Sweet Potato Butter Pecan Frozen Custard

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: African American, Soul Food

Keyword: frozen custard, ice cream, pecans, sweet potato

Prep Time: 10

Cook Time: 30

cooling and aging time: 4 45

Total Time: 5 25

Servings: servings

Calories: 510kcal

A brown butter sweet potato custard is flecked with buttery pecans in an epic mashup of flavors.

Begin a day ahead for best results.

Slowly melt 7 tablespoons of the salted butter over medium-low heat in a 4-quart saucier. Reserve the remaining tablespoon for buttering the pecans.
The butter will foam up during the start of cooking and you will begin to notice flecks of brown on the bottom of the pot at around 6 1/2 minutes of cooking.
The browning of the butter should take 7 1/2-8 minutes.
Stir the brown sugar into the butter in the pot once the fat solids are the color of a cup of coffee with cream. The mixture will look like sludge as you stir the two together.
Heat this mixture for 1 1/2 minutes while stirring to encourage the sugar crystals to dissolve slightly.
Pour in the whole milk, heavy cream, vanilla extract, and bourbon and bring the mixture to a steaming point while stirring to dissolve the sugar completely, or approximately 10 minutes.
Swap out your spoon or rubber spatula for a french whip, which helps you get closer to the sides of the pot to ensure all of the custard is cooking evenly.
Whisk the sweet potato puree into the milk and sugar mixture in the pot.

Use a ladle to remove 1 cup of the hot custard base from the pot.
Slowly drizzle the hot liquid into the beaten egg yolks while whisking constantly.
Pour the now-tempered eggs back into the pot of hot liquid in the same way.
Increase the cooking temperature to medium. Bring this mixture in the pot back up to the steaming point while constantly stirring to avoid clumps.
Use a rubber spatula or spoon to test if your custard is thick enough. Dip the spatula into the custard base and see that it coats the spatula evenly.
Use your fingertip to draw a line down the middle of the spatula. The custard is done when the edges of that line hold without running.

Pour the custard base into a fine-mesh sieve, using a rubber spatula to stir it around in the sieve.
Once the custard is fully strained, cool it, uncovered, until it reaches room temperature.
Once the custard comes to room temperature, cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.

Melt the remaining tablespoon of salted butter in a 10-inch sauté pan over medium-low heat and add the chopped pecans.
Stir the pecans frequently and toast them for 10 minutes or until fragrant.
After toasting the nuts, transfer them from the pan to a container and allow them to cool completely.

After aging the custard base, stir it very well.
Pour the base into your ice cream maker and churn it for 20 minutes.
Once the mixture thickens to a soft serve consistency, add the buttered pecans to the ice cream maker while it churns.
Churn the frozen custard for another 5 minutes.
Scoop your churned custard into plastic quart-sized ice cream containers.
After packing the frozen custard into the containers, store them upside-down in the freezer for at least 2 hours before scooping it.
Before scooping your frozen custard, allow it to warm up on the countertop for 10 minutes to make scooping easier.
Serve this sweet potato butter pecan frozen custard on its own scooped into bowls or ice cream cones or a la mode style on your favorite desserts.

You can replace fresh sweet potato puree with mashed canned sweet potatoes. Be sure to drain any liquid from the can before you mash them.
You can replace the sweet potato puree with the same amount of pumpkin puree. But it won't be a sweet potato butter pecan frozen custard.
Replace the pecans in this butter pecan recipe with the same amount of chopped walnuts, almonds, or hazelnuts.

Tempering eggs prevents them from curdling when you add them to a hot liquid.
Cook the custard for 5-8 minutes longer if it's too runny. If the mixture is super-thick, like pudding, stir in 1/2 cup of milk into the mixture to thin it out.
If you don't strain the base, the frozen custard will come out lumpy and stringy.
I strongly recommend aging the custard overnight.
The aged custard base will be considerably thicker after chilling.
You don't want to add hot ingredients, like nuts, fruits, or chocolate, to a frozen custard base, or it will take longer to churn. The longer you churn your ice cream or frozen custard base, the likelier it is to curdle.
This recipe makes 1 1/2 quarts of sweet potato butter pecan frozen custard, so you'll need two containers.
Storing ice cream containers upside-down eliminates air pockets in the container, which leads to stale-tasting ice cream or frozen custards.
If the frozen custard is breaking apart while you're scooping, it's still too cold. Allow it to warm up a little while longer.
Gritty frozen custard results from churning while the custard base was warm or adding sweet potato puree that was too watery.

Store sweet potato butter pecan frozen custard in tightly-sealed containers in the freezer for up to 3 months. Any longer and the custard begins to form ice crystals and taste stale.