Ingredients
For The Caramelized Apples
- 1 pound apples (3 large or 4 medium)
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons bourbon whiskey
- ½ cup packed light brown sugar (3 ½ ounces)
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
For The Crumble
- ½ cup all-purpose flour (2 ½ ounces)
- ⅓ cup quick (baby)oats (1 ¼ ounces)
- ⅓ cup light brown sugar (3 ½ ounces)
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced and slightly softened (2 ounces)
- ⅓ cup pecans, finely chopped (1 ¼ ounces)
For the Ice Cream Base
- Use a standard recipe for Basic Custard Ice Cream Base
Instructions
For The Caramelized Apples
-
Peel the apples, cut their flesh off the core, and into ⅛ slices and then cut each slice into three pieces.
-
Place them in a heavy cookware (I use a porcelain lined cast iron pan), and and add the 3 tablespoons of butter, 2 tablespoons bourbon, ½ cup brown sugar and ¾ teaspoon cinnamon.
-
Cook the apples until very tender on the stove top at medium to medium-high heat. You want to cook them until there is very little liquid left in the purée and they have broken down into a thick, chunky sauce, 45-60 minutes, stirring and mashing them a few times throughout the baking time. (A potato masher works well here.)
- Remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and set aside.
For The Crumble
- Meanwhile, combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a medium bowl. Add the butter pieces and work with your fingertips until the mixture forms large clumps. Work in the pecans until evenly distributed. The mixture should resemble gravel.
- Dump the crumble mixture onto a small, rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper, and spread it evenly. When the apples are done baking, reduce the oven temperature to 350º
- Bake the crumble until golden all over and crisp throughout, 15-20 minutes, giving it a gentle stir halfway through the baking time to help it cook evenly.
- Let the crumble cool completely.
- Place the crumble it in the freezer; this will get layered into the ice cream.
For the Ice Cream
- Continuing from the Basic Custard Ice Cream Base, pick up where you strain the custard. Strain the base into the bowl containing the caramelized apple purée.
- Using an immersion blender at a normal speed of 3 or 4, blend the apple purée with the custard base until it is throughly integrated.
- Freeze overnight.
- In the morning taste the mixture and see if you need any further bourbon for your tastes. Remember adding more than 2 additional tablespoons will impact the texture of the ice cream after you churn and freeze it (i.e. too much alcohol will result in a soft serve type ice cream).
- Churn the ice cream using your manufacturers instructions.
- After 20 minutes or so, when the ice cream is firm but not too frozen, turn off the ice cream maker. Layer the ice cream with the frozen crumble to cream a multi-layered ice cream with layers of crumbles.
- Let freeze for another two to three hours and then enjoy!