Maple Candied Bacon Ice Cream

That's right.

Bacon. And ice cream. Together.

Some of you just let out an unbridled squeal of joy. Others shuddered.

Just hear me out for a second. How many times have you dipped your breakfast bacon in the leftover maple syrup on your pancake plate? If even only once then you have tasted one of the most delicious, delightful, delectable food combinations on the planet - the salty crunch of heaven-sent bacon dripping in the amber, smoky sweetness of maple syrup.

This is that deliciousness in ice cream form.

And if you're going to make ice cream from scratch, if you're going to go through all that trouble [although it really is quite easy], you should probably make something that you can't just go the store and buy, right?

Ok, done with the justification.

When I brought this concoction along with me to a 4th of July barbeque this weekend, even the most skeptical were soon shoveling it into their mouths with reckless abandon, all the while questioning how they were eating meat-filled ice cream and enjoying it so immensely.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, you could still make the candied bacon and put it on some regular vanilla ice cream with a drizzling of maple syrup [bacon sundae anyone?]. Or just devour it on its own. The brown sugar melts and hardens around the bacon, giving it a crunchy sweet shell that you can just snap in half. Seriously, heaven. Recipe after the jump...

Maple Candied Bacon Ice Cream

[makes about a quart]

For the candied bacon:

5 strips of thick-cut bacon (I used Oscar Mayer's thick cut)

light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cover a baking sheet with foil and put a wire baking rack on it. Roll the strips of bacon in the brown sugar and line them up on the rack. Bake for 15-20 minutes, checking frequently, until the bacon is a dark reddish brown color. Remove and transfer the bacon to a paper towel to drain and cool.

For the ice cream:

2 cups milk

1 cup heavy cream

2/3 cup real maple syrup

1/3 cup light brown sugar

1/3 cup sugar

dash salt

dash cinnamon

candied bacon, chopped in small pieces

Beat together everything except the candied bacon, until the sugars are dissolved. Pour into an ice cream machine and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Just before churning is complete, add candied bacon to machine. Pour into container and freeze overnight.