Gimme my affogato!

Ingredients

• Adapted from Ice Creams and Sorbets by Lou Siebert Pappas
Pecan Praline:
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon packed dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 tablespoon ground cardamom
• 1 cup pecans
• 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted, plus extra for greasing foil-lined baking sheet
Ice Cream:
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

For the Pecan Praline:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and grease lightly with butter.
2. In a small saucepan, combine the honey, brown sugar, water, and cardamom, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for approximately 2 minutes. Add the pecans, stirring to coat. Remove from heat. Transfer to foil-lined baking sheet and bake until toasted, approximately 8-10 minutes. Remove from foil and toss with the butter in a small bowl. Let cool and place in an airtight container until you're ready to incorporate them into the ice cream. You can also make the praline while the ice cream cools for 2-3 hours. No rush.
For the ice cream:
3. Combine the egg yolks and sugar in a non-reactive mixing bowl, whisking until sugar and yolks are well-blended.
4. In a medium sauce pan, warm the cream over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is steaming, or a thermometer reads between 90-100 degrees. Seibert Pappas uses a double boiler for this process and the custard-cooking process, but I find that so long as you're careful and attentive - and stirring constantly - direct heat is fine.
5. Working in small batches, slowly add the hot cream to the egg mixture, stirring continuously until approximately half of the cream has been combined with the egg mixture. You already know from the vanilla ice cream recipe that you are doing this to avoid the eggs cooking and therefore spoiling the custard you're creating.
6. Return the saucepan to medium heat, and slowly pour the egg and cream mixture (the custard) into the pan, stirring continuously.
7. Continue with all that stirring until the mixture thickens such that it coats the back of a silicone spoon or spatula, approximately 10-12 minutes. At this point, remove the pan from the heat, pour the mixture into a non-reactive bowl (stainless or glass), and add the vanilla extract, stirring well to combine. Chill for 2-3 hours until custard is cold throughout. You may speed this process up by placing the non-reactive bowl into an ice water bath before refrigerating it if you'd like.
8. Once the custard is completely chilled, freeze it in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions, adding the pecan praline at the end of the freezing process, churning into the ice cream for approximately 15 seconds once the praline is added, or until well-distributed.
9. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and freeze until set, 2-3 hours. Serve over baked pears, OR, if you like a little jolt of coffee before bed, have pecan praline ice cream affogato al caffe:
10. Place a scoop of ice cream in a small bowl. Add a small amount of warm espresso to the bowl, and eat immediately. Yum.