In honor of one of my most favorite days of the year, here's my favorite ice cream recipe. Brown butter ice cream has a very rich and creamy mouth  feel, and a warm toasty, nutty flavor. 

It would be great with some toasted Marcona almonds, or a brittle of some kind, maybe a little caramel sauce. But, don't do too much, you really want the ice cream to be the star of this dish.

Brown Butter Ice Cream

8 tbs. unsalted butter

2 1/2 c. cream

1/2 c. 2% milk

6 egg yolks

1/3 c. brown sugar

1/3 c. white sugar

1 tbs good vanilla extract

1 large pinch of salt

Start by slowly heating the cream and the milk together.  You want to use a heavy bottomed pot in order to prevent the cream from scorching. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saute pan on low heat. Then whisk the eggs, sugars, salt and vanilla together in a large bowl. You want the color of the mixture to be pale yellow and all the sugar to be dissolved.

Check the butter. You're looking for the milk fat in the butter to brown. When it starts to turn it happens pretty quickly, so you want to keep your eyes on it.  Don't let it burn or you will have to throw it away and start over.  You can smell when the butter is browned. It will smell nutty and there will be brown specks in it.  When this happens, immediately remove it from the heat and strain it into a separate bowl. Then, pour the butter a little at a time into the egg mixture, mixing after each addition. This process is called tempering. Make sure all the butter is completely incorporated.

When the cream has just reached a simmer, remove it from the heat. Again, temper the cream mixture into the egg mixture until it is completely incorporated. Pour this mixture back into the pot and cook over medium to low heat until the mixture coats the back of a spoon about 5 minutes.  Also look for it to coat the bottom of the pot. If you scrape the spoon on the bottom, you should get a little stuck to the spoon.  Remove from heat and strain through a fine strainer into a clean bowl.

Place this bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice and water. Cover the surface of the mixture directly, with plastic wrap and chill the mixture down to room temperature.  When it has cooled place it in the refrigerator for at least 6hrs and up to 12hrs.

When chilled, spin the ice cream base according to manufactures instructions.  For me, this was only about 15min.  You don't want to over mix because it could form too many ice crystals which will make the ice cream harder and change the final mouth feel. Next place the ice cream into a clean plastic container and freeze completely.  This recipe will produce about 2 quarts.

Before enjoying, leave the ice cream out on your counter for 5-10 minutes depending on the temperature in your kitchen. This will allow the ice cream to melt just a little and it will make it easier to scoop.  It will also bring our the flavor just a little bit more.

This is the BEST ice cream I've ever made.  We try to savor it and only eat a little at a time.  Really, we could finish it all in one sitting. I hope you celebrate one of the best national days this summer with this amazing recipe.