Cool Off: Browned Butter Ice Cream with Cinnamon

Is there anything more irresistible than ice cream on a muggy summer day?

Fortunately, making your own is easier than you think. In fact, with a bit of forethought, you can keep a batch of homemade ice cream at the ready all summer long.

We've gotten pretty used to keeping both of our Cuisinart Ice Cream bowls in the freezer at all times so that we can whip them out and make ice cream whenever we like.  But, even if you don't have an ice cream maker, you can still enjoy the satisfaction of homemade ice cream with just a bit more effort (see the recipe below for some tips).

It's true. Making ice cream at home takes a bit of time. But, its advantages far outweigh the effort needed.  After all, when you're at the helm of your very own ice cream making adventures, the sky is the limit. Flavor combinations are endless. And you can let your creativity run wild.

Some of our favorite homemade flavors have included chocolate chile, butter-scotch pumpkin, salted caramel with cashews, and cinnamon plum tea ice cream.  But, we also love to make big vats of fresh vanilla bean ice cream.  Sure, it's ordinary. But, it's better than anything you can find in your grocery's freezer case. We promise.

This particular recipe gets a deliciously rich, nutty flavor from browned butter. The silky custard base, along with a bit of Scotch whipped in at the end of churning results in an end product that’s lusciously creamy and scoopably soft, even straight from the freezer.

It’s perfect topped with pecans and chocolate for an impromptu sundae, but the subtle punch of cinnamon means it’s equally at home served alongside your favorite summer berry pie. If you’re a purist, feel free to scoop it straight up into a sugar cone.

Any way you serve it, it will have you screaming for more!

Browned Butter Ice Cream with Cinnamon

©BURP! Where Food Happens

The Best of 2011

Difficult to believe we're coming to the end of another great year.  As it gets to be this time, we always find ourselves looking back, reflecting, and planning for what's ahead -- and that includes content for the blog.

We were overwhelmed this year as we looked over our blog stats for the year and realized how much we've grown. Despite the fact that we've been busier than ever (and that has been reflected in the frequency of our posts, particularly lately), we've more than doubled our readership from 2010 to 2011.

We'd like to thank you for your readership, your comments, and your feedback.  Burp! wouldn't couldn't exist without you!

As a thanks to all of you, we figured we'd share the top 11 posts on Burp! from 2011 (in order of popularity) ... just in case you missed them.

Top 11 Posts of 2011
These are in order of popularity, # 1 being the most popular post.

1. Stout Ice Cream with Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce: Pure Guinness, er, Genius
2. Nettle & Garlic Ravioli with Rosemary Browned Butter
3. Stinging Nettle & Garlic Puree: Putting Up a Bit of Spring
4. Wisconsin State Fair: Door County Cherry Chutney
5. Pickled Red Onions: Summer's Prize & Winter's Bounty
6. Soul Food Fusion: Fried Chicken & Waffle Sandwich
7. Milwaukee Mardi Gras, Part II: Bananas Foster Bread Pudding
8. Spring Scallop Tacos with Strawberry Salsa
9. Going Whole Hog: Our Experience in Pig Butchering Class
10. Brown Butter Rhubarb Bars - the best & last of spring
11. You're Not Too Old for Crispy Rice Bars with Browned Butter & Rosemary

Share in the Comments

As always, we're always listening and open to your feedback.  What was YOUR favorite post? What would you like to see more of in 2012?

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Celebrate with Us: White Chocolate Ice Cream with Brandied Cherries

When we were nominated for the Shepherd Express Best of the Milwaukee Web Awards, I was somewhat shocked, and completely flattered.  So, when we attended the awards ceremony on Tuesday evening and found out that we'd won in TWO categories (best food blog, favorite twitterer),  I was absolutely taken aback.

Milwaukee might be a relatively small place, but it's a positive hot bed for technology & social media.  So, it was truly humbling to be in the company of so many creative, media-minded individuals.  We've always aspired to making the Burp! blog a creative, friendly place -- not only where we share what WE do, but also where our readers come to chat about their latest creations.  And we're so glad that so many of you believe in what we're doing.

