Ben and Jerry's Late Night Snack Hack

I couldn't find it in Montreal, so I had to make it myself.

Vanilla ice cream, Philadelphia style* (from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop):
3 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Extra-Salty Caramel Swirl (adapted from DL's The Perfect Scoop):
3 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon course salt

Chocolate-covered potato chips:
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips or 3 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
3 handfuls potato chips (I used Ruffles, in honor of the Humphry Slocombe scandal)

1) To make the ice cream, pour 1 cup of cream into a saucepan, add 3/4 cup sugar and a pinch of salt. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the saucepan and add the pod, as well. Stir over medium-heat until the sugar is dissolved, them remove from the heat. Add the 2 remaining cups of cream and vanilla extract, then put it in the fridge to chill for two hours (or until you're ready to make the ice cream).

2) In the meantime, rig a double-boiler to melt your chocolate. Or, you can do it in 15 second increments in the microwave, stirring in between each zap. I put a heat-proof bowl over a pot of boiling water and stirred the chocolate until melted.

3) In the meantime, put four handfuls of potato chips in a bowl and smash them up a little bit (better for making clusters later).

4) When the chocolate is melted, pour it over the chips and stir. Lay out a sheet of waxed or parchment paper on top of a plate or cutting board, pour the chips onto it, and spread them out a bit. Put the whole apparatus in the fridge to harden.

5) To make the caramel, begin by melting the butter in a high-sided saucepan. Once melted, stir the 1/2 cup sugar. Let it cook, stirring often, until deep golden brown and just starting to smoke. Remove from heat and whisk in half of the cream. Careful-- it will steam up! Once smooth, stir in the rest of the cream, the vanilla, and the salt. If you have lumps, rewarm on the stove and keep whisking. Cover and let it chill in the fridge.

6) Once the ice cream base is chilled, take the chips out of the fridge and break into chunks. Take the ice cream base out of the fridge and remove the vanilla bean (you can save the bean and use it for infusing again in the future).

7) Get your ice cream maker set up, then churn the ice cream. Once it's churned, stir in the chocolate-covered potato chips. (The chunks are too large to add while churning-- the paddle won't be able to hand it.)

Note: If the ice cream is quite liquidy, put it in a container and let it firm up some more in the freezer for a few hours. Otherwise, when you layer it with the caramel, it will all blend into each other, like mine did. (Still delicious, but I wanted that SWIRL, dammit!)

8) Spoon the ice cream into your preferred ice cream receptacle (if it's not too liquidy!), followed by a layer of caramel, alternating until the container is full. Throw it in the freezer for a few hours for a firmer consistency. Or eat it immediately for an excellent soft-serve experience.

Melting chocolate in the boiler; crunched up chips at the ready

Freshly chocolate-ed chips

Finished caramel, ready to go in the fridge

Prepping the vanilla ice cream base

The sum of the parts:

I am basically on the internet most hours of the day, so I was there the moment this new flavor dropped. And I was pumped. However, I was not pleased to find that the Ben & Jerry's franchises in Montreal didn't have it in stores, yet, nor did they have any idea when to expect it. "Maybe this summer?" Uuuuuugh, I'm still waiting for SPRING. I considered driving to Burlington last weekend just to see if I could get some at the flagship. And eat Chinese food at a Single Pebble. And shop at Williams-Sonoma. But I didn't. Instead, I decided to take matters into my OWN HANDS. Truthfully, this was supposed to be a potchke of epic proportions, since I planned on making the far superior custard-based ice cream-- *record needle scratch*

* BONUS FACT: There are two traditional styles of ice cream-- custard-based and Philadelphia-style. A custard base involves heating egg yolks and slowly stirring in the cream, making a...custard. It makes the texture way richer and smoother, but is a potchke, and I'm sure I'll post about the process in the future in more detail. Philadelphia-style doesn't involve eggs and is much less of a potchke, but it freezes harder and the texture isn't as nice. *needle drops back onto record*

-- but I didn't have enough eggs! So I went with Philadelphia-style. The upside was less dishes and equipment, so I was not too sad. Anyway, none of the individual components of this ice cream are too much of a potchke, but all-told, it was a substantial project.

Was it worth it? Yes. I didn't even miss the custard in the ice cream because of all the other deliciousness going on. Salty, crunchy, vanilla-y and chocolate-y all in one cold, creamy, melt-y perfect package. But I will still need to get my hands on the Ben and Jerry's version for scientific comparison.

Buon appetito.