TWD: Burnt Sugar Ice Cream

I've now successfully--though very reluctantly--escaped from Nashlantis, so I can post my TWD entry (chosen by Becky over at Project Domestication) for the week. I know I owe a ton of you lovelies comments from the last couple posts--I haven't forgotten!  And I promise I am not usually this uncouth.

I've made ice cream before, but not since I was a kid.  My grandmother had the old-fashioned-big-wooden-bucket-with-crank-requiring-rock-salt kind of ice cream maker, which I recall being used once or twice when I was very small, and as a preteen I can clearly remember making ice cream with my younger sisters in this:

and the chairs become DISHES!!!!

I've tried making mango sorbet using the freeze-and-stir method, but I wasn't pleased with the icy result at all.  The last thing I need right now is to buy more expensive kitchen appliances with limited uses.  However, I had to do TWD, right?

First I made the caramel custard. Dorie suggested it could take up to 8 minutes to cook the sugar properly.  Um, how about FORTY FIVE, is what it took me to get to somewhere around"dark amber" stage.  I may never really get the hang of cooking on an electric stove.

starting off with promise

 about THREE DAYS LATER

 eh, bump it. I'm tired of standing here.  Moving on...

I had a hard time gauging the proper custard consistency. I think the term "custard" is throwing me off.  I think "custard"  I think "thick and solid."  Can we call it something else?  Pre cream sludge? I might have cooked it a tad long, but it tasted good.  In to the fridge it goes.

Making the ice cream in the Cuisinart was the EASIEST THING EVER!  You just turn it on, pour it in, and go about your business for 30 minutes or so.  Cheah!

 first

second

eh, that'll do.

After a couple hours in the freezer, I tried it. It tasted nice--a bit sweeter than expected. I don't think I cooked the caramel quite enough to get the "burnt" flavor;  mine was just caramelly, like dulce de leche ice cream.  It was quite rich, and though I still had some ice crystals, was generally pretty smooth.  Thumbs up.  I think once I get the hang of making the custard, I will use the Cuisinart more often--especially for company.