Walnuts are added at the end of the process for walnut ice cream.
Buttered Pecan Ice Cream includes butter-flavored vanilla ice cream and chopped toasted pecans. A popular flavor, nut butter can be easily found at most grocery stores and ice cream parlors. Most ice cream brands make this flavor, and there is usually minimal variation in flavor between brands. Pecan ice cream can also be made at home, with or without an ice cream maker.
Popularly found on the market, buttered pecan ice cream uses traditional vanilla ice cream ingredients combined with butter and pecans. Whole or half-and-half milk, heavy cream, and light brown sugar, as well as vanilla extract and eggs are usually included in ice cream. Unsalted butter, salt, and toasted nuts are usually the only additional ingredients. Some homemade versions may use alternate ingredients like French vanilla pudding or evaporated milk.
To make butter, sugar, milk, or cream pecan ice cream, butter and eggs are mixed together and heated, creating a cream. This step is necessary to kill any bacteria that may be on the raw eggs. The cream is then sieved and cooled. Subsequently, the remaining ingredients can be added, except for the nuts.
Homemade versions place the ice cream mixture in an ice cream maker or transfer it to the freezer and periodically churn or stir the ice cream as it freezes. Commercially, the ice cream is placed in large tubes or tubs and churned continuously as it freezes. Churning by hand or with a commercial or home maker helps keep the ice cream fluffy, but more importantly, it prevents the formation of ice crystals that would spoil the flavor and texture.
The nuts used in pecan ice cream are toasted or sautéed in butter and added only towards the end of the freezing process. If they are roasted, they are usually mixed with melted butter and salt before cooling. As they cool, the nuts absorb the butter. They are usually chopped before being added to ice cream.
Once the mixture is frozen enough but not yet hard enough to scoop out effectively, the nuts are folded into the ice cream. If using an ice cream maker, this step is done after the ice cream is removed from the ice cream maker and before it is transferred to a container to complete the freezing process. Homemade ice cream usually takes several hours to completely freeze.