The next time you make a dessert that needs a sauce, but you aren’t quite sure what sauce is right, it’s this one. This is the sauce.
It is sweet and slightly salty like caramel, but without the fuss. It’s rich and elegant like an anglaise, but without cream or eggs. And it has the warm color of butterscotch, but it isn’t that either. This easy buttermilk sauce is neutral in flavor, so you can turn it any number of directions with a splash of vanilla, a sprinkle of cinnamon or pie spice—hey, even a shot of booze! You can pour it warm right over a baked dessert or ice cream sundae, or chill it to drizzle over fresh berries. It’s oozing with possibilities!
Any extra sauce keeps nicely in the fridge, and can either be warmed in a saucepan or the microwave.
There are no complicated ingredients, and the sauce comes together in under 15 minutes, so you can even make it last minute if you discover too late that your dessert needs a little help (we’ve all been there). Most recently, I made this with vanilla bean paste and a half-shot of vanilla whiskey to accompany a batch of bread pudding, made from cardamom-scented cinnamon rolls and dried cherries. The combo of bread pudding and sauce was sooo good!
You take both bread puddings. I’m just gonna drink this extra sauce.
Begin with a cup of buttermilk, the good, thick kind. Put it on medium heat with 3/4 cup of cane sugar and half a stick of salted butter. Most dessert recipes call for unsalted butter, but here, the salted butter is just right to complement the sweetness of the sauce. I whisk a little bit of corn syrup into the sauce as well, as it helps to prevent the sauce from crystallizing when it cools.
After the butter has melted and the sugar is dissolved, it’s time for the magic ingredient, which is a miniscule amount of (drumroll, please) baking soda! Remember, the miraculous ingredient I posted about in September that makes grilled shrimp so juicy and delicious? The baking soda works wonders in this buttermilk dessert sauce, too, and for the same scientific reason. Watch and see.
The alkaline properties of baking soda launch a chemical reaction with the acidic buttermilk, so you want to use a saucepan that is large enough to hold three times the volume of the buttermilk. Almost immediately after you whisk in the soda, the mixture will froth and foam like crazy, and as you whisk and cook for 5 or 6 minutes, the buttermilk will transform into a semi-translucent, golden sweet syrup.
Whisk constantly as the sauce cooks.
Turn off the heat, stir in vanilla and any other flavor enhancer that sounds good to you. As it cools, the buttermilk glaze will thicken slightly into a sauce consistency. It’s so delicious, you may find yourself coming up with new dessert recipes just to make another batch! What will you use it on this weekend?
When the pan is removed from the heat, the froth dies down to reveal a lovely, golden sauce.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering about the bread pudding, just follow my Gram’s basic recipe outline which is, in my opinion, the best bread pudding ever! Use your imagination to flavor the sauce to suit your own dessert, and let me know in the comments what you think of it!
The next time you have a baked dessert that needs a sauce, but you aren’t quite sure what sauce is right, it’s this one. This is the sauce.
Ingredients
1 cup real cultured buttermilk (lowfat is fine)
3/4 cup cane sugar
1/4 cup butter (4 Tbsp.)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 Tbsp. corn syrup
1 Tbsp. Crown vanilla whiskey (optional, but yum)
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste (or vanilla extract)
Be sure to use a saucepan that is three times larger than you expect you’ll need. When the buttermilk and baking soda collide, things get big and foamy in a hurry! Feel free to swap out the vanilla for almond, a smidge of cinnamon or another flavor to suit whatever dessert you’ll be dressing up with this sauce.
Directions
Combine buttermilk, sugar and butter in a large saucepan. Whisk over medium heat until sugar is dissolved and butter is fully melted.
Whisk in the baking soda and get ready for some dramatic foaminess. Continue to cook and whisk the mixture for about 6 minutes after it reaches a boil. You will notice that the color of the sauce deepens to a warm, golden color.
Turn off heat and whisk or stir until the foaminess subsides. Stir in vanilla and any other flavor enhancer you like. For ground spices such as cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon is probably about right. Add whiskey or other liquor, if desired.
Allow the sauce to rest for a few minutes. Serve right away or refrigerate if making it ahead. This sauce warms up nicely in a saucepan or in the microwave.
Most bloggers post their yummy cookie recipes before Christmas, because that’s when everyone is getting ready for Santa’s visit. But I’ve intentionally saved mine for this week for a specific reason, and it has everything to do with my family’s unusual relationship with Santa Claus. So I will get to the cookie recipe, but I beg your indulgence because the family connection is, well, compelling, don’t you think?
And yes, you read that right. My family knows Santa personally, and he’s more like the rest of us than you may have imagined.
When I was a little girl, I was fortunate to live near enough my maternal great-grandparents that I visited them regularly in our small town. When I was a teenager, my visits remained frequent, as their house was within easy walking distance of the high school and I could visit during senior free time. I think it’s possible that my Grandma J actually invented the “grandma pizza,” as that was a regular lunch treat she made for my school day visits.
On occasion, I would also catch the lingering aroma of Grandpa J’s homemade cake donuts, and that was a sure giveaway that Santa had been to their house that morning. Apparently, cake donuts were Santa’s favorite, and he made a point to stop and sit a spell whenever he pulled his 18-wheeler into the parking lot of the grocery store across the street from my relatives’ humble home. You didn’t think a sleigh was his only mode of transport, did you? Santa also has a motorcycle, and he sometimes rolled into town on that, especially in the summer.
