From: Sous chef Meredith Spalviero, Carolina's, Charleston. Chef Jeremiah Bacon serves the ice cream with an almond cake. Yield: 1½ to 2 cups.
5 eggs
⅔ cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 vanilla bean, split
⅓ cup smoked honey, or to taste
To prepare ice cream base, beat eggs and sugar together in a bowl. Reserve.
Combine milk and heavy cream in a saucepan; scrape vanilla seeds into mixture, then add whole vanilla bean. Bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to low.
Temper egg mixture with a little of the hot liquid. Slowly whisk tempered egg mixture into saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and coats back of a spoon. Cool. Remove vanilla bean. Pour ice cream base into ice cream maker, following manufacturer's directions for freezing. Add smoked honey after mixture begins to thicken.
Note: Yield depends on amount of air the ice cream incorporates into ice cream. Smoke honey over pecan chips at low temperature for about 1½ to 2 hours.