So, here's a big thanks to friends & bloggers who voted for us.  We're so incredibly honored. And we're tickled that you took the time to think of us!  We'd also like to give a HUGE shout-out to the runners up in both award categories.  Please stop over to their blogs and give them a hearty congratulations!

Digital Print Edition - Shepherd Express

Best Food Blog Award Runners Up:
Iron Cupcake / ironcupcakemilwaukee.com
Vegan Milwaukee / veganmilwaukee.com

Favorite Twitterer Runners Up:
@SJWhipp  (blogging at sjwhipp.com)
@radiomilwaukee  (http://www.radiomilwaukee.org/)

And check out all the award winners at Express.com

In celebration of our awards, we'd like to share another sweet treat with you.  Yes, we've been busy at the ice cream machine again.  And this time, it's serious.

Those of you who've been around for a while might recall that every year for Christmas we make chocolate covered brandy cordial cherries to give away as gifts.

Now, by mid-March, the confections themselves are usually long gone.  But, sometimes we still have a few extra brandied cherries lying around.  These cherries are the rejects -- the poor, stemless cherries that were tossed aside in favor of their more sturdily stemmed kin.  These cherries remain, swimming in brandy and staring longingly out of their clear glass jarred windows, until one of us rescues them for an impromptu cooking project.

One of the projects I've been meaning to get around to is coming up with a recipe for a decadent brandied chocolate cherry cake.  But, this batch of cherries ended up in a batch of celebratory white chocolate ice cream.

The rich creamy white chocolate ice cream makes a perfect sweet backdrop for the the slightly sweet, and definitively alcoholic, cherries.  The nice thing about brandied cherries is that, unlike their virgin brothers & sisters, they maintain a firm texture but don't freeze solid even when surrounded by frigid ice cream.

And... much like anything that's been steeping in alcohol for a time, they're pretty delicious.  This ice cream is the perfect addition to your Easter dessert tray or an accompaniment to that batch of brownies you've been wanting to make.

White Chocolate Ice Cream with Brandied Cherries

Enjoy!
And here's to another year of blogging and tweeting!


©BURP! Where Food Happens
Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.

Stout Ice Cream with Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce: Pure Guinness, er, Genius

And here we are. Wearin' the green on one of my favorite days of the year. St. Patrick's Day!

At our house, that means one thing:  wrangling up all the Leprechaun charms we can finagle and whipping up a wee bit o' magic in the kitchen.

The Irish do love a good stiff drink. So, why not toast to the luck ‘o the Irish on this St. Patrick’s Day with a glass of…ice cream?

Yeah, we've been futzing around with ice cream flavors again. And this time we've come up with something truly festive.  This amazing ice cream brings together the darkly wonderful toasted malt flavor of stout beer with a strikingly lovely caramel sauce.

The bitter notes of the beer are balanced nicely with a touch of sugar and the richness of cream, while the caramel sauce brilliantly marries caramel notes with the deliciously complex notes of Irish Whiskey and a wonderfully creamy texture that assists in balancing the bite of the ice cream.

It's a bit like an Irish Car Bomb in ice cream form.

As we speak, our corned beef for tonight's dinner is bubbling gaily in the slow cooker. And we're looking forward to a fine feast in celebration of all things Irish. Even if you won't be joining us for dinner, we'd encourage you to join us in spirit by whipping up a delicious batch of this stellar ice cream.

It's absolutely delicious.  Creamy and rich, with the perfect balance between bitter and sweet. Seriously good stuff...  and that's no Blarney.   We used a local brew - Tyranene Down 'N Dirty Chocolate Oatmeal Stout - for the ice cream.  But, any delicious craft brewed oatmeal stout will do.  And use the best Irish whiskey you can get your hands on for the sauce.  You won't regret it.

Stout Ice Cream
Irish Whiskey Caramel Sauce


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Fat Daddy Ice Cream: A Peanut Butter Chocolate Revolution

Even when the ground outside is covered in a blanket of white, my fingers are frigid, and the northern winds are causing the windows in our old bungalow to rattle and creak, I'm still almost always up for a bowl of ice cream.

