Me vs Maggie Beer's Burnt Fig, Honeycomb and Caramel Icecream

I went a little bit mad scientist during the week trying to recreate my favourite icecream.  I absolutely love Maggie Beer's Burnt Fig, Honeycomb and Caramel icecream to the extent that I avoid going down the icecream aisle at the supermarket in case I hear it calling my name.  If I do hear the call, the end result is me, in a chair with a 500ml tub in one hand and a spoon in the other, and no turning back.  It's that good.  What I like most about it is the contrast between the bitterness of the caramel and the sweetness of the honeycomb. I search for those swirls of bitter caramel with all the focus of a truffle-hunting pig.

The ingredients in Maggie Beer's icecream include cream, milk, burnt fig syrup, sugar, honeycomb, water, egg yolk, skim milk powder, glucose syrup, natural vegetable gums and natural caramel flavour.  After reading this, I got a bit scared as I've never used vegetable gums, nor did I have any cocoa butter handy, which is listed as one of the ingredients in the honeycomb.  So, before starting, I knew that I wouldn't be able to replicate the icecream, just channel its essence.

You need to allow 2 days to complete this entire recipe.

Burnt Fig Syrup

4 figs, peeled and sliced
1 tbsp raw caster sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar
3/4 cup water
juice of 1 lemon, strained
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 tsp sunflower oil

The burnt fig syrup was a challenge.  Fig season isn't in full flight and I could only find four sad little figs at my local fruit and veg shop.  Also, I wasn't sure if burnt meant burnt, or caramelised, so I decided to caramelise within an inch of their lives.

Toss the sliced figs in the raw caster sugar.

Gently heat the oil in a frypan and add the figs.  Fry on a medium heat for about 5 minutes until the figs are caramelised and reach a mush like consistency. 

Meanwhile, put the water, caster sugar, lemon juice, white wine vinegar and vanilla essence in a saucepan and heat gently until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the fig mush and simmer for 5 minutes. 

Allow syrup to cool, strain into a jar and refrigerate until cold.

Honeycomb

2 tbsp golden syrup
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tsp bicarbonate soda

Bring the golden syrup, caster sugar and unsalted butter to the boil, then add the bicarbonate soda. 

Pour mixture into a greased tin.  When cool, put the honeycomb in a food processor and process until you have powder.

Caramel Sauce

Maggie's icecream includes 'natural caramel flavour'.  I'm not sure what this is so I made some caramel sauce instead.

300ml water
225g caster sugar

Put sugar and half the water in a saucepan.  Heat gently until sugar is dissolved, then increase the heat and boil until you reach the desired colour. Don't leave the caramel too long as it can burn.  Add the rest of the water and allow to cool.

Icecream

300ml thickened cream
600ml whipping cream
4 egg yolks
115g caster sugar

Combine the creams, and heat gently in a saucepan until just under boiling point.  Meanwhile whisk the egg yolks and sugar until thick.  Add the honeycomb powder to the cream and stir until dissolved. Add 100ml fig syrup to the egg mixture and continue to whisk.

Put the cream in a bowl over hot water, and add the egg mixture.  Stir over gentle heat for about 10-15 minutes until the custard is thick.  Refrigerate overnight, and then churn the mixture in a ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.  I churned for 25 minutes.

Refrigerate overnight until firm, then add the caramel sauce.  Do this by creating holes in the icecream using the handle of spoon and inserting it in a number of places.  Pour the caramel sauce in. 

Serve icecream with any leftover caramel sauce.

The end result bears absolutely no resemblance to Maggie Beer's icecream, but I am really pleased with the result.  It is sweet and creamy, with fig and honeycomb undertones, and is pretty darn tasty.  Unfortunately, the bitterness I love so much isn't there so I will need to refine the recipe but, if you have two days to spare, I would definitely recommend giving this recipe a try.

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