Vanilla Bean Bourbon Pecan Praline No Churn Ice Cream

Gee, it’s been a while and I hope all are doing well, this pandemic has cause so much uncertainty, I do hope that you are healthy and have been able to maneuver and cope through the lockdown. So many things have changed and it seems like a much different world and I crave normalcy.

I recently tried some vanilla from a wonderful start up company Indo Vanilla. The vanilla beans are lovely, soft and loaded with seeds that add an incredibly intense vanilla flavor. Summer is winding down but I couldn’t resist as sort of a last hurrah making ice cream,  its still very hot out and I didn’t want to cook so this simple recipe is exactly what I wanted.  I saw a recipe on Food52 from Nigella Lawson for a creamy no churn Coffee ice cream, it looked so good I had to give it a try but changed the flavor adding the vanilla, bourbon and pecan praline. It is truly delicious,  simple to make, very creamy and it comes together so quickly. I changed a few things adding a little more heavy cream because sweetened condensed milk is very sweet and in Nigella’s recipe the coffee which is bitter mitigates the sweetness.

Vanilla Bean Bourbon Pecan Praline No Churn Ice Cream

Makes approximately 1 1/2 pints of ice cream

Quick Pecan Praline

1 heaping cup pecan halves

1/4 cup loose brown sugar

2 tbs honey

3 tbs melted butter

Mix all ingredients in mixing bowl, pour onto a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 350 degree’s for 15 minutes. Let cool before chopping or breaking into bite size pieces. Note: You can toast pecans and just add plain pecans instead of making the praline. It’s just as good!

Ice Cream Base

1 1/2 c heavy cream

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

Seeds from 2 vanilla beans

2 tbs bourbon

pecan praline or toasted pecans approximately 1 cup

Place all ingredients except pecan praline into chilled mixing bowl. Beat using electric mixer or whisk until soft billowy peaks form. Fold in the pecans or pecan praline. Spoon into freezer safe container, I used a loaf pan. Cover and freeze at least 6 hours or overnight.