Bourbon Ice Cream

Hmmm, bourbon ice cream?
Yep, I like the sound of that.
What about you?

Adding alcohol to ice cream can be tricky, if you over do it, it won't set up.
Maybe 3 Tbsp is the magic number, this worked out just right, and even after freezing over night it was easier to scoop than the vanilla bean ice cream I also made (which froze rock solid).
As much as you want to add more bourbon to the recipe, please restrain  yourself.
You can always add to the end result as a little "sauce", right?
It's been so hot, so a little cold, rich and yummy dessert doesn't suck, now does it?

You will need an ice cream maker.  I used a Cuisninart twin freezer for doing two small batches side by side.  This is just enough to fill and make one container.
 

(Shown is dark chocolate, but I didn't add this at the end as I had planned.)

Makes more than you should probably eat... LOL, but should be enough for 4 people
Ingredients

1 3/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

6 egg yolks
1/4 tsp sea salt

3 Tbsp bourbon (I used Maker’s Mark)

Before you start, make sure the canister of your ice cream maker is frozen. 
That's always the challenge for me, to freeze completely, the canister should be in the freezer for at least 6 hours before you attempt to churn your ice cream.

Make the ice cream base. In a heavy bottom saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk and brown sugar. Bring the mixture to a low boil, stirring. 

Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with the salt until they become pale yellow and slightly thickened.

Temper the egg yolks by whisking about a 1/2 cup of the warm cream/brown sugar mixture into the egg yolks. Then whisk the tempered egg yolks back into the saucepan with the remaining cream/brown sugar mixture. 

You can see that I am ready to go in the photo below.  I used the 1/2 cup scoop to add 1/2 cup of hot cream to the egg mixture while whisking.  Takes some skill (or some help from an another set of hands....) to do it, but keep mixing or you will have chunks of scrambled egg in your ice cream.  When you've added a cup or so to the eggs, you can then add it back to the saucepan of cream to mix the whole mess together.

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the ice cream base thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 2-3 minutes. 

Remove from the heat. Stir in the bourbon. Cover with plastic wrap, pushing it all the way down so it touches the surface of the ice cream base to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until chilled, at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.

Once completely chilled, pour the ice cream base into the canister of your ice cream maker. Churn until the mixture is nearly frozen and the consistency of soft serve, about 20 minutes. Add any additions (like chocolate nibs, or nuts) and churn for another 2-3 minutes to evenly distribute.

Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container and place in your freezer. The ice cream should become firm in about 4 hours. Enjoy!