Hazelnut & Murray River Salted Caramel Ice Cream

What is it?

Hazelnut ice cream is usually paired with chocolate. Swapping that for salted caramel is the whole idea here, and it works because hazelnut is a sweeter, rounder nut than almond, so it wants salt rather than cocoa to keep it from turning cloying. The salt is Murray River salt, harvested from mineral-rich saline groundwater beneath the Murray Basin and dried into pale pink flakes. Flake salt dissolves faster than granulated, which is why it lands as distinct bursts through the caramel rather than an even background saltiness. The caramel runs as a swirl rather than being folded through, so the tub alternates between plain hazelnut and the ribbon instead of delivering both at once. It's one of two Murray River salted caramel tubs Connoisseur makes, the other pairing that same salt with macadamia.