It's a Golden Ripple of Goodness

There's a great ice cream place where the hubs and I go each summer and they have a delicious Golden Ripple Ice Cream - vanilla with caramel and Kit-Kat bars. TO DIE FOR DELICIOUS!!

And now that it's February and we have a mountain of now on the ground, I'm craving Golden Ripple - makes sense, right?

So I decided to try my hand at making it myself. And it didn't turn out half bad if I might say so!

I started off by taking a stab at making homemade caramel sauce for the first time. It worked pretty well actually! I used a recipe from Mel's Kitchen Cafe for Divine Carmel Sauce. Her recipe was delicious and easy and surprisingly, I didn't mess it up!

Divine Caramel SauceFrom The Joy of Cooking via Mel's Kitchen Cafe

1/4 cup water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cut into 8 pieces

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

pinch of salt

In a small, heavy saucepan, combine the sugar and water. Set the pan over low heat and stir the mixture gently until the sugar is dissolved. I don’t ever get a completely clear syrup but I let it warm over medium-low heat (a 3 on my stovetop) for at least 6-10 minutes before moving to the next step. To be sure the sugar is dissolved, I’ll dip a spoon in the sugar mixture and then gently slide my finger over the mixture on the spoon and take a taste. If the sugar is dissolved, the syrup will be smooth and not at all grainy. If you still feel grains of sugar, keep stirring over low heat until it is completely dissolved. Make sure the sugar is completely dissolved before letting the mixture come to a boil. Once the sugar is completely dissolved, increase the heat to

medium or medium-high and bring the syrup to a boil. Cover the saucepan and let the syrup boil for 2 minutes. Uncover, reduce the heat to medium, and continue to boil the syrup until the edges start to turn golden brown. Carefully and gently stir the syrup until it turns a deep amber, caramel color. On my stove, this takes about 5-7 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add the butter. Gently stir until the butter is incorporated. Stir in the cream. If the sauce becomes lumpy and isn’t whisking together, set the pan over low heat and stir until smooth. Stir in the vanilla and salt.

Serve the sauce warm or at room temperature. Store the sauce in a jar or

airtight container, tightly sealed, in the refrigerator for up to 1 month. Reheat on low power in the microwave or in a saucepan, adding a tablespoon of two or water, if needed, if the sauce is too thick.

Now if you're going to just use the caramel and not make this ice cream, serve it warm, enjoy! But I learned that if the sauce is too warm when you go to layer it in with the cold ice cream, you end up with a high ratio of ice crystals in your ice cream and not the smooth creamy vanilla ice cream texture you're going to be seeking. So let this cool if you're going to put it in as a mix in for ice cream. I would almost make this the day before and let it cool and sit in the fridge before making the ice cream.

Stephany's Take on Golden Ripple Ice Cream

1 cup whole milk, well chilled

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 cups heavy cream, well chilled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 bag fun sized Kit-Kats, open each piece and cut them in to thirds - You'll use all but 3 pieces of the candy -because those are the three pieces you'll want to indulge in as you are making this - trust me!

Special Equipment: Mix It In Soft-Serve Ice Cream Maker

Place milk and sugar in a medium bowl. Use a hand mixer on low speed for about 1 to 2 minutes or a whisk to mix until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream and vanilla extract. If not freezing immediately, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Turn on ice cream maker and pour in ingredients. Allow to mix and freeze until desired serving consistency is reached. Begin checking consistency after 12 to 15 minutes of freezing. If ice cream is not thick enough, pour back into the freezer bowl and continue mixing/freezing until desired consistency is reached, checking every few minutes.

In a freezable container, place a thin layer of candy pieces. Then scoop in a layer of ice cream from the maker. Place another layer of candies, drizzle in some caramel, ice cream, candies, caramel, ice cream, etc. until you end with ice cream. Sprinkle some of the remaining candy pieces and crumbs on the top of the container and drizzle with some more caramel, pop the lid on and freeze for at least 24 hours before indulging!

I guarantee this will taste like summer, in the middle of a miserable winter! Just add flip flops and sun glasses!