Why?  I couldn't really tell you... though I like to joke that it's based in part on the theory that the colder your insides are, the warmer it feels outside.  I mean, let's be honest. That seems as good a reason as any to enjoy this deliciously creamy treat, doesn't it?

I answer with a resoundingly confident: YES!  Especially if it contains two of my favorite things -- peanut butter and chocolate -- which this amazing ice cream does.

The idea for Fat Daddy ice cream was inspired by a particularly delicious Ben & Jerry's flavor that bears a similar name:  Chubby Hubby.  According to B&J's description, Chubby Hubby consissts of "Fudge Covered Peanut Butter Filled Pretzels in Vanilla Malt Ice Cream Rippled with Fudge & Peanut Butter".  Umm... really. How can you argue with that?

So we didn't.  But, we did set out to make our own version of this sensational favorite.

A bit of labor chocolate-coating peanut-butter filled pretzels... and a couple of experimental batches of peanut butter fudge sauce (even the flops were totally worth eating)... and we were pretty sure we had stumbled onto an ice cream flavor that was equally as delicious as B&J's.  And it wouldn't cost us even close to $4/pint to create in our own kitchen.

So, we set out and churned up a nice big batch of malted milk ice cream, and layered it into pint-sized containers with drizzles of peanut butter fudge and plenty of chocolate covered pretzels.  After an hour or two in the freezer, our creation was ready to be tested.

Heh. Testing ice cream is always our favorite part.

But, you don't have to take our word for it.  Based on the reviews of a couple of friends who taste-tested this particular flavor for us (thanks, Mike & Ann!!), I think we can be pretty confident that this recipe is ready to be released to the public.

Fat Daddy Ice Cream


©BURP! Where Food Happens
Want more? Read Lo's latest ruminations at FOODCrush, her Milwaukee Magazine blog.

Cinnamon Plum Tea Ice Cream: Holiday Awesome

For those of you whose taste for ice cream bleeds over insatiably into the cooler months of the year, this post is for you.

Making tea into ice cream is nothing new.   Green tea ice cream seems to be making its way into just about every grocery store around the nation.  And plenty of food bloggers are experimenting with recipes for Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream (Mac & Cheese), Irish Breakfast Tea Ice Cream (Coconut & Lime), and even Thai Tea Ice Cream (The Ivory Hut).

So, I decided to try my hand at making some of my own. I chose one of my favorite local brews from Milwaukee's own Rishi Tea, a local company whose tea has been given a variety of top honors, including seven First Place Awards at the 2010 North American Tea Championship. 

Made with fresh local whole milk and cream, cinnamon plum tea, a bit of sugar and a dash of honey, this ice cream is not only stellar on its own, but it makes the perfect filling for ginger snap ice cream sandwiches & an awesome accompaniment to a slice of hot apple pie.

I wouldn't normally double post a recipe like this -- but I know that not everyone is reading my posts over at DEVOUR Milwaukee, and I didn't want anyone to miss this one.  Cuz yeah -- it's really THAT good.


Rishi Cinnamon Plum Tea Ice Cream:
Warming Tea Makes Delightfully Chilly Holiday Dessert



©BURP! Where Food Happens

Fresh Blackberry Swirl Ice Cream

Ufda. Uff da. It's been so long since I've been in the kitchen. Fortunately, this recipe is a treat worth waiting for.

Berries are definitely my favorites when it comes to summer fruits.  And blackberries -- well, they pretty much take the cake as far as I'm concerned.

Because they don't ship well, you'll seldom find blackberries in the market .  And the sheer rarity of them probably fuels my seemingly insatiable desire for them. However, if (like me) you're lucky enough to find a local source for them, you may be able to get your fill during the latter days of summer.

If you've ever been fortunate enough to pick your own, the flavor of blackberries -- tart, yet sweeter then their distant cousin the raspberry -- is likely to conjure nothing less than images & memories of sweltering summer days, brambly thorn-ridden bushes, and the inevitable purpled fingers. 

