Make Bacon Ice Cream Parfaits

Last month we had a birthday party for a friend of ours who happens to love bacon.  In honor of him and his love of all fatty pork products, we decided to have a bacon tasting and cook-off.  I decided to pull out all culinary stops and make parfaits with homemade buttered popcorn ice cream, bourbon maple syrup, candied pecans and my not-so-secret ingredient, Benton’s Bacon, which is famous among bacon aficionados and is luckily located just 45 minutes outside of Knoxville and now available at any Knoxville food purveryor’s worth their salt.  The parfaits were truly decadent– creamy, sweet, smoky and salty.  Proceed with caution.

Trust me: the picture does not do this dessert justice.

Bacon Ice Cream Parfaits

Buttered Popcorn Ice Cream (via epicurious)

• 2 cups popped popcorn
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 2 cups whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 5 tablespoons sugar, divided
• 8 large egg yolks

Set a strainer over a large bowl; set aside. Place popcorn in another large bowl. Drizzle butter over and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt; toss to coat. Add milk and cream; cover and steep for 10 minutes. Stir in corn syrup and 1 tablespoon sugar. Working in batches, purée popcorn mixture in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.Using an electric mixer, beat yolks, remaining 4 tablespoons sugar, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl until thick ribbons form. Gradually whisk hot popcorn mixture into yolk mixture. Return to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until custard is slightly thickened, your finger leaves a path when drawn across the back of a spoon, and an instant-read thermometer registers 175°F, 3-4 minutes. Pour through strainer. Cover and chill overnight.

Process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a container, cover, and freeze.

Maple Bourbon Syrup

• 3/4 C pure maple syrup
• 1/4 C bourbon
• 1 T bacon grease (optional)
• 1 stick cinnamon

Heat ingredients over medium heat until simmering.  Reduce heat and let warm on low until you are ready to assemble the parfaits.

Bacon Ice Cream Parfaits

• Buttered popcorn ice cream
• Candied pecans, chopped
• Cooked Bacon, chopped
• Maple Bourbon Syrup

Spoon one scoop of ice cream into a bowl or parfait glass.  Sprinkle pecans and bacon in a thing layer over scoop.  Add another scoop of ice cream, sprinkle with more pecans and bacon.  Drizzle syrup over parfait and serve.

For more recipes like this one, check out the Domesticity Page.