Confection Ressurection - Butter Brickle Ice Cream

The 4th of July is here again and it's time to celebrate the "signing" of the Declaration of Independence penned with great pains by Thomas Jefferson for the second continental congress.  Though the "Shot Heard Round the World" occurred in April of 1775 and the fighting would continue until the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, today is the day we celebrate the signing of the document that justified the colonial rebellion and subsequent forming of our republic. 

Being a holiday that is near and dear to our hearts there are many "traditions" that have sprung up over the last 235 years.   Parades, Festivals, Fireworks and BBQ's being the most prevalent.  I was lucky enough to grow up in Corbett.  It may be a small "Hamlet" in eastern Multnomah county, but when it comes to the 4th, it's an all out block party on a grande scale with parade, festival and a massive firework display.  In between all this merriment, dad would BBQ hot dogs and hamburgers.  But the best part of our 4th of July celebration was the homemade Root Beer ice cream.  True, we had an old hand crank machine, and always had to call on the neighbors for reinforcements before our arms fell off, but the exertions were well worth it.

This tradition is so ingrained now, that it just doesn't seem like the 4th of July without ice cream.  Granted, I don't necessarily make Root Beer ice cream anymore, and I definitely don't use a hand crank machine, but Ice Cream is an absolute must for this occasion.

This year, I have decided to resurrect a flavor that seems to have disappeared from the common market.  Butter Brickle.  That inspired combination of butterscotch ice cream and toffee bits.  Honestly, it doesn't get much better than that. Which, consequently, makes my wonder why you can't find this evocative flavor of frozen deliciousness anymore.  I think it's high time that it was brought back for everyone to enjoy.

Butter Brickle Ice Cream

2 cups Whole Milk
2 cups Light Whipping Cream
2 oz Unsalted Butter
Pinch of Kosher Salt
1 cup of Butterscotch syrup
6 large Egg Yolks
1 cup Heath Toffee Chips (bits o' brickle)

Heat Milk, Cream, Butter and salt in a large sauce pan over medium heat, just until bubbles begin to form around the edge of the pan.

Grab a 1 cup of the Butterscotch Syrup..... (You'll still have an additional cup for other applications)

and grab a bag of Health English Toffee bits (bits o' brickle)

Add the Butterscotch syrup and whisk until dissolved.

While the Milk mixture is heating, beat egg yolks lightly in a medium bowl.
Condition the yolks by adding about half of the hot Milk mixture while whisking constantly.

Add this back into the sauce pan (again, whisking while adding it) and return the mixture to medium flame.

Continue cooking the "custard", whisking occasionally, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove from the heat and strain through cheese cloth to remove any potential lumps.

Cover on the surface with plastic wrap to prevent crusting, and chill in the refrigerator until VERY cold.

Freeze according to your ice cream maker instructions.

Once frozen, move the resulting Butterscotch ice cream to a freezer container.

Add the Brickle chips and stir them in.

Freeze until solid.

Enjoy the sweet/salty goodness of old fashioned Butter Brickle Ice Cream!

Mangia!!
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Please Pass the Pastry Creme - Cardamom Pastry Creme

Pastry Creme. Is there anything better? I am thinking, "Not". Well, except what I have planned for this batch I threw together; And when it's delicately laced with cardamom.

Cardamom Pastry Creme

2 cups Whole Milk
2 cups Light Whipping Cream
14 Cardamom Pods, crushed slightly
10 Large Egg Yolks (about 2/3 cup)
1 cup Sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 TB AP Flour
4 TB Unsalted Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Combine Milk and Light Whipping Cream in a medium saucepan.

Smash the Cardamom pods before adding to the saucepan.

Bring just to a boil, then cover and let the Cardamom steep for 15 minutes.

Strain milk through 2 layers of cheese cloth into a vessel you can pour from.

Whisk the Flour, Sugar and Salt together in a bowl.

Add Egg yolks and stir to combine into a paste.

Gradually whisk in the warm cardamom milk.

Return the mixture to saucepan and, whisking constantly, cook over medium heat until the pastry cream begins to boil and starts to thicken, about 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and whisk in the butter and vanilla extract.

Strain into a clean bowl to stop the cooking.

Press plastic wrap down upon the surface to prevent crust from forming.

Chill at least 4 hours or until cold... up to 1 day.

Just prepping for tomorrow's celebration with Old Glory.

Mangia!!
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In the "Spirit" of German's Chocolate Cake

Normally I am not into sweet drinks, I tend towards raw liquors such as Crown rocks or Scotch and Soda, even Gin and Tonic (as long as there are no black lights around to cause the tonic water to glow). I have my sour moments filled with Grey Hounds, Salty Dogs, Amaretto Sour, Gin Fizz or any such concoction smacking of Lemon or Grapefruit. But for the most part, I avoid the "Tequila Sunrise", the "Sex on the Beach" shudder when anything ending in "-tini" goes by me, and run screaming from the "Fuzzy Navel" to hide behind an Aviation or Martini (you know, the real thing? with Gin & Vermouth not Vodka and Apple Pucker)

My philosophy has always been, "If you don't like the taste of alcohol, then you should be drinking a Shirley Temple" not a Cosmo that has been hit with several shots of grenadine to "sweeten" it up.