This year, I happened to have sourced my berries at Outpost, our local food co-op.  There weren't many, but I bought up everything that I could, knowing that I'd find a use for them before they turned bad.  I didn't quite have enough berries to make Megan's Blackberry Basil Jam (though I'm still haunted by the thought of it). And, as much as eating pints of berries out of hand sounded like a great plan, I really wanted to stretch it out as far as I could -- to prolong the joy, so to speak.

To be honest, there wasn't much conversation at all before we decided on making a batch of ice cream. No surprise there, right?

So, we did what we usually do.  We dragged out all the ice cream cookbooks we could find and started playing around with recipes.  What we came up with was an absolute delight -- rich, creamy vanilla ice cream with plenty of daubs of tart/sweet berries. Exactly the sort of thing you'd want to pile into a cone on a warm late summer's night and enjoy right out on the patio.  Or, in our case, feed to our adorable niece!  (She, btw, declared the icecream "marvelous" and proceeded to tell everyone that we'd made it "just for her.")

The recipe for the ice cream is basic -- just a rich vanilla base with a blackberry swirl. That said, I want to share a couple of pieces of information with you while I'm writing all of this down.

We mashed 1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries with a fork and about 3-4 tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of fresh lemon juice. We took David Lebovitz's advice and added a bit of vodka to the berries to keep them from freezing solid, and then we layered the blackberries in with the churned ice cream.  The trick didn't work quite as well as I'd hoped (the berries froze a bit more solid than I would have liked) -- not sure exactly why. But, I plan to play around with the proportions of berries to alcohol next time to see what I can come up with.

Beautiful. Luscious. And perfectly local.  Just about nothing beats a bowl of blackberry ice cream.



©BURP! Where Food Happens

When it Rains, We Eat Ice Cream

This isn't actually the next blog entry.

Well, it is... but it's just by way of a stopgap until I actually get an hour's downtime to write the next entry -- the one that actually talks about herbs.

Milwaukee got SMACKED with almost 7 inches of rain yesterday, and the damage was pretty impressive. There was flooding. And sinkholes large enough to swallow up Cadillac Escalades. And sewer back-ups. And now our basement looks a little bit like a filthy swimming pool.

It's gross, and nasty. And it means I haven't had time to cook -- let alone write about cooking. Heck, we don't even have hot water to take a shower right now.

And so, my dear friends, in lieu of a new post I'm going to leave you with something cool. And minty. And refreshing.

It's a nice bowl of chocolate mint ice cream.  We made it last summer -- but I can assure you it's still pretty delicious.

I Scream for More: Fresh Mint Ice Cream

We hope it tides you over until we can get back into the kitchen.
Stay safe... and stay dry!


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Coriander Lime Ice Cream with Rhubarb Swirl: Celebrating Our Third Burp-day!

Blogging is a little bit like being in a long-term relationship.
For the most part, I can't remember what life was like BEFORE the Burp! blog came into our our lives.  It has become a fixture, a way of life, a part of how we live and cook.  On the other hand, as I look back over all the posts we've written and all the great people we've gotten to know, I realize that three years is a pretty long time to be dedicated to a food blog.

Like every healthy relationship, blogging takes work and dedication.  I'm not sure that we're really in a position to be giving blogging advice (after all, I feel like we're still learning the ropes).  But, here are a few tips we've picked up along the way:

1. Always talk. Keep communication channels open. Be authentic. If there's one thing I've learned from blogging, it's that there's no point to putting on a show. Or pretending to be someone you're not. You've got to find your own voice, write about what you're passionate about, and share little bits and pieces of yourself with your readers. Blogging isn't a popularity contest, and it's not high school.  It's about building real relationships and community.
2. Set expectations and goals. Keep GROWING. It took us a while to figure out what we wanted from blogging. In fact, when we first began, it was just a mechanism for tracking our recipes and exercising our writing muscles... we didn't expect anyone (beyond friends and family) to be reading it! Of course, as we moved along, we realized that we needed to have a vision for where we wanted the blog to be going. We needed to make a commitment to it (and our readers), and we needed to decide how we would keep things new and fresh. 
3. Seek out good advice and coaching. You may think that only relationships that are on the brink of failing need to seek out good advice and coaching. But, that's simply not true. Even good relationships (and blogs) can benefit greatly from the good advice of others -- and that's absolutely been true for the Burp! blog.  We've learned so much from ALL of you -- from the tips and tricks passed along by our readers to the inspiration and sage words of advice from senior bloggers.

