Butter Pecan Ice Cream

the American ice cream parlour classic: pecan halves slowly toasted in brown butter until deeply golden and faintly salty, then folded through a vanilla bean custard ice cream churned to a silky, fine-grained cream

Origin: The American South, USA

From the journey of Pecan.

Butter pecan is one of the three or four ice cream flavours that have defined the American ice cream parlour tradition. Along with vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, it belongs to the canonical set of flavours that any American ice cream shop must offer, and it has been among the most popular ice cream flavours in the United States throughout the twentieth century — persistently, stubbornly popular in a way that newer and trendier flavours have not managed to dislodge. This loyalty is explained by the flavour itself: the combination of slow-browned butter and toasted pecans, stirred through a vanilla custard, produces a deeply warm, richly complex experience that is quite unlike any other ice cream, the nuttiness of the pecans amplified by the brown butter, the sweetness of the custard checked by the slight bitterness of the nut, and the whole finished by a careful addition of salt that makes the caramel-vanilla base sing. The technique of browning butter before toasting the pecans is what elevates the home recipe above the commercial product. Most commercial butter pecan ice creams are made with butter-flavoured oil and inadequately toasted pecans; the home version, made with real brown butter and pecans toasted in it to a deep, fragrant gold, is a revelation by comparison. The brown butter itself, stirred into the custard base, adds a distinct nuttiness that is separate from the pecan but entirely complementary to it, producing two layers of roasted-nut character in a single ice cream.

Ingredients

Brown Butter Pecans

  • 120 g unsalted butter
  • 250 g pecan halves
  • 0.75 tsp flaky sea salt

Custard

  • 600 ml double cream
  • 300 ml whole milk
  • 1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped (or 2 tsp vanilla extract)
  • 6 large egg yolks
  • 180 g caster sugar
  • 1 tbsp dark brown sugar

Method

  1. Make the brown butter pecans: melt the butter in a wide, light-coloured frying pan over medium heat. Continue cooking, swirling occasionally, until the butter foams, the foam subsides, and the milk solids at the bottom turn deep brown and smell of hazelnuts and toffee. Add the pecan halves immediately and stir to coat. Cook for 2–3 more minutes, stirring, until the pecans are deep golden and fragrant. Spread on a tray lined with baking paper, sprinkle with the sea salt, and allow to cool completely. Reserve any brown butter left in the pan.
  2. Make the custard: combine the cream, milk, vanilla pod, seeds, and any reserved brown butter in a saucepan. Heat until just below boiling. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks, caster sugar, and brown sugar together in a bowl until pale and slightly thickened.
  3. Pour the hot cream mixture gradually over the egg-yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Return to the pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon and a finger drawn across the spoon leaves a clear line (82–85°C). Do not boil.
  4. Strain the custard through a fine sieve into a bowl set over ice. Discard the vanilla pod. Stir until cool, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight.
  5. Churn the cold custard in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions until thick and creamy. In the last minute of churning, add most of the brown butter pecans (reserve a handful for serving), broken roughly so the pieces are irregular.
  6. Transfer to a lidded freezer container and freeze for at least 2 hours until firm. Serve in generous scoops, topped with the reserved brown butter pecan halves.

Notes

If you do not have an ice cream machine, the custard can be frozen in a shallow metal tray, removed every 30 minutes over 3 hours and beaten vigorously to break up ice crystals, and then left to freeze solid. The texture will be slightly coarser than machine-churned but entirely acceptable. The brown butter pecan clusters can also be served on their own as a snack, scattered over oatmeal, or used as an ice cream topping independently of this recipe. They keep in an airtight jar at room temperature for a week.

The Gastrographer

The Gastrographer

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route
Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control
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