Santa visited my great-grandpa quite often, and my one regret is that I always arrived at their home just moments after Santa had left. My timing was terrible, but Grandpa told me the stories, and I remember them all as if I had met Santa myself.
The history of the friendship
It’s hard to say exactly how or when this personal friendship between my great grandpa and Santa began, but it could go back a few generations. Grandpa’s people came from Norway, which is basically a stone’s throw from the North Pole, and because Santa is multilingual, he and Grandpa J usually conversed in Norwegian. Their discussions didn’t focus on Christmas unless it was on the calendar that month, but those visits were rare because Santa was so busy. The rest of the year, Santa’s life is quite different and, well, normal, so they talked about ordinary things like the weather and family and how things were going up at Santa’s place, which is much more than just a toy shop.
Santa has more going on than toys
There is a small working farm at the North Pole, so Santa stays busy keeping things in order there, but with plenty of help. There are farm hands to tend the livestock and the crops, and Santa always had children staying with him, too. It was never clear to me whether they were his own kids or perhaps adopted or even fostered— and it doesn’t really matter because Santa loves all children the same. I most remember the stories about the two teenage boys and the girl, and how they spent a lot of time outdoors, especially around Buttermilk Lake (which isn’t actually filled with buttermilk, despite its name) and reporting to Santa the chaotic incidents perpetrated by two particular animals.
The monkey and the billy goat
My great-grandpa relayed many stories of Santa’s life at the North Pole, but the most memorable ones were about a billy goat, which doesn’t initially seem unusual on the grounds of a working farm. But this was a rambunctious billy goat who was less part of the farm and more part of the family. He minded his own business for the most part, but regularly found himself the target of pranks by a mischievous monkey. The monkey was a real terror, and he’d often use a long wheat straw to tickle the billy goat’s ear as he napped. Sometimes he’d annoy the goat so badly that a chase would ensue around the outside of the house. Santa’s wife (her name is Mary Christmas, in case you’re wondering) would be interrupted from her work in the kitchen as the pair whipped past the window again and again, until finally she only saw one figure. That darn monkey was so clever, he’d jump up and land on the billy goat’s back, just riding along as the billy goat basically chased himself. It must have been a sight!
Santa’s wife
And lest anyone assume that the relationship between Santa and Mary Christmas is misogynistic, I can assure that it isn’t. Mary Christmas was not just washing dishes or making supper in those stories; she is a very resourceful woman who also helps on the farm, especially planting and tending the garden. She does a lot of canning and pickling to ensure that the family and farm hands have ample supplies throughout the year. Some of Santa’s visits to my great-grandpa were the result of him being in town to purchase canning supplies and other things that Mary Christmas had put on his “honey-do” list.
The night everyone talks about
So what about all the magical effort that goes into delivering presents on Christmas Eve? Well, it’s not a big deal for Santa because he’s been doing it so long and he also has his own logistics team. He doesn’t depend on airlines or commercial freight carriers; he handles the details himself and gets the job done well every time. As for the ability to visit all the world’s children in a single night, there is a very simple explanation. Time stands still at the North Pole and most of the travel happens at very high altitude so everything goes faster than it does down here at ground level. You know how it is when you’re in an airplane, moving at approximately 550 mph, but not feeling plastered against your seat? Same principle.
The other 364
During the rest of the year, and especially after Christmas, Santa lives a lot like the rest of us— keeping his business and home in order, taking care of his family and workers and catching up with old friends, like my late great-grandfather. Because time stands still at the North Pole, though, Santa doesn’t age at the same rate as the rest of us. Keeping fit is an ongoing effort and Santa knows that children love to prepare cookies for him, so he never complains about the sugary treats he finds while delivering gifts. But he also eats other foods, and he appreciates finding cheese and crackers, sandwiches, a veggie tray or even a little nip of whiskey (the reindeer are the ones driving, after all). Santa is good with all of that, so don’t stress yourself next Christmas to get the cookies ready. And if you feel like putting out cake donuts, well, he’d be pleased as punch (especially if they’re rolled in cinnamon sugar).
About these cookies
As much as I love the idea of Christmas cookies, I rarely make them and I don’t get too excited about the sugary toppings and decorations. I was always the weird kid who chose homemade oatmeal raisin over iced with sprinkles. This is the kind of cookie I would make for a last minute, mid-year visit from Santa. Without weeks to plan, I’d go to the pantry and clear out every this-and-that ingredient I could find—oats, puffed rice cereal, nuts, dried cherries, coconut flakes and dark chocolate— and turn them into a cookie that satisfies with all its contrasting textures.
I made a batch of these “clear out the pantry” cookies recently, and I’m happy to share how it went!
These ingredients bring in great texture, and some of them are even good for you!
The cookie dough itself is akin to a chocolate chip cookie dough, but with a swap-in of some whole wheat flour for extra flavor and nutrition. I used a combination of brown and cane sugars, wholesome egg, creamy butter and real vanilla extract. The dough begins as most, by creaming together the butter and sugars, then blending in the egg and vanilla.