Burp! wouldn't be here if it weren't for you -- our loyal readers and trusted blogging friends.  The past three years have really blown past. In fact, if it hadn't been for a serendipitous glance at the calendar this past weekend, the fact that it's our third blogiversary (or "Burp-day," if you please) might have passed us by without any mention.

However, once we realized we were celebrating three years, we decided we had to do SOMETHING to celebrate.  And what better than churning up a bit of celebration ice cream?

Of course, this couldn't be just any old ice cream. It needed to be something extra special.  As we were looking over all the recipes we've developed over the years, Peef suggested we create something with rhubarb.  He pointed to the recipe for rhubarb sauce with coriander and lime, a recipe we created back in 2008.

The recipe actually marked a sort of turning point for the blog -- one in which we decided that we'd really like to journey outside our previous "comfort zones" and start experimenting with different flavor combinations.  We'd never used coriander in a sweet application, so the idea of trying it out in a rhubarb sauce seemed a little bit wild.  Interestingly enough, it turned out to be a fabulous complement for the sour notes of the rhubarb and lime, and became an instant favorite.

This time around, we wanted to boost the coriander flavor a bit -- so we made it a primary flavor for our ice cream base by infusing it with ground coriander seed, half of a vanilla bean, and the zest of one lime. This Philadelphia style ice cream has notes of coriander, vanilla, and lime with a delicious swirl of rhubarb sauce running throughout.

Honestly -- the ice cream was so delicious that Peef couldn't keep his spoon out of the ice cream maker as it was churning.  It's the perfect combination of cool creamy sweetness and zippy tartness -- a bit like all the best parts of spring-turned-summertime captured in a dish.

And so, in the spirit of deliciousness, we lift our glasses of ice cream high and toast all of you! Thanks for three amazing years!

Even more exciting -- in celebration of our Burp-Day, we'll be giving away at least THREE (3) t-shirts during the month of June. Visit Burp! Blog on Facebook to find out how to win!

2008: Rhubarb Sauce with Coriander and Lime
2010: Coriander Lime Ice Cream with Rhubarb Swirl


©BURP! Where Food Happens

In Which I Speak of Maple Syrup, Custard, and Little Baby Pancakes

I haven't been as good as I'd hoped in celebrating Wisconsin Maple Syrup month. However, I hope to make up for it by sharing our latest exciting experiment -- maple syrup & pancakes custard.

 Now, like many of the foods made at our house, this particular treat has a bit of a story.
When I was a young girl, I always looked forward to Easter. Every year my cousins and I would spend our "spring break" with my grandparents, who lived about an hour north of the city.  The week was always filled with the usual adolescent high jinks -- traipsing through the woods, wading our bare toes in too-cold marsh water that was left behind by the rapidly melting snow, and playing lots and lots of Canasta (a card game I learned early and played often throughout my childhood). 

My grandmother was never what I would call a "gourmet" cook. So, meal time was always an adventure.  Some things, like the casserole made from hamburger meat and cream of mushroom soup, weren't anything to write home about. But, the week did have its highlights. At breakfast, we'd indulge in fantastic slices of perfectly toasted wheat bread (I am still convinced that vintage toaster made the best toast EVER) mounded with crunchy peanut butter.  Post-breakfast, during moments when Grandma wasn't paying attention, we'd also sneak spoons full of that peanut butter and stuff them into our eager little mouths -- and then hope that she didn't ask us any questions while we were trying to swallow that sticky mess (do you remember that old classic song, Peanut Butter, by the Marathons? yeah -- kinda like that).  At lunch, we feasted on good old-fashioned hard rolls spread generously with butter and topped with garlicky cured summer sausage. 

