Combine the cream and ¼ cup sugar in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring occasionally, until steam arises from the milk. Remove from the heat.
Using an electric mixer, beat ¼ cup sugar with the egg yolks until the mixture is light yellow and thick, about four minutes.
Beat ½ cup hot cream into the egg mixture, then gradually stir this mixture into the saucepan with the remaining cream. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring almost constantly, until the mixture reaches 175° to 180° degrees or is slightly thickened. Do not boil or you’ll have scrambled eggs and while they’re good with bacon too, they’re really nothing like ice cream. There will be a thick coating on the back of a spoon that will hold the outline of your finger after you pass it through.
Stir in the remaining milk and vanilla extract. Chill to 40°. If you’re the impatient type you can speed this up by setting the bowl in a large bowl filled with a mixture of ice and water and give it a stir every now and then.
Churn chilled mixture in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s directions.
Once the ice cream is done, transfer it to a freezer container, stir in the small caramel corn clusters to mix, reserving some for topping. Either serve immediately, or place in the freezer to firm up and just try not to eat all the smoked caramel corn while you’re waiting.
Recipe by Bistro OneSix at https://bistroonesix.com/smoked-caramel-corn-ice-cream/