Creaming the butter and sugars together builds a good base for soft cookies.Add egg and vanilla to the creamed butter-sugar mix.Beat again until dough is smooth.
I mixed in the old fashioned oats first, because I can beat them vigorously without worry of gluten development. Next, the whole wheat flour mixed with the baking soda, salt and cream of tartar. Then, the rest of the flour, mixing just enough to work it into the creamed mixture.
Blend in the oats first; they don’t have gluten so you can’t overmix.Mix in wheat flour with the leavening agents, while dough is soft and easy to mix.The all-purpose flour goes in next.Mix only as long as needed to incorporate, so the dough stays tender.
When you’re mixing any cookie dough, you want to avoid stirring too much after you add the flour, or the dough may get tough rather than soft. So for the mix-ins, I began with the really firm ones— chocolate chips, dried cherries and chopped pecans— and I used a hard spatula to essentially “press” them through the dough. Finally, I did the same with the toasted coconut and crispy brown rice cereal.
Add the hard mix-ins , including the chips, fruit and nuts.Use a firm spatula to “press” those add-ins through the mixed dough. The less stirring, the better.Finally, press in the coconut and crispy rice cereal.
I used a small cookie scoop to divvy out the dough, pressing a really full scoop against the inside of the bowl to ensure that every cookie is full and round, and spacing them two inches apart onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. If you don’t have a scoop, use a teaspoon to measure out the dough into pecan size mounds. Try to avoid rolling the dough with your hands, as the warmth will change the nature of the cookie.
Drag a small scoop through the dough to collect a little of everything.Press the scoopful of dough against the inside of the bowl for a round, compact cookie.Arrange the cookie scoops onto parchment, with two inches between.Bake for about 10 minutes, until edges are golden.
Into the preheated oven for 10 minutes, and these cookies emerge perfectly soft, with crispy edges and all that lovely texture. The pantry is a bit lighter after making these, and if Santa should happen to stop in for coffee (or sweet tea, or whiskey) on his way to pick up supplies, I’ll be ready!
These cookies have crispy edges, chewy dried fruit, crunchy nuts and flaky coconut. In other words, ALL the texture I crave!
Ingredients
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, slightly softened from refrigerator
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated cane sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. real vanilla extract
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 cup all-purpose flour
6 oz. semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup candied (or plain) pecans, broken into small pieces
1/2 cup crispy rice cereal, lightly toasted
1/2 cup dried cranberries, cherries or raisins
1/2 cup sweetened coconut flakes, lightly toasted
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F, with rack in center position. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, or the double blades of an electric handheld mixer, beat butter until creamed and airy. Add cane sugar, a few tablespoons at a time, until fluffy. Add brown sugar the same way.
Add egg and vanilla to bowl and beat until mixture is smooth.
Add oats and mix until evenly blended. In a small bowl, combine whole wheat flour with the salt, soda and cream of tartar. Add this flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture and beat only long enough to incorporate the dry ingredients. Next, add the all-purpose flour to the bowl and mix just to incorporate. Avoid overmixing so that your cookies will remain soft.
Remove bowl from stand mixer. All remaining ingredients should be folded in by hand to avoid overheating. An easy way to incorporate the add-ins is to use a firm spatula or wooden spoon to try to “press” them down through the dough, beginning with the firmer ingredients (chips, dried fruit and pecans) and ending with the delicate ones (coconut and rice cereal).
Place by rounded teaspoonfuls (or use a small size dough scoop), 2 inches apart on the parchment-lined sheets.
Bake 9 to 11 minutes (depending on oven), until dough is set and edges are lightly golden brown.
Cool on sheet a couple of minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
When it comes to holiday goodies, decadent doesn’t have to be complicated, and simple doesn’t have to be ordinary. These brownies—amped up with an extra dose of double dark cocoa and embellished with pieces of peppermint bark—are delightful as they are. But then, because I can’t leave well enough alone, I topped them with a dollop of candy cane-infused whipped cream.
Decadent, simple and way beyond ordinary!
I chose the Dr. Seuss colors for my plates (on purpose).
The best part about it (besides the fact that it’s delicious and oh-so-Christmas-y) is that I didn’t have to make a scratch recipe. I used my favorite Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownie mix as the base, and folded broken up Ghirardelli dark chocolate peppermint bark squares into the batter before baking, along with a generous spoonful of double dark cocoa blend from King Arthur Baking Company (but any dark cocoa powder works fine).
Extra chocolate, anyone? 🙂
Make the brownies as directed, using water and canola oil plus egg to moisten the batter. Gently fold in the broken pieces of peppermint bark and spread it out into a buttered brownie pan.
Dressing up a boxed brownie mix makes dessert so much easier!
I considered using the chunkier peppermint bark, with actual bits of candy cane sprinkled on top, but decided on the Ghirardelli-style bark for its smooth, meltable qualities and so that we didn’t accidentally chip a tooth biting into a hidden piece of candy cane. They melted completely into the baked brownies, and offered gooey pockets of pepperminty flavor in each bite. If you don’t mind a little crunchy surprise, there’d be no harm in trying these brownies with the chunky style of bark. The contrast of chewy and crunchy would probably be especially popular with kids. No adjustment is needed to the baking time, and be sure to let them cool completely so they set up for easier cutting and serving.
This candy cane whipped cream makes me so happy!
