Pecan Ice Cream with Butter Cream

Pour milk and cream into a heavy-bottomed saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir. Heat until the milk mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, gradually adding sugar. Whisk until the mixture doubles in volume and becomes creamy in texture.

Gradually pour the hot milk mixture into the beaten egg yolks, stirring constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pot, place over medium heat and stir constantly, scraping the edges and the bottom of the pot. Whisk until thickened, but do not allow the cream to boil. As soon as the cream reaches the consistency of liquid sour cream, remove from heat.

Cool the cream in a water bath. Fill a large bowl halfway with very cold water and ice cubes. Place the saucepan with the cream on top of it. Stir the cream occasionally for about 30–40 minutes until it cools down.

Remove the saucepan with cream from the water bath, cover it tightly with a lid, and place it in the refrigerator for 4–5 hours for further cooling.

Prepare the pecan nuts: chop them into medium-sized pieces.

Place a non-stick skillet over medium heat and preheat for 2 minutes. Melt the butter on the heated skillet surface. Add the chopped nuts and stir until the butter darkens by 1–2 shades from its original color and the nuts become slightly golden, approximately 3–4 minutes. Remove from heat. Transfer the nuts and melted butter to a separate plate and sprinkle lightly with salt. Cool to room temperature.

Remove the chilled cream from the refrigerator and transfer it to an ice cream maker. Churn for 20–40 minutes. In the last minute of churning, add the roasted pecans. Fill a container with the resulting mixture and place it in the freezer for 3–4 hours until completely frozen.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, immediately transfer the chilled cream to a container, stir in the roasted pecans, and place in the freezer. Remove the container and stir the contents every half hour until completely frozen.