Toasted Milk Powder: Browned Butter Bourbon Ice Cream

Alright you caught me. I know you noticed me using the word custard in the recipe. Technically this is a French ice cream. So, what’s the difference? Let me explain:

– American ice cream is made with milk, cream, sugar, and flavorings. It has a very high milkfat content to get around its lack of egg yolks as stabilizers, think 14-25% milkfat. American ice creams’ volume changes drastically during the churning process, sometimes exceeding a 50% increase in volume. That’s a LOT of air!

– Italian ice cream or gelato, like American ice cream, does not use eggs. It also uses more milk and less cream than all other ice creams. Gelato usually has a milkfat content of around 4-9%. Gelato gets its density and creaminess from how slowly it’s churned and from the warmer temperature it’s served at.

– French ice cream or Crème glacée also uses egg yolks, but there can be less yolks by weight than in frozen custard. French ice cream’s custard base is always cooked before churning. Any ice cream that uses less than 1.4% egg yolks and more than 10% milkfat must be labeled French ice cream in the U.S. The change in volume (overrun) typically won’t be more than 40% after churning.

– Frozen custard includes at least 1.4% egg yolks by weight and more than 10% milkfat. The volume should not increase by more than 30% when churning. Originally, frozen custard was made in small batches, to preserve freshness, and wasn’t heated before churning. But commercially it has to be pasteurized to kill any bacteria before churning.

Technically, no. However, you can use bourbon extract to flavor the ice cream and significantly reduce the alcohol by volume. I’ve never made this ice cream with bourbon extract, but based on what I found online, you can check out OliveNation for their Bourbon Whiskey Extract. Their website description says you only need a few drops for cakes and whipped creams.

The beauty of this browned butter bourbon ice cream recipe is that you add alcohol and/or pure extracts after cooking the custard. Add the bourbon extract one drop at a time to the finished custard, then mix and taste it. The eggs are fully cooked, so you won’t risk food poisoning. Make sure the bourbon flavor is slightly too strong before mixing. As the custard chills, the ice cream’s aroma molecules become trapped, reducing the ice cream’s sweetness and overall flavor.

If you’re nervous, err on the side of caution and use a light hand, then adjust the next time you make it, if necessary.

Yes. I did test this recipe several times with lower proof bourbons, but the final flavor of the ice creams was too sweet. And, unless I used more alcohol, the bourbon flavor wasn’t strong enough. Adding more alcohol, made the ice cream meltier and overall, it was not a great experience. Stick to the strong stuff!

NOPE. Let’s talk vanilla…

Extract: You can absolutely use Neilsen-Massey’s pure Madagascar Bourbon vanilla extract for the same flavor, if you don’t have access to vanilla bean paste. It’s a 1:1 ratio for substitution. Add the vanilla extract to the ice cream base after straining the cooked custard into the rest of the chilled cream.

Pods: You can also substitute the paste with a single Madagascar Bourbon vanilla bean pod. Slice down the center of the pod and scrape out the insides with the back of your knife. Add both the seeds and pod at the same point you’d add the paste. Using a vanilla bean pod adds about 30 extra minutes to the recipe. In order to infuse the custard enough, it must steep for a bit. Don’t forget to reheat the cream back up to 140°F (60°C) before tempering the eggs.

This vanilla specifically comes from the Bourbon Islands off the eastern coast of Africa. It does not actually refer to bourbon the liquor. However, in my opinion, it’s complexity and richness of flavor outshines all other varietals of vanilla.

Okay, so here’s my ringing endorsement of Neilsen-Massey products. (No, I am not sponsored. I WISH!) Their quality and variety are, quite frankly, amazing. I don’t use any other vanilla extract products in my home. This means I can only tell you about what they have for purchase. Real quick, here is a description of each extract and how I would use it: (An * means it also comes in paste form.)

Madagascar Bourbon vanilla*: This extract is rich, warm, and complex in flavor. I use it in anything where I want the vanilla to stand out on its own against deeply flavored ingredients.

Mexican vanilla*: This vanilla has a lighter flavor and spiced edge that works well in tangy, spicy, and tropical applications.

Tahitian vanilla: This extract has the lightest flavor of them all. Use it where strong-tasting ingredients won’t overwhelm it; think Chantilly cream, meringue, pavlova, etc.

Ugandan vanilla: This extract is fruity and bold with notes of chocolate, making it perfect for creamy chocolate and caramel applications.

Indonesian vanilla: This is another bold and fruity extract, but it has notes of caramel and smoke. I recommend this vanilla for baking spiced and masala chai-flavored recipes.

Pure vanilla*: Blended vanilla, aka pure vanilla extract, is crafted to be the best of all worlds. It comes from a blend of vanilla beans sourced from multiple countries for a balanced yet strong flavor you can use in any recipe.

If you use pure vanilla extract or a single-sourced vanilla extract, the ice cream will taste different. If you want to substitute for a different vanilla, I suggest sticking to Indonesian or pure vanilla bean extract (a blend) for this recipe.

Tempering is a technique used in cooking to ensure even heating and prevent heat shock. It involves gradually heating or cooling ingredients that are sensitive to heat. Think eggs, sour cream, chocolate, and spices.

If you are worried about cooking your eggs during tempering, you can do 2 things:

1. Make absolutely sure the cream mixture is 140°F (60°C) or less before tempering. 

2. Ladle the cream into the eggs a bit at a time so you can better control how much liquid is added.

The protein Ovotransferrin, found in egg whites, cooks in temperatures as low as 140°F (60°C). If you pour too much heated liquid at once or too hot of a liquid in any amount, the proteins will cook, causing them to coagulate and shorten (aka scrambled eggs).

As long as you add the hot liquid in small amounts and stir constantly it will spread out the intense temperatures and gentle heat the eggs.

