Recipe

Creole Cream Cheese And Praline Ice Cream

Ingredients

Using a sharp knife, split the vanilla bean in half, scrape out the insides, and reserve the bean. In a large nonreactive saucepan over medium heat, combine the heavy cream, sugar, vanilla pulp, the scraped bean, and salt. Heat the cream to the scalding point (when bubbles form around the edges of the pan). Remove from the heat.
Beat the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl. Add the cream mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time, to the beaten egg, whisking well between each addition, until it is all used. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and cook, stirring, over medium heat until the mixture becomes thick enough to lightly coat the back of a spoon, 2 to 3 minutes.
Remove from the heat. Stir in the cream cheese and blend thoroughly. Cover the top of the mixture with plastic wrap (this will keep a skin from forming) and let cool. Place in the refrigerator and chill completely. Remove from the refrigerator and fold in the pralines. Pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and follow the manufactureís instructions for churning time.