That may have changed... I was at Bev Mo a few days and found something I had never seen before.... Praline. A delightful, though sweet liqueur rendition of those lovely brown sugar coated pecan morsels from New Orleans. AWESOME!

More importantly was what it made me think of, since I had a pint of Godiva Liqueur at home, a cocktail that tastes like my favorite cake... German's Chocolate... YUM....!!!!

So here we go.

German Chocolate Cake

1 1/2 oz (jigger) Meyers Dark Rum (although I was out by the time I finished "testing" and had to use Bacardi Select Dark - Meyers was better)
1 oz Godiva Chocolate Liqueur
3/4 oz Praline
1/2 oz Coconut Jack or Malibu
1 TB light Whipping Cream (This gives the cocktail more body and a creamier mouth feel, more like the frosting)
Shred or slice of Coconut for garnish (I thought I had some in my freezer, but I was out - Darn it!!)
optional - Grated Chocolate for the rim
optional - Pecan to drip in the bottom of glass

Place your Cocktail glass in the freezer.
Fill your shaker with ice.

Add all the liquor.

Shake

and Strain into the chilled glass.

Float 1 TB Light Whipping Cream and stir lightly to swirl together.

I was bummed that I was out of Chocolate and Pecans too, cause I really wanted to garnish the cocktail nicely. But honestly, it still tasted like German Chocolate Cake which was the whole point, the rest it just fluff.. ;)

Cin Cin!!
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Fudging Penuche Fudge

Today (July 22^nd) is Penuche Fudge day. It completely skipped my mind due to my excitement for the start of the new season of Hells Kitchen.(oops)Normally I would have made this last night so I could take it to work this morning, but … Hey, better late than never, right? For anyone who is not familiar with this New England confection, Penuche fudge attempts to recreate the flavor of the Mexican Panocha, Piloncillio or Panela (being the pressed Raw Sugar “cones”)

This form of semi-refined sugar is similar to "jaggery" in India (which is derived from Palm sap instead of Cane). It's high in natural molasses, thus Brown Sugar is a key ingredient for Penuche Fudge in place of the White Granulated Sugar normally used to make chocolate fudge.

Sadly it seems that a lot of recipes flying around the net now days contain very little Brown Sugar, being comprised primarily of Confectioners’ Sugar. These are often called “No-Cook alternatives”… I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Penuche fudge doesn’t really work like that… I am not trying to be a fudge snob or anything, but the flavor of Penuche requires Brown Sugar and cooking to softball, or it ends up being more of a Vanilla Fudge than anything else… You just can’t fudge penuche... ;)

Penuche Fudge

2 cups Light Brown Sugar
1 cup Dark Brown Sugar
1 cup Whipping Cream (Heavy Cream works even better)
3 TB Unsalted butter
1/8 tsp Salt
1 tsp Real Mexican or Bourbon Vanilla Extract (Tahitian is too Floral)
1 cup chopped Pecans
Combine Sugars, Cream, Butter and Salt in a stainless or copper sauce pan (DO NOT USE a NON-STICK Pan)

Place over LOW heat and stir until the mixture begins to boil, then remove spoon and add thermometer. 

Cook until the syrup reaches 238 degrees (Soft ball) 

Meanwhile - Line your 8x8 pan with waxed paper.

Chop the pecans....

Remove from heat, add the vanilla and let it set until it cools to 110 degrees.

Pour mixture into a mixing bowl; beat mixture on low speed until the luster is gone and penuche has a matte finish (this can take quite awhile... 15-20 minutes, depending)

Mine took way longer, but my kitchen was over 90 degrees so I had to break out the frozen chicken to cool the bowl down cause I had hit the 30 minute mark. (at which point the mixer was getting hot too, thus keeping the syrup warm - Vicious cycle)... LOL

Once it reaches a matte finish... Quickly fold in the vanilla and pecans,

Then press into your wax paper lined 8 x 8 pan

To add a little shine to the top, you can brush the surface lightly with more light cream.

If you do not possess a candy thermometer, you can do this the old fashioned way (the way my Grandmother and Great-Grandmother did it)

Place a bowl of cold water near the stove, check the sugar syrup by dropping a small amount into the cold water.

Let is cool slightly, then fish it out, pressing lightly with your fingers... Soft ball will give when squeezed.

And when set down on the counter, it will hold it's shape for a few seconds before slowly spreading.

Now a warning... I should have probably mentioned this at the beginning... NEVER try to make candy on a humid day. I was reminded of this as I flipped past the Weather channel. Evidently the current humidity level in San Diego is 84%... YIKES! This is too high for candy making, but I was already boiling the syrup, so I trudged forward anyway... We shall see what happens come the dawn... I am still waiting for it to set (It's still really warm in my apartment), but I am posting this anyway. Hopefully I will be adding the picture of the cut pieces tomorrow morning... I have high hopes, because the residual syrup set up well on the beater...

Now I must depart for I have a cup of coffee waiting for me... And I get to lick the afore mentioned beater... ;) 

07/23/09 - OK, Picture added this morning... Yes, it did set up... Not QUITE as firm as I would have liked, but firm enough and extremely creamy and delicious. So I'm not going to complain. It could have been much much worse considering the high humidity. I am one happy camper, as is the IS/IT department at work... They all have a sugar buzz goin. HA HA !!

Mangia!!

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