Salted Pecan-Maple Ice Cream

½ cup coarsely chopped pecans

2 tablespoons white sugar

½ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste

¾ cup white sugar

¼ cup real maple syrup

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 drop maple-flavored extract, or to taste

3 cups half-and-half

1 pinch coarse sea salt, or to taste

Place pecans into a heavy saucepan over medium heat and toast the nuts, stirring constantly, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.

Sprinkle 2 tablespoons sugar over pecans and stir constantly until the sugar melts to a light brown syrup and coats the pecans. Immediately pull the pan off the heat; sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon sea salt.

Turn hot pecans out onto a piece of parchment paper and cool thoroughly; break apart any large clumps. Set candied pecans aside.

Whisk 3/4 cup sugar, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla extract, and maple flavoring in a large bowl until smooth. Slowly whisk in half-and-half.

Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer s instructions. Mix the candied pecans into the softly-frozen ice cream. Sprinkle servings with a pinch of coarsely ground sea salt.