But, one of my favorite indulgences came after dinner time when Grandpa would spoon up heaping bowls of vanilla ice cream, which were promptly drizzled with maple syrup.

There was really nothing like it.  It was so simple. And yet -- so Incredible. Sweet... ice creamy... mapley... slurpilicious.  I don't know what else to say except -- it's a must-try.  And I really have to congratulate my grandparents for their Depression-inspired ingenuity.

Interestingly enough, the good people at Kopp's Frozen Custard here in Milwaukee must have grown up with grandparents who were similarly inspired.  Because recently, they decided to roll out a new custard flavor called "Maple Syrup and Pancakes".  What could be better?  Even Peef was swooning wth delight.

But, why should we have to wait for Kopp's to make up another batch (the next time it appears on the Flavor Forecast is on April 25th -- a whole month away!)?  We could make it for ourselves, right?

Of course, we'd need to differentiate our version somehow. So, rather than just tossing a bunch of chopped up pancakes in our custard, we decided to take the whole game one step further. We'd make cute little baby pancakes to throw into our custard.

Aren't they totally super cute?   Why are little binky things always so gosh-darned adorable?

(I secretly thought that, if maybe I left a few of these out on the table, we might attract some fantastic tiny little people -- fairies, maybe -- to gobble them up.  But, alas, none showed up. *sad*)

Once we had the pancakes in hand, we mixed up a batch of maple syrup custard (many thanks to David Lebovitz for his constant guidance in our quest for delicious ice cream).

The churned custard was deliciously creamy -- and Very Mapley.  "Just perfect," Peef declared upon a first tasting.  And so we mixed all those delicious little pancakes into the custard, and threw everything into the deep freeze.

Now, I must warn you.  As much as we enjoyed that first taste of custard, the finished product wasn't QUITE what we anticipated.  After spending a bit of time in the freezer, the pancakes in the custard got a little... well, frozen.  So, they weren't quite as texturally pleasing as the ones in the Kopp's version (darn those professional custard places for their secret recipes!).

That said, thanks to the time it takes to shoot the photographs for the blog, we found that the pancakes actually became quite a bit more pliable if they're allowed to sit out for a bit.  So, the custard was definitely edible.  Just not quite perfect.

Despite all the hype (and hope),  I think it's back to the drawing board with this one.  Maybe I can sweet talk those folks over at Kopp's into telling me their secret for keeping the pancakes soft.  In the meantime, if you have any crazy ideas, you let me know!   Peef has already requested that we put a little bit of bacon in the next batch.

©BURP! Where Food Happens

Perfect Bliss: Malted Milk Ice Cream

I'm afraid I ought to warn you. This is probably NOT the place to be if you're serious about that new year's resolution to lose that last ten pounds.  I could wax apologetic for you, but it wouldn't be genuine.  Cuz I believe with every last ounce of my soul that this ice cream is worth the couple more hours minutes on the elliptical that you'll have to spend sweating it off.

And, in the spirit of full disclosure, I must confess to you that I, Lo, am an absolute FIEND for malted milk powder. I grew up sprinkling the stuff right on my vanilla ice cream. Drinking it mixed into my milk. Heck, I've even eaten it straight from the jar (yeah, it's powdery, but so is cocaine are pixie stix) It's true. I'll settle for a chocolate shake. But, make it a malt (double thick) and I'll be yours forever.

But, even so -- when I sent Peef out to find malted milk balls so that we could make this recipe (yes, I'm working diligently on another blog post entitled "Why My Husband Rocks" -- but that will have to wait, I'm talking about ice cream here), I had ABSOLUTELY no idea that a single ice cream recipe would have such a profound impact on me.

Because I'm not normally a "sweets" person.  I'm a "salty" sortofa gal. My junk food fantasies consist of things like salt & vinegar potato chips, Flamin' Hot Fritos, and loaves of buttery garlic bread. 

I'm also a big veg-head.  But, trust me, right now the vegetable kingdom is virtually dead to me. I could care less about kale. Broccoli. Beets. Brussels sprouts.

