Candied Bacon & Bailey's Ice Cream

Finally!  Success! Eureka!  I have figured out how to make Bailey's ice cream that will actually freeze into ice cream!  In my prior attempts, I have only managed to make Bailey's milkshake.  I was successful with my Malt & Nutella ice cream, which was non-alcoholic.  But since alcohol does not freeze well, I previous attempts at an alcoholic ice cream was thwarted by the laws of science.  Well, I don't give up that easily.  No matter how many batches of alcoholic milkshake I'd have to endure (which really isn't so bad).

See, my mistake was adding the alcohol component too early in the process. And now that I've figured out the secret, VICTORY IS MINE!

While I was at it, why not add some candied bacon as well?  The little piggy on my shot glass certainly approved.

Candied Bacon

thick cut bacon

raw cane sugar

 

Preheat oven to broil.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Trust me, this will make the clean up so much easier.  

Place a rack over a foil lined baking sheet.  Coat each slice of bacon with raw cane sugar on both sides.  Shake off excess.  

Place each slice of sugared bacon flat on the rack, not touching each other.  

Broil in oven for about 5 minutes or until bacon is crispy.  Watch carefully because the sugar could burn very easily.

While the bacon is broiling, line another baking sheet with foil that is slightly crumpled.  

Once the bacon is ready to be removed from the oven, transfer the slices of bacon over to the other foil lined baking sheet to cool.  If you leave them on the rack, they will get stuck and be hard to remove.  The crumpling in the foil will help drain away excess grease as well.

Bailey's Ice Cream Recipe

1 cup whole milk

1 pint heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

3 oz Bailey's Irish Cream

candied bacon for garnish

Combine milk, cream, sugar and vanilla in a large saucepan.  Slowly bring to a boil over low-med heat, stirring occasionally.  

Beat the 2 eggs in a metal bowl.  One ladle at a time, very slowly add the hot milk mixture to the beaten eggs while whisking furiously.  Yes, furiously.  You want the hot milk mixture to gently temper the eggs without cooking them.

Once all the hot milk mixture is incorporated into the egg custard mixture, pour the custard mixture back into the pot and slowly bring to a gently simmer.  Do not let this boil.  Stir frequently with a wooden spoon until custard is at 170ºF or coats the back of the spoon.  Take mixture off heat.  Stir occasionally, letting custard cool to room temperature.  Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours.  The colder the mixture, the better.

Follow instructions of ice cream maker to turn the custard into ice cream!  Once the custard starts looking more like ice cream, slowly drizzle in the Bailey's.  Scoop the ice cream into a freezer safe container and freeze for at least 1 hour.

Either tear up the candied bacon to sprinkle on top of the ice cream or garnish each serving with a half slice (maybe even a whole slice) of candied bacon.  If you have enough candied bacon leftover from the "taste tests", do both.

Makes 4 cups of ice cream.