So, I know the go-to descriptions are coating the back of a spoon or spatula and fluidity after running your finger over the coated utensils. But there’s quite a bit of nuance even in those phrases.

Here’s a larger description from uncooked to over-cooked custard to help you out.

Stage 1: During the first 5-7 minutes at medium-low/low heat, the ice cream base remains very liquid. If you dip a spoon into the mixture and look at the back of it, you will see the liquid bead up and run off the spoon.

Stage 2: Over the next 15-20 minutes, the custard will thicken and start looking like fruit nectar or buttermilk. You will feel a slight resistance as you stir, but the mixture moves easily, with the liquid trailing slightly behind the spoon instead of splashing freely. Look for a gentle swirling motion, with visible ripples forming on the surface. The cream will coat the back of a spoon at this point. However, if you run your finger along its surface, the cream will still be too runny. The coating will be thin and very see-through.

Stage 3: You shouldn’t have more than 5-10 minutes left at this point. Use the spoon test every 2-3 minutes until the cream doesn’t run back and it looks hazy on the spoon. You should be able to turn the spoon gently side to side and not have the cream shift into the separation you made. (YOU’RE DONE!)

Stage 4: If you continue to stir and let the custard thicken into the consistency of caramel syrup, honey, or condensed milk, you have cooked your custard too long. This does not mean it is over cooked or scrambled. It simply means that you’ve evaporated too much water out of the mixture. This results in a lower than recommended the freezing and melting temperature.

Essentially it means two things. 1.) That your ice cream needs to be at a lower temperature to freeze. And 2.) Your ice cream will melt at a lower (cooler) temperature.

This tends to make ice cream feel creamier. However, it actually means the ice cream melts faster and takes longer to re-freeze. And a lengthy re-freeze promotes larger ice crystal formation. Larger ice crystals mean icy textured ice cream. Typically, it can take weeks for this texture develop as you remove your ice cream from the freezer over and over again. But, the lower these temperatures the quicker the texture change.

This recipe already lowers the ice cream’s freezing and melting points with the addition of alcohol and the toasted milk powder. Thickening the custard to a caramel consistency would be great for a plain vanilla ice cream, but not great for this particular flavor.

What do you know, another two-part response!

1. Constantly stir: Do not walk away from the cooking custard. You need to continuously stir and scrape the bottom of the pot during cooking. It only takes a few moments for the custard to sit too long in one place and clump up. The fat, sugar, and water surrounding the egg proteins help lower the chance of scrambling, but it remains a concern. A few clumps might form here and there. You can strain them out but try to keep the custard as smooth as possible. I highly recommend using a spatula instead of a whisk, because a whisk doesn’t reach all the corners of a pan or fully scrape the bottom.

2. Use a double boiler: Add about 1in (2.5cm) depth of water to a saucepan and place a heat safe bowl over the top of the pan. Turn the burner to medium/med-low so the water begins to simmer (NOT a rolling boil) and heat the bowl. Add all the tempered custard to the bowl and stir until the mixture has thickened and passed the spoon test. This step takes longer with a double boiler, but you have far less of a chance to scramble it. With a double boiler, the custard isn’t directly touching the pot, which is touching the heat source, so there is less intense heat transfer.

Yes, with one caveat.

You can completely negate the need to chill before spinning the custard, as long as you get the ice cream base down to 43°F (6°C) before churning it. To do this, nest the cooked browned butter bourbon ice cream custard bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice. Stir until the aforementioned temperature is reached. You may need to add more ice or completely change out the larger bowl with fresh ice. Then, finish the recipe as written.

The trade-off to omitting the long chill time, is your flavors will be less developed without that time to infuse, mellow, and become uniform. 

Of Note: For anyone thinking about using rock salt, I don’t recommend it unless you have a machine that requires it. Yes, adding ice cream (rock) salt to the ice bowl will help cool the custard even faster. However, I promise you’ll get salt on your hands and possibly into the custard. That being said, it could be a fun science experiment if you want to split the custard equally and have your kids race or something.

Two factors influence the final color of this browned butter bourbon ice cream: egg yolk color and toasted milk powder color.

Egg Yolk Color: Egg yolk color is directly related to the diet of the chickens they come from. In the U.S., chickens often consume a commercial diet primarily consisting of corn, soybeans, and other grains. This diet contains much lower levels of carotenoids compared to the more natural diets of pasture-raised, free-range, and European chickens. Fewer carotenoids result in less vibrant yolk color.

Toasted Milk Powder Color: Milk powder starts off as white or just off-white. The longer you toast it, the deeper its color becomes, which results in a more saturated final ice cream color. I like to toast my milk powder until it reaches a warm, light brown color.

Of Note: Your ice cream will lighten in color as it churns. During the churning process, two things happen that change the way light scatters through its structure, making it visually lighter in color. First, the churning whips air into the ice cream mixture, creating tiny air bubbles. These air bubbles increase the volume of the ice cream (known as the overrun) and allow light to pass through the mixture more than before churning. Additionally, as the mixture freezes, ice crystals form and refract light through themselves and the newly incorporated air bubbles, further lightening the ice cream’s color.

Don’t have an ice cream maker? That’s okay!

Put you fully chilled custard in the freezer and after about an hour remove it and scrape down the ice cream that has begun to freeze around the edges. Return it to the freezer and check in every 30 minutes using a hand-held mixer to really break up any frozen sections. It should be ready to eat in about 2-3 hours. It won’t be as creamy as a machine, but it’ll still be delicious.

First, I’ve linked some recipes below in the “other recipes to try” section. There are others on my site as well, but that’s a good place to start.

Second, I’ve written resource articles on Toasted Milk Powder and its base ingredient Powdered Milk, to give you even more context. They will help you learn how the powders are made, how they can be used, and even vegan options.