For the homemade caramel sauce:

1. Melt the sugar. Put the sugar in a large heavy-bottomed pan (preferably a steel pan) and shake the pan to level the sugar. Set the pan over low heat and cook without stirring until most of the sugar has melted, about 35 min. Lower the heat and softly drag any leftover patches of dry sugar into the hot caramel with a wooden spoon. After 10 min the caramel should have a dark amber color and be completely smooth.
2. Make the caramel. Add the butter, heavy cream and salt. Be careful as it might vigorously bubble up. Let the caramel simmer for 5 to 10 min, stirring often to make sure everything is well combined and melted. Pour the caramel into a heat-proof bowl and set aside to cool to room temperature, about 1h.

For the caramel cups:

1. Melt the chocolate. Roughly chop the chocolate. Fill a saucepan with 5cm (2 in) of water and place over low heat. Place the chopped chocolate into a smaller saucepan. Place this pan on top of the first pan (its bottom shouldn’t touch the water). Melt the chocolate, stirring with a spatula from time to time. Take the pan off the heat as soon as the chocolate is smooth and has completely melted.
2. Make the chocolate cups. Lightly grease a candy mold or silicone ice cube tray with vegetable oil. Using a paintbrush, brush the indentations of the mold with melted chocolate, all the way to the top. It’s okay if there are some empty spots, this is just the 1st layer. Then place your mold in the freezer for 10 min to harden the chocolate layer. Repeat the process to brush a 2nd layer of melted chocolate, then place the mold in the freezer for another 10 min.
3. Fill the cups with caramel. Spoon 1 tsp of homemade caramel sauce into the indentations, until about ¾ full. Don’t overfill the caramel cups because you still need to apply one more chocolate layer.
4. Seal up the caramel. Lastly, paint melted chocolate all over the tops of the caramel cups and place the mold in the fridge overnight.

For the homemade caramel ice cream:

1. Melt the sugar. Put the sugar in a large heavy-bottomed pan (preferably a steel pan) and shake the pan to level the sugar. Set the pan over low heat and cook without stirring until most of the sugar has melted, about 35 min. Lower the heat and softly drag any leftover patches of dry sugar into the hot caramel with a wooden spoon. After 5 to 10 min, the caramel should have a dark amber color and be completely smooth.
2. Make the caramel mixture. In the meantime, pour the milk and cream into a medium heavy-based saucepan and place over medium heat. Bring to just below a boil, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Carefully add the hot liquid to the caramel. Be careful as it might vigorously bubble up. Let the mixture simmer for 5 to 10 min, stirring often to make sure everything is well combined and melted. Then take the pan off the heat.
3. Make the ice cream custard. In a mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks for 2 min, until they lighten. Slowly pour the caramel mixture into the mixing bowl while whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and place over medium heat. Stir constantly with the whisk, scraping the bottom of the pan as you stir. If it’s too hot, the custard will curdle.
4. Cook the custard. Cook and stir until the custard’s temperature reaches 80°C (176°F), about 8 to 10 minutes. The custard should coat the back of a spoon but it shouldn’t be as thick as pastry cream or curd. Pour the custard through a mesh strainer into a large clean bowl and whisk until smooth. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the custard and let stand until it reaches room temperature.
5. Churn the ice cream. Chill the custard thoroughly in the fridge overnight. Whisk the chilled custard until smooth and scrape it into your ice cream maker. Churn according to manufacturer’s instructions. In the meantime, take the homemade caramel sauce out of the fridge to bring it to room temperature. Delicately pop out the caramel cups. Fill a pastry bag with the caramel sauce and snip off the tip.
6. Layer the churned ice cream, caramel cups and caramel sauce. Scrape one-third of the ice cream in a 1-liter container with a tight-fitting lid and spread it evenly. Sprinkle ⅓ of the caramel cups over the ice cream and generously drizzle the caramel sauce over the top. Repeat the layers until you run out of ice cream.
7. Freeze. Cover the container with plastic wrap, pressing it directly onto the surface of the homemade caramel ice cream. Close the lid and freeze for at least 5 hours or overnight.