The candy cane whipped cream is much easier than it sounds—I simply warmed heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan and melted two broken candy canes into the cream. This took about 20 minutes, and I kept a close eye on them to avoid letting the cream reach a boiling point. The candy canes did all the work, providing the sweetness, the minty flavor and the pretty pink color. After a thorough chilling, I used the whisk attachment of my electric mixer to whip it into a creamy emulsion.
I started with one candy cane, but added another for more intense color and flavor.
Ready to make them? Use the “click to print” card below to save this for your recipe files. Merry Christmas!
These Christmas-y brownies bring together two favorite flavors for a 'simple meets special' holiday treat.
Ingredients
1 box Ghirardelli dark chocolate brownie mix (or your favorite, plus oil, egg and water as directed)
1 heaping tablespoon dark cocoa (I used King Arthur Baking Double Dark Blend)
8 squares Ghirardelli dark chocolate peppermint bark, broken into pieces
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
2 standard size candy canes
It’s best to make this ahead, so that the candy cane-infused cream has plenty of time to chill before whipping and serving. Brownies should also be cooled for easier cutting.
Directions
Preheat oven as directed on brownie mix package, with rack in center position. Generously butter your brownie pan.
Combine dry brownie mix and dark cocoa in a bowl and whisk together. Add ingredients as instructed on brownie mix (this is usually some combination of egg, oil and water).
Gently fold in broken pieces of peppermint bark, and then transfer brownie batter to the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake as instructed and allow plenty of time for brownies to cool.
Pour cream into a small saucepan with broken candy canes, and place pan over medium-low heat. Stir gently and watch this closely to ensure cream does not boil. It should remain at a gentle simmer with steam floating above the pan. When candy canes have fully melted, transfer the cream to a bowl and refrigerate until fully chilled.
Use a handheld mixer (or a whisk, if you have really strong arms) to whip the cream to desired fluffiness. Spoon a dollop of the candy cane whipped cream onto each brownie square and serve immediately.
I am good at a few things in the kitchen, but pie crust is not one of them. I can make the pastry dough, no problem, and I usually use the food processor to speed things along. Getting the thing inside the pan in one piece, especially for a deep dish pie, is quite another story. Yes, I have seen all the tricks, from folding it into quadrants and then unfolding it into the pan, to rolling it up around the rolling pin and transferring it that way. The problem is, by the time I finish monkeying around with patching cracks and moving it (especially if it sticks to my roll-out surface and it always does), I have usually either let it get too warm so that it loses its flakiness or I have overworked the dough to the point that it becomes tough rather than tender.
Thank goodness for this easy-peasy alternative— the galette!
At first glance, a galette might seem like a fancy-schmancy dessert. Not quite a tart, which usually has egg in the pastry dough and requires a special shallow, fluted pan. Also not quite a pie because it only has one piece of pastry, there’s no blind baking involved and it doesn’t require a pie pan at all. Just a cookie sheet or pizza pan, and almost everyone has one of those.
This rustic dessert has all the familiar comfort factor of a pie, but without the fuss. You roll the dough out directly onto parchment, then add your filling, fold up the edges and slide the whole thing right onto your baking sheet. I would not recommend trying a galette for a pie that requires any kind of loose, wet filling, but for uncooked apple slices and raw cranberries, the stars of this dessert, it was perfect.
I ended up using only three of the apples and still had a few slices left over.
My recipe is adapted from one that King Arthur Baking Company released just before Thanksgiving. Their version was called Apple Butter Apple Galette, and it did not include cranberries or the tiny flecks of fresh rosemary that I added to adorn the outside of the pastry. I swapped out cinnamon for cardamom because I love the flavor with apples, and I didn’t have apple butter on hand (nor the time to make my own), so I subbed in pre-made fig butter from Trader Joe’s. King Arthur’s recipe already calls for mostly whole wheat flour in the pastry, which makes the dessert feel even more rustic and fall-like.
The pastry dough itself is somewhat unusual as there is no water in the mix; rather, the typical cold butter-and-flour mixture is moistened with sour cream, of all things. That inclusion lent a tangy note that was a nice contrast to the slight sweetness of the apple-cranberry filling. The dough needs a good long rest in the fridge, so it’s best to make it the night before and then shape it up when you have the filling ready.
Shaping the dough goes about the same as any pie crust. It helps to use the end of a rolling pin to slightly beat the dough disk into a slightly flattened shape first, then roll it out onto parchment paper for final assembly of the galette.
The fig butter is spread out onto the rolled pastry, serving as a base for the apple filling. The apples, which I didn’t even bother to peel, were halved top to bottom, then sliced into half-rings for even appearance and easy arranging. A little lemon juice preserved the color and a good sprinkling with maple sugar and a bit of cardamom added warmth and sweetness. I tucked in the cranberries here and there, including up under a few edges of the folded-up pastry dough, and dotted it with butter, just as you would with an apple pie. A little egg wash and the sugar-rosemary embellishment, and off it went into the oven!
A galette feels fancy and elegant but is ridiculously easy to make!
This was a terrific dessert that would work for any meal during the rest of the holiday season. The fig butter, apples and cranberries were a great combination. The sparkling sugar and rosemary made it festive enough to serve for a special meal, but it would be equally nice for a casual weeknight dinner.
