Prepare the cranberries: Place the cranberries in a small bowl. Heat the cranberry juice in a small sauce pan just until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan. Pour the warm juice over the cranberries; set aside about 1 hour. Once plumped drain the berries.
Make the pralines: Place the oven rack in the center position and preheat to 350 degrees F.
Combine pecans, brown sugar, honey, butter, cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a small bowl. Stir to combine.
Spread the nuts in a single layer onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes. Move the nuts around with a fork to keep them from clumping. Bake 2 more minutes, move the nuts around again, then cook 2 or 3 more minutes. The nuts will look bubbly. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Move them around several times during the cooling process to keep them from sticking to each other as much as possible. Once cooked break any large clumps up with your fingers. Set aside with as few of the nuts touching as possible.
Make the ice cream: Half fill a large bowl with ice and water; set aside.
Mix 2 ounces milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl. Stir until completely and smoothly incorporated; set aside.
In a separate medium bowl whisk the mascarpone and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt together until well incorporated; set aside.
Mix the cream with the corn syrup into a pourable measuring cup; set aside.
Bring the maple syrup to a boil in a large saucepan set over medium-high heat. Once it begins to boil lower the heat to medium and cook for about 8 minutes. It will have reduced by about one-half. Remove from heat and, stirring constantly, slowly pour in the cream and corn syrup mixture, then add the remaining milk.
Bring to a rolling boil over medium high heat. Remove from heat and gradually mix in the cornstarch mixture. Return to the heat and allow it to come back to a boil, whisking the entire time. Remove from heat and let cool about 2 minutes then gradually whisk the hot milk mixture into the medium bowl with the mascarpone cheese mixture. Keep whisking until it’s very smooth. Allow it to cool about 5 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a 1‑gallon Ziplock freezer bag. Seal the bag and submerge it in the bowl of ice water. Let the bag become well chilled, about ½ hour. Replace the ice cubes as needed to keep the water very, very cold.
Freeze the ice cream: Pour the chilled mixture through a fine mesh sieve directly into the bowl of the ice cream maker. This improves the texture of the ice cream. Follow the manufactures direction on the machine until the ice cream is smooth, thick and creamy. It should be pulling from the sides just a bit as it churns.
Pack the ice cream into a 1‑quart storage container, folding the pecan pralines and cranberries in intermittently as you go. Seal with an airtight lid. Freeze the ice cream until very firm, at least 4 hours.
I just licked the screen.
Hope no one was watching me!
Happy new year, my friend. xo
Well, this is wonderful and a far cry from my eating snow drizzled with maple syrup as a boy in Vermont. (Sugar on Snow.) I love everything you have done here! Ice cream is a year round treat for me — and maple has always been a favorite.
I could eat ice cream In truly frigid weather … All the more maple.
Well this isn’t “Just” maple ice cream. It has pralines on it too! And with cranberries! Wonderful. We just enjoyed the semifreddo in spite of pretty chilly temps, and we had no problem eating it! Happy New Year, sort of!
At the other end of the world we are going through SUMMER extremes and your post hits the spot immediately. Literally and figuratively.
After doing the hard work manually for decades, I brought an ice-cream maker as a Christmas present to myself in late November. What a great decision that was.….… Christmas Eve here broke all historic records (very close to 45 degrees C and this Friday past the temperature was again over 40C. [Sorry Greg. You’ll have to do your own conversion on that as we are on the metric scale, here].Believe me, it was HOT!
Although I rarely eat ice-cream myself the crew here enjoy it so this is definitely going to get a work-out. With regard to eating it in the winter.….….big tick. My late mother would spoil us with hot fudge sundaes on a winters night. By the fireside. I like ice cream or a sorbet after a spicy curry, too. No. 1 son sprinkles plain vanilla ice-cream with chili flakes and a dash of cardamom.……
We have two small containers of hd in the freezer and we never have ice cream in the house. Crazy year indeed.
Happy New Year to you too!
I eat maple all year long! It’s snowing here but I can assure you this maple ice cream would be devoured in no time! Happy New Year Greg!
We DO living in interesting times, don’t we? Alas. You’re right that we need sugar and spice to make things nice. Maple, too. 🙂 This looks wonderful. Wasn’t thinking of ice cream at all until I read this. Now, of course, I’m craving it. Really neat recipe — thanks.