Honestly, I may eat nothing else for the remainder of the week.

And you don't have to take our word for it. It also gets Michael Ruhlman's stamp of approval. And Amateur Gourmet, Adam Roberts, even wrote a SONG about it.

Malted Milk Ice Cream
Adapted slightly from: The Perfect Scoop (David Lebovitz)

1 cup (250 ml) whole milk
2/3 cup (150 g) sugar
2 cups (500 ml) heavy cream
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup (90 g) malt powder
6 large egg yolks
2 cups (350 g) malted milk balls, coarsely chopped

Warm the whole milk with the sugar in a medium saucepan. In a large bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, vanilla, and malt powder. Set a mesh strainer on top.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a wooden or heatproof plastic spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer and whisk it into the malted milk mixture. Stir until cool over an ice bath (or out in the snow, which is what we did here in Wisconsin in January)

Chill mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. As you remove the ice cream from the machine, fold in the chopped malted milk balls.


©BURP! Where Food Happens

Autumn Ice Cream: Browned Butterscotch Pumpkin

Yeah, yeah, alright. So everyone else is blogging about Christmas cookies... so what? I'm here to prove that ice cream can be just as festive!

We've doing quite a bit of experimenting with ice cream flavors lately (hey, if David Lebovitz can spend his time doing it, so can we). And I'm here to reveal a recipe that makes it well worth your while to drag that ice cream machine out of storage again.

We've created the perfect seasonal pumpkin ice cream... many thanks to the wonder that is browned butter. You'll need just a few ordinary ingredients (pictured)...

... plus a few spices, about 5 eggs, and a little bit of patience.

First, you'll brown five tablespoons of butter in a medium saucepan. You'll add brown sugar, a bit of salt, and about a cup of heavy cream to the mix.  You'll swoon.

Once you've regained some semblance of your composure, you'll whip together five egg yolks.  You'll stir the browned butter mixture into the egg yolks (slowly, and whipping them continuously with a whisk so as not to cook them), and then return the whole mixture to the stove to make a delicious browned butter custard.  Your entire kitchen will smell absolutely fantastic, and the next 5-10 minutes will fly past at breakneck speed.

At that point, the custard should be coating the back of a spatula or wooden spoon.  You can pour it through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl containing yet another cup of cold heavy cream.

It will look so pretty, you'll want to take a picture. So, you do. And then, you'll whisk it all together -- adding a cup of pumpkin puree and a bit of vanilla.

 

At this point, you'll place the ice cream base over an ice bath  and stir it until it's completely cool. Then, you'll pop it into the fridge until it's fully chilled (about 3-4 hours, or overnight).

If you're like me, you'll take the opportunity to whip together a delicious pecan pie with pecan shortbread crust...

When the ice cream base is cold, you can whip it up in your ice cream maker.  Be sure to add a tablespoon or so of Scotch to the icecream during the last few moments of churning. The flavor is divine.

Once the ice cream has churned, you can pop it back into the freezer for a while while your pie cools.

And then, when the pie is still ever-so-slightly warm, and the ice cream is perfectly frozen, you can serve them all up together on a nice little dessert plate.

You spoon up a nice little scoop of the melting ice cream. Mmm. Buttery and rich. Cool and creamy. Spicy and dreamy.  It's like the best pumpkin pie you've ever had in a cup. Or a bowl. Or next to that perfect slice of warm pie.

Your fork gravitates toward the pecan pie. The shortbread flakes under the weight of your fork, and then falls into a fantastic abyss of brown sugar custard.  You raise the fork to your lips and take a bite. It's toasty and buttery and nutty and perfect.

You take a forkful of the icecream and the pie together. The convergence of flavors is like the best of Thanksgiving and Christmas all at once.  OOOh...  Yum!

You don't even care about the extra layer of body fat that you've acquired in the last five minutes or so. After all, you'll need it for the long winter ahead.  And you can blame it on the holidays. *smirk*


Recipe:  Peef & Lo's Perfect Browned Butterscotch Pumpkin Ice Cream

©BURP! Where Food Happens