cool to room temperature before adding to the ice cream.