Salted caramel bread ice cream with hot chocolate sauce

Method

1. Heat the oven to 160°C/140°C fan/gas 3. For the crumbs, whizz the bread in a food processor (or break up by hand), then spread out the crumbs on a large baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes until golden, then cool and set aside.
2. Line a baking sheet with non-stick baking paper and scatter over the cooled crumbs in a single layer. Put the 100g sugar in a heavy-based pan with the salt and 2 tbsp water and set over a medium-high heat. Dissolve the sugar without stirring, swirling the pan a little so it melts evenly.
3. Turn the heat to medium and let the sugar turn a dark caramel colour, swirling from time to time (about 10 minutes). It needs to be dark but don’t let the sugar smoke or turn black – as soon as you think it’s the right colour, take off the heat and pour evenly over the breadcrumbs. When cool, crush into a coarse crumble with a rolling pin (or pulse in a food processor).
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4. Make the ice cream. Put the egg yolks in a bowl with 1 tbsp of the sugar and, using an electric hand mixer, whisk until light and fluffy.
5. Put the rest of the sugar with 200ml cold water and the vanilla pod in a small, heavy-based pan over a high heat until the sugar dissolves. Remove the vanilla pod (reserve) and boil the syrup until it reaches 120°C on the sugar thermometer – this takes 15-20 minutes. It will be thick and syrupy and when a metal spoon is dipped in and lifted out the last drops will form thin threads.
6. Carefully pour the hot syrup onto the yolks in a stream, whisking all the time. Scrape in the seeds from the reserved vanilla pod and continue to whisk until you have a thick, creamy white mousse.
7. In another clean bowl, whisk the cream to soft peaks then, using a metal spoon, gently fold it into the mousse along with the crumbs. Pour into a plastic container or loaf tin lined with cling film and freeze to set.
8. For the chocolate sauce, put all the ingredients in a small pan and heat gently, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the chocolate has melted and the sauce is glossy. Top the ice cream with the chocolate sauce to serve.