Not quite a tart and not quite a pie, a galette is a quick and simple, rustic dessert, and this fig-apple-cranberry combo is just right for the holidays!
Ingredients
1 cup (113g) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 cup (60g) King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 tablespoons (170g) unsalted butter, cold; cut into 1/2″ cubes
6 tablespoons (85g) sour cream
Ingredients
3 medium apples, peeled (or not) and sliced about 1/8″ thick
juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
2 Tbsp. light brown sugar or maple sugar (see ingredient note below)
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom
pinch of salt
1/2 cup prepared fig butter
1/2 cup fresh (or frozen) cranberries
1 tablespoon cold butter, cubed
1 large egg, beaten with 1 tsp. cold water (egg wash)
coarse sparkling sugar
1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary
Ingredient note: Adjust sugar to taste, depending on the sweetness of your apples. I used Granny Smith and Arkansas Black, both of which are crisp and tart, so I amped up the sugar a bit. If you are using sweeter apples, feel free to back off the sugar accordingly.
Directions
For the pastry dough, combine flours, sugar and salt in a bowl. Pinch cold butter cubes into the flour mix until the whole bowl is filled with crumbs ranging from pea-size to almond-size. Add cold sour cream and blend with a fork just until evenly blended. Shape the pastry dough into a composed disk and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Roll the edges along the counter to seal it for easier rolling later. Refrigerate overnight.
Preheat oven to 425 F, with oven rack in center position. Prepare apples and squeeze lemon juice over them, tossing to help prevent browning. Sprinkle with brown sugar, salt and ground cardamom. Toss to distribute.
Unwrap pastry dough and place it on a lightly floured countertop. Use the end of a rolling pin to gently “pound” the disk so that it flattens slightly. Transfer pastry to parchment paper and roll it out to about 1/8″ inch thickness, approximately 14″ across.
Spread fig butter evenly over pastry dough, to about 1 inch from the edges of pastry dough. Arrange sugared apple slices in concentric circles over the fig butter, approximately 3 inches from the edges. Make radial cuts, about 3 inches apart, from the outer edge of the pastry dough toward the apple filling.
Fold up cut edges of the galette, overlapping as needed to close up the pastry over the filling. Tuck fresh cranberries into layers of apple and under edges of the pastry. Place galette in freezer for 10 minutes to re-chill pastry dough.
Arrange dots of cold butter over the sliced apples. Brush egg wash all over exposed pastry. Sprinkle with sparkling sugar and minced rosemary.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until pastry is deep golden brown all over and apples are tender when pierced with a fork.
Cool to room temperature. Cut into wedges and serve with ice cream or whipped cream.
I know, I know—we are not exactly in “ice cream season,” but this is not an ordinary, warm weather ice cream, and I found it so interesting, I could not wait until next summer to share it!
My inspiration for this ice cream came very naturally, in the course of conversation with dear friends after a feast that concluded with one of my homemade ice cream recipes. Our friend, Charlotte, casually mentioned that she had once had a chance to try a most unusual ice cream flavor, and that she had lingering regrets over passing on that opportunity so many years earlier. It was bleu cheese ice cream, she said, and she had never stopped thinking about it.
I’ll be honest—my brain could not imagine it. Bleu cheese? In ice cream? Yikes.
But my taste buds took the wheel, reminding me that I have enjoyed many charcuterie boards with the combination of bleu cheese with fresh and dried fruits, and bleu cheese drizzled with honey, and both were fantastic! So if I’ve enjoyed bleu cheese with sweet flavors in other ways, why wouldn’t it be possible—or potentially even good—in an ice cream?
Many years ago, I made a honey and goat cheese ice cream that was fantastic, so it wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Before long, I joined Charlotte in wondering if bleu cheese ice cream would be amazing—or just weird.
That was about two years ago, and as time rolled along, I moved on to what seemed to be more “normal” ideas for ice cream, including several that I have posted here on Comfort du Jour, but a few weeks ago, Charlotte and her partner, David, joined us for pizza night at our house and she clearly had not forgotten about this most unusual frozen treat, and she put it right out there as a challenge:
“So, what do you think about doing the bleu cheese ice cream?”
And all at once, my brain connected the dots.
The bleu cheese would need a sweet base to carry it, and I remembered the jar of specialty honey—a local one, infused with lavender—that sat mostly untouched in the back of my cabinet. Of course! That would infuse the base of my ice cream, and I would embellish it with additional dried lavender buds, steeped in the cream mixture and strained out before churning. With or without bleu cheese, I knew that would be a delightful dessert, and when I tasted the base, I let go an audible moan. It was, OMG, perfect.
Honey, lavender and more lavender!The base is sweetened condensed milk, the lavender-infused milk and heavy cream.
There could be no vanilla in this ice cream because I didn’t want a distraction from the honey or the lavender. Sweetened condensed milk would provide structure to the base, and something else would have to run through the ice cream to split the difference between the sweet, floral background and the salty, funky bits of bleu cheese. Something tart and unexpected (as if bleu cheese wasn’t unexpected enough)—yes, it would have to be balsamic vinegar!
Balsamic reduction is so easy! Just vinegar, heat and time.
