• Whisk egg yolks in a small bowl until the yellow pales (this should only take 1-2 minutes). Set aside.

Make the Pecan Butterscotch

• Add the chopped pecans along with the unsalted butter to a large saucepan and allow the butter to melt over medium-high heat until frothy. The sauce pan should have at least a liter capacity leaving enough room for stirring.
• Once the butter starts to get frothy add the brown sugar and the heavy cream and stir til completely smooth & incorporated. Turn the heat down to medium or low-medium and allow the butterscotch to reduce for 2 minutes.
• Add 1 teaspoon of the sea salt to the butterscotch and stir to incorporate.
• Reserve 1 cup of the butterscotch in an airtight container. Once this has cooled add the remaining ½ teaspoon of sea salt & set aside to use later in layering the ice cream

Make the Custard Base

• Add the whole milk to the butterscotch in the saucepan and stir until completely incorporated.
• Strain the milk mixture, saving the strained pecans to reincorporate later.
• While the butterscotch/milk mixture is still hot, temper the egg yolks. Slowly pour in a third of the hot milk mixture while simultaneously whisking the egg yolks. Whisk until completely incorporated.
• Add the rest of the milk mixture slowly to the tempered mixture. Be sure to incorporate any egg yolks up against the sides of the bowl.
• Return the tempered custard mixture to the saucepan and stir over medium to medium-high heat just until the hot mixture coats the back of a spoon. Once the custard mixture reaches a temperature of 160°F it is ready.

  Do not let the custard boil or bubble!
• Transfer the custard to a heat-resistant bowl and reincorporate the strained pecans from earlier. Cover with plastic wrap or a lid and allow to chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
• After custard base has been chilled, give it a stir then pour it in your ice cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. This butter pecan ice cream takes 35 minutes in my Whynter ice cream maker.

Assembling the Ice Cream

• In a freezer-safe & airtight container layer some of the ice cream and then drizzle or dollop some of the reserved salted pecan butterscotch from earlier.

  You can also layer the ice cream in a bread/loaf pan, sealing with plastic wrap but I only recommend this if you will be serving all of the ice cream within 3-4 days.
• Repeat these layers until all of the ice cream and butterscotch have been used then use a toothpick or skewer to further distribute the butterscotch throughout all the ice cream!
• Allow the finished ice cream to set in the freezer for at least an hour before serving.