Burnt Honey Pistachio Ice Cream

Modified Polar Ice Creamery recipe. Original recipe had significantly more honey. I modified it to include corn syrup and dextrose for reduced sweetness and to improve the scoopability. Additionally I caramelized the honey to reduce the cloying sweetness and add more complexity to the flavor.

Add milk, cream, sugar, dextrose, corn syrup, and salt to a pot to heat up on medium/medium low heat. You can cover to avoid too much evaporation if desired.

In another pan, add honey and corn syrup and heat over low to medium low. Continue the caramelization until your desired color. The darker, caramelized honey will be less sweet and more complex in flavor. Do not pass 280 deg F or it will burn (fructose has a different caramelization temp than sucrose). This many take anywhere from 15-35 minutes based on the intensity of the burner and the size of the pan. Low and slow is better for control and flavor development.

Add shelled, roasted, salted pistachios to a food processer and blend well. It will take several rounds to reach a semi paste-like consistency. Add the hot milk mixture and continue blending to create a smooth pistachio paste/butter. Whisk it into the pot with the rest of the hot milk mixture.

At the desired caramelization level, add the hot milk mixture to the caramelized honey/corn syrup and whisk well. Chill in ice bath until ~104 deg F. Add guar gum and stick blend to homogenize pistachio base. Chill in ice bath and mature the base in the fridge 8-24 hours.

Other variation that I have not tested, but have read about. I'm not sure how much this smooths out the pistachios in the final mix. Start caramelizing the honey/corn syrup as this step usually takes the longest. Add the other ingredients into a Vitamix and blend well. You may omit the heavy cream to avoid whipping the fat too much and allow for a longer blend time for the pistachios. Warm the blended mixture up in pot while the honey reaches the desired caramelization level. Combine the pistachio base with the caramelized honey, cool in ice bath, add guar gum at the appropriate temperature and stick blend. Mature the base in fridge 8-24 hours.