Now, if you had told me a few years ago that I would one day make ice cream with vinegar and bleu cheese, I would have decided then and there that you were completely off your rocker. But this balsamic is not ordinary vinegar—it’s a specialty product, infused with lavender. Something in my subconscious had already predicted this moment, because I found an unopened bottle of the stuff in my pantry overflow. I poured some into a pan and reduced it to a thick, syrupy consistency, which concentrated both its sweetness and its tang, and I drizzled that syrup through the churned base as a ribbon—no, more like a thread—that literally streaks through each scrumptious scoop, accentuating the positives of the warm honey, the fragrant lavender, the sweet cream and yes, the funky bleu cheese.
Too veiny-y, and more green than bleu.A delightful bleu cheese, but too pungent for this dessert. Just right! And women-owned, which I love!
For this recipe, I recommend a bleu cheese that is not too funky or overly vein-y. I actually picked up three different bleu cheeses to determine which one was right. The first turned out to be too pungent and heavy on the funky veins— better for chunky bleu cheese dressing, and that’s exactly what I ended up making with it. The second bleu cheese had great promise, as the woman in the specialty cheese department at the market described it as being “smoked over hazelnut shells,” but in one taste, I knew that it would overwhelm the delicate lavender (It’ll be great, though, on a charcuterie tray). My third option turned out to be just right, with a classic, salty flavor and nice blue-color veins running through creamy-looking white cheese. I layered crumbles of it over the churned ice cream, which was streaked with a fine drizzle of the balsamic reduction.
I’m not so naïve to think that everyone reading this now would enjoy this ice cream because not everyone has a strong sense of adventure. Frankly, not everyone even likes bleu cheese. If you’d rather have a reduced-guilt vanilla ice cream or a homemade Cherry Garcia, I’ve got you, and you can skip over to those posts for the recipes. No judgment here. But for those of you who do have that adventurous side—you read this to the end, after all—you’re gonna be telling your friends about this one!
Charlotte was thrilled to finally have bleu cheese ice cream, and just in time for her birthday. ❤ 🙂
Not for the unadventurous, but a sophisticated combination of flavors in an elegant, indulgent ice cream.
Ingredients
3/4 can sweetened condensed milk (about 10 ounces)
1 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup half and half
3 Tbsp. lavender-infused honey* (see ingredient notes)
1 tsp. edible dried lavender buds*
Pinch kosher salt
1 Tbsp. vodka (optional, added at end of churning for improved texture)
1/3 cup lavender-infused balsamic vinegar*
1/3 cup mild bleu cheese crumbles*
I used Cloister brand whipped lavender honey, but there are many notable varieties available with a quick internet search. If possible, choose a honey made locally. The dried lavender buds underscored the floral essence of the honey, and I recommend them. Be sure you select lavender that is labeled as “food-grade” or “edible,” as some on the market are intended for cosmetic formulas only. The lavender-infused balsamic is another specialty ingredient that you can find at any one of the balsamic and olive oil stores that have popped up all over the U.S. If your local shop’s supplier is Veronica Foods, you’re in the right place.
Directions
Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat. When it begins to steam around the edges, whisk in the honey to dissolve it. Add the lavender buds to the pan and turn off the heat. Allow the buds to steep until the milk has cooled to room temperature.
Pour 3/4 of a can of sweetened condensed milk into a pitcher bowl. Pour the lavender-infused milk through a mesh strainer into the bowl, discarding the spent lavender buds. Whisk the milks together until evenly blended. Add heavy cream and half and half, whisking to combine but taking care to not whip air bubbles into the mixture. Cover and refrigerate several hours until completely cold.
Heat the balsamic vinegar in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it reduces in volume and takes on a syrupy consistency. Cool to room temperature.
Set up ice cream machine. Gently whisk ice cream base mixture to reincorporate any ingredients that have settled. Freeze ice cream according to manufacturer’s instructions. In the final minute of churning, add vodka to ice cream and allow it the machine to churn it all the way through.
Spoon about 1/3 of frozen ice cream mixture to an insulated freezer container. Use a whisk to carefully drizzle a slight ribbon of reduced balsamic over the layer of ice cream, and use a toothpick or thin knife to gently marble the balsamic down into the ice cream, but be careful not to “muddy” it. Scatter half of the bleu cheese crumbles over the balsamic, and then repeat with another layer of ice cream, balsamic and bleu cheese. You probably won’t use all of the reduction, but you can use the rest of it to drizzle over the ice cream at serving time. Finish layer the last of the ice cream base on top. Smooth gently, cover with parchment or wax paper and freeze until firm (about 8 hours).
I’m ready for fall—there, I said it. Summer has been wonderful this year, especially for the fact that we have enjoyed the company of friends more this year than in the previous two summers. It’s good to be (mostly) back to normal. But my confession is true; I have found myself longing for the goodness that autumn brings—you know, cooler evening breezes, crisp morning air, comfy sweaters and (of course) the food. Soon enough, I suppose.
As we wind our way through these waning days of summer, I am delighted with the freshness we have enjoyed from our own garden and the various other local sources that have supplied our meals.
We are clinging to the end of fresh peach season here in the South, and I have two delicious desserts to share with you. It is unusual for me to share two recipes at once but, given the short time left for enjoying fresh, in-season peaches, I thought it made sense to present these at the same time. Both are prepared in a skillet, and both include fresh peaches, but that’s pretty much where the similarities end. One is super simple to make and serve straight from the skillet; the other is a bit more involved, though not difficult, and serves up with a more elegant flair. Either is delicious, and if you only have enough time (or peaches) to make one of them, you can hardly choose wrong.
