Malteser ice-cream with candied bacon

"The idea for this has been in the back of my mind for about a year. I thought the combination of saltiness, sweetness and maltiness was good, plus I like taking the piss. The good thing about it is that bacon and Maltesers never go out of season, so I’ll probably keep it on the menu for a while. At ACME, we like to keep the ice-creams savoury ’cause I’m not into the super sweet." Mitch Orr, ACME

Credit: Benito Martin

• serves

  6

• prep

  30 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 180 g caster sugar
• 150 g (about 8) egg yolks
• 600 ml full-cream milk
• 200 ml pure cream
• 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
• 200 g Maltesers, finely crushed
• 200 g bacon (about 3 rashers)
• 50 g brown sugar

Freezing time overnight

Instructions

Whisk together sugar and yolks until pale and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the milk and cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until just simmering. Cover and set aside to infuse for 15 minutes. Add egg yolk mixture to milk mixture and stir to combine. Return to low heat and stir until mixture thickly coats the back of a spoon and reaches 80°C on a thermometer, roughly 6-8 minutes. Strain into a large bowl placed over a bowl of iced water. Stir occasionally until cool. Transfer to a container and refrigerate to chill 4 hours. Churn in an ice-cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions. Stir through Maltesers and freeze for 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lay bacon on a tray lined with baking paper. Roast until golden 10-12 minutes. Scatter with brown sugar and bake until golden and caramelised 8-10 minutes. Set aside to cool, then freeze until frozen, about 4 hours. Transfer to a food processor and process until a fine crumb.

Serve Malteser ice-cream scattered with bacon crumbs.

You'll find Mitch Orr at Sydney restaurant ACME.

Photography by Benito Martin. Food styling by Alice Storey. Prop styling by Lynsey Fryers. Food assistant Georgina Larby.

Finch cereal bowl (cream), Citta Design. Black Basics tall coupe bowl (black) and ‘earth’ rice bowl (cream with red inner), Maxwell & Williams. Sabrina glass canister medium, Papaya.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.