Sticky Toffee Pudding Ice Cream

I love it when the concoction I have in my head turns just as I had imagined. 

That photo above is exactly what I had envisioned when I set out to develop this ice cream. 

I searched the internet for a Sticky Toffee Pudding Ice Cream and could not find anything remotely close to what I wanted. I had seen a photo of  Haagen-Dazs sticky toffee pudding and knew I had to try it.

Had to.

Of course, the Haagen-Daz version is not available where I live. In fact, I believe it was a limited edition flavor so may not be available anywhere anymore. 

Anyway, I decided to make my own version. 

There are actually 3 separate recipes needed to make this come together but, TRUST ME, it is sooooo worth it. This may ruin you for any other dessert. 

Just warning you.

Sticky Toffee Pudding Ice Cream

Ingredients

Sticky Toffee Pudding

1/2 cup boiling water

8 oz dates

1 1/3 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

6 Tbsp butter, room temp

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

Rum Sauce

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup butter, cubed

1/2 cup whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

2 Tbsp rum

Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream

1 1/4 cup half & half cream

2 cups whipping cream

pinch salt

3/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 vanilla bean

5 egg yolks

Directions

Sticky Toffee Pudding - Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 12 cup muffin pan with cooking spray, set aside.

In a small bowl, pour boiling water over dates and let sit for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, blend dates and liquid in blender until smooth.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together butter and dark brown sugar until creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, until well combined. Beat in vanilla. 

Beat in the blended date mixture to the butter and egg mixture until well combined, scraping sides a few times. 

Stir in the dry ingredients until just combined and no white streaks remain.

Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups. 

Bake at 350 until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean, about 18 - 20 minutes.

Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edge and then invert onto a wire rack to let cool. Once cool you can cover these and set aside until later.

Rum Sauce - Place dark brown sugar, butter, whipping cream and vanilla in a medium saucepan. Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and stir in the 2 tbsp of rum. 

Let cool completely. (You can place in the fridge to speed process.)

Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream - In a medium saucepan, whisk together half & half, whipping cream, salt, and dark brown sugar. Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds. Add the seeds to the cream and then also add in the bean pod. 

Stir the cream over medium heat until mixture starts to steam. Remove from heat and cover for 5 minutes to let steep.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat the 5 egg yolks until light and smooth,, about 2 minutes. After the cream has sat for 5 minutes, remove the bean pod and discard (or save for another use). Very slowly, with the mixer on medium speed, pour the cream into the egg yolks. (Not too fast or you will curdle your eggs.)

Once it is all mixed, pour it back into the sauce pan and place over medium heat. Cook and stir until mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. 

Remove from heat and pour through a strainer into a bowl. Set the bowl in the fridge and let mixture chill completely, at least several hours.

Once chilled, pour mixture into an ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions.

Assemble the ice cream - Spread the ice cream into a 9 X 13 pan. 

Crumble up 2 of the sticky toffee puddings into tiny bits. Sprinkle the bits over the ice cream in the pan.

Drizzle 2 generous spoonfuls of rum sauce over the crumbs.

Freeze, covered, until solid. At least several hours.

Now, there are several ways to enjoy this ice cream.

1. On it's own...

2. In an ice cream cone (can also drizzle more rum sauce on top)

3. On top of one of the sticky toffee puddings. This is my favorite way. 

First, you have to prepare the pudding:

Take a pudding and place it on a serving plate. Microwave it for 20 - 25 seconds to warm it up. Remove it from the microwave and, using a chopstick or something similar, poke several holes on the top of it.

Pour a generous spoonful of  rum sauce on top. Let it sit for 2 minutes to sink in.

Now, flip the pudding over and place it back in the microwave for another 10 seconds.

Remove it and poke several more holes in the bottom with the chopstick. Drizzle another generous spoonful of rum sauce over the bottom. Let sit for a moment to sink in.

Scoop some sticky toffee pudding ice cream on top and drizzle with a generous spoonful of rum sauce.

You can, of course, just make the sticky toffee pudding WITHOUT any ice cream and just enjoy it smothered in tons of rum sauce.

Also not a bad dessert. 

And, by "not a bad dessert" I mean a delicious, decadent, ridiculously rich, amazing dessert.

The addition of the sticky toffee pudding ice cream on top of the sticky toffee pudding is pretty much the best dessert ever.

Ever.

True story. 

A few notes -- Use DARK BROWN SUGAR not light brown sugar. You want the kind of molasses-y flavor the dark sugar brings. 

If you want to serve the remaining 10 puddings as a dessert after a dinner (instead of 1 or 2 at a time) you can heat them all up by placing them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Just pop them into a preheated oven for a few minutes until they are heated through. Place the caramel sauce back in a saucepan and place over medium heat for a few minutes to heat up.  Poke the holes, drizzle the caramel, flip them over. Poke more holes, drizzle more caramel, and then serve.  

For more fun food links, head over to Carole's Chatter!