Peach Bourbon Upside-down Skillet Cake
The first of these yummy desserts was made “on location,” just about a month ago, during a visit with friends outside Raleigh, N.C. When we arranged our day trip to visit Bob and Peg, I told them I’d love to make a dessert using the fresh peaches off their backyard tree. If you have the time to invest in a few extra steps, this is the dessert I recommend. For me, the trickiest part is inverting the thing while the heavy cast iron skillet is still warm. If you’re comfortable doing so, this cake is well worth the effort, and it’s one that I have made several times over the years. I turned it into a bit of an adventure this time by packing up all the pre-measured ingredients and then assembling and baking it at Bob and Peg’s. This was easier than it might sound, and it went like this:
I measured my ingredients and grouped them together as I’d need them for the skillet cake. The eggs are wrapped in foil for protection.
As with any upside-down cake, this dessert was built backward, beginning with the sticky-sweet, sugary base in the skillet and finishing with the batter that gets poured right on top—which, of course, becomes the bottom after the cake is baked and inverted.
I like a combination of white and brown sugars for the base because the white sugar puts a bit of crunch in the caramel and the brown sugar provides more depth of flavor. Add both to the butter as it melts over a stovetop burner and let it mingle into syrupy lusciousness. If the butter gets a little browned in the process of melting it down, so much the better, and you must know me well enough to know that I had to pour in a shot of bourbon once the sugar mixture was bubbly. Bob was pouring bourbon anyway, and peaches and bourbon is a match made in summer heaven, as far as I’m concerned. Next, arrange sliced peaches all the way around over the butter-sugar base.
“Hey, Bob, pour me a shot for this cake, would ya?”
The batter for this cake is pleasantly dense, with cornmeal adding whole grain goodness and texture, and buttermilk providing a necessary acidic boost to the baking powder and soda. Begin by beating softened butter and sugar together, then adding eggs and vanilla, and finally blending in the flour and buttermilk ingredients.
The batter will be kind of thick, and don’t worry if it seems a little broken. It will even out as it bakes.
Pour the batter over the peaches in the hot skillet and transfer it directly to a preheated oven until the edges have pulled away from the skillet and the center resembles cornbread. After a brief rest, run a knife around the edge to loosen the cake and carefully invert it onto a serving plate. If any of the “upside-down” sticks, replace it on the cake and smooth it while it is still warm. Delicious!
At the end of this post, I will include easy, click-to-print recipe cards for both of these peachy skillet recipes. But first, I must show you what our pal, Bob, was doing to break my baking concentration with his magical cocktail-making abilities. My husband and I always have a wonderful time hanging out with Bob and Peg, and as we waited for the peach bourbon upside-down cake to finish baking, we witnessed a master class in—get this—smoking cocktails. Yes.
This was mesmerizing!
Now, the cocktail itself could not have been simpler. No measuring required, even—it was straight up bourbon over a big-ass ice cube. But that smoke infusion contraption took a nice bourbon into a whole new territory, and you can bet I’ll be getting one of those before I present this year’s signature Halloween cocktail. More to come. 😉
Ready to talk about this other delicious, peachy keen skillet dessert? It’s a cobbler!
Peach Praline Skillet Cobbler
For now, let’s shift gears back to the cast-iron skillet and talk about this ridiculously easy cobbler, which I whipped up in no more than 15 minutes, plus baking. The only time-consuming thing here was peeling and cutting up the peaches, which was hardly a burden, given that I thoroughly enjoyed licking the juices off my fingers when I finished. These particular peaches were gifted to us by our neighbor, Pam, following a day trip she had made to the North Carolina mountains. Pam has followed my adventures on Comfort du Jour from the beginning, and she said upon delivering these perfectly ripe peaches, “I can’t wait to see what you create with these!” Well, here it is—a skillet cobbler!
These peaches were huge and juicy!
I only used three of the peaches here (they were huge), and that measured about 2 cups, once they were peeled, pitted and cut into bits. In a pinch, I’m sure you could use thawed frozen peaches as well, which means this dessert doesn’t have to be limited to summertime enjoyment.
There are several varieties of cobbler out there, and because we roll pretty casual in the South, I skipped over the options that required making biscuits or pastry dough and steered directly to the “batter” option. This is a dessert that seems incorrect, because the batter is quite runny, and it’s hard to visualize how it will come together in the oven (but it does). The batter is made with self-rising flour, sugar, cinnamon and milk—that’s it. Me being me, though, I had to incorporate some amount of whole grain into it, so for this batch, I also stirred in 1/3 cup of quick-cooking oats and that turned out to be a great decision. Unlike a typical cobbler with juicy, almost soupy consistency, this one held together more like a custard because the oats plumped up inside the cobbler. I would not recommend increasing the oats because it might turn out gummy, and I am sure that quick oats is the way to go. Old fashioned, rolled oats may not cook through as tender, or they may absorb too much of the liquid in the batter.
Be sure to measure your flour correctly, using the “fluff, sprinkle, level” method.
While I measured and mixed those ingredients, I pre-heated the oven with a half stick of butter in it, and then swirled the browned butter around to fully coat the pan once the oven was hot. The batter is slowly poured into the hot buttered skillet, and then the peaches are arranged (if you want to call it that) all over the top. Typically, a cobbler is sprinkled lightly with sugar before it’s baked, but I can’t stick with typical, so I chopped up some pecan pralines (from Trader Joe’s, but anything similar will work) and scattered those on top instead.
Isn’t this just peachy? 🙂
As I said, you can’t go wrong with either of these peachy keen skillet desserts, so grab your cast iron and peel those peaches and enjoy what’s left of summer.
This beautiful skillet dessert makes the most of fresh, late-summer peaches, and bourbon marries nicely into the “upside-down” as cornmeal brings texture to every bite.
Ingredients
1/2 stick salted butter (for the upside-down)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup cane sugar
1 shot bourbon (optional, but heck yes)
4 medium fresh peaches, sliced with peel
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup medium grind cornmeal
1/4 cup toasted pecan pieces (optional)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 stick unsalted butter, softened (for batter)
3/4 cup cane sugar (for batter)
2 large eggs
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup buttermilk, shaken well
Whipped cream for serving
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375° F, with oven rack in the center position.
Place a 10″ cast iron skillet over medium heat. Heat first amount of butter until melted. Add brown and cane sugars and stir to combine. Let them mingle over the heat until the mixture looks dissolved and begins to bubble. Add the bourbon (if using) and stir to blend. Reduce heat to low and arrange peach slices in a round pattern over the syrupy bourbon mixture. Set aside while you prepare the batter.
Combine flour and cornmeal in a medium bowl. Add pecans, baking powder, soda, salt and cinnamon. Set aside for later addition to the batter.
Using a handheld mixer, cream together the remaining sugar with the stick of unsalted butter. Beat this mixture until it’s lighter and fluffier in texture. Add eggs, one at a time, beating completely to blend. Beat in vanilla.
Use a rubber spatula to fold about half of the flour mixture into the batter, blending until all dry ingredients are incorporated. Gently mix the buttermilk into the batter, and then fold the remaining flour mixture, again blending until no dry spots of flour are visible.
Pour the batter over the peaches in the skillet, taking care not to disturb the arrangement. Gently smooth the batter, and slide the skillet into the oven.
Bake for 50 to 55 minutes, until baked batter has pulled away from the edges of the skillet and the cake portion tests clean when a toothpick is inserted into the center.
Cool 15 minutes before loosening the cake around the edges. Carefully invert the cake onto a large platter. If any bits of peach get stuck to the skillet, place them back into place and smooth the upside-down caramel coating while it’s still warm.
Slice into wedges when cooled and serve with a dollop of whipped cream or ice cream. Wrap leftovers in plastic and keep in the fridge.
This recipe is easy as can be, and a bit of quick-cooking oats mixed into the batter gives the cobbler a touch of whole grain goodness and a wonderful texture.
Ingredients
1/2 stick unsalted butter (4 Tbsp.)
3/4 cup cane sugar
1 cup self-rising flour (see ingredient note below)
1/3 cup quick-cooking oats
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup whole milk
About 3 large peaches, or enough to measure 2 heaping cups (peel and chop)
1/2 cup candied pecans, roughly chopped (I used Trader Joe’s pecan pralines)
Note: self-rising flour already has the proper ratio of leavening agent; if you do not have self-rising flour, use regular all-purpose flour and add to it 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder and 1/4 tsp. salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 400° F, with oven rack in center position. Place cold butter in a 10-inch cast iron skillet and put it in the oven during preheating. Keep an eye on it so that the butter does not burn.
Whisk together the self-rising flour, sugar, oats and cinnamon. Add the milk to the dry ingredients and whisk until combined, and no pockets of unincorporated dry ingredients remain. The batter will be quite runny.
Remove hot skillet from the oven and swirl the pan to evenly coat with the melted butter. Slowly pour the batter right into the center of the pan. The butter will naturally scoot out to the edges of the pan, and that’s OK. It may also seem to foam a bit at the edges, which is normal.
Top the batter filling evenly with the peach chunks. Scatter the chopped candied pecans over the top. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, until the cobbler is golden brown and bubbly in spots. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Ooey-gooey. It’s the only honest way to describe a s’more—with its melty, oozing richness of milk chocolate, warmed and softened by a fresh-from-the-campfire toasted marshmallow and squished between two delicately crispy, honey-sweetened graham crackers. It is a little dessert sandwich that says, “come on, be a kid again!” This beautifully sticky, utterly sweet nostalgic treat is fantastic on its own, but now I’ve just gone and made it even more sinful by baking it into a rich, dark, fudgy brownie.
Why in the world would I do such a thing, when I’m supposed to be watching my calories? One reason: National S’mores Day!
You probably think these are ridiculous, and you’re absolutely right!
What Goes Into S’mores Brownies?
There’s no campfire required to make these, and you don’t have to get carried away making them from scratch, either. My s’mores brownie recipe (like all my brownie riffs) is based on my favorite brownie box mix, and I am confident that it would work well with your favorite, too. All you need (besides whatever the brownie box says) is a sleeve of graham crackers, a little melted butter, a jar of marshmallow cream, two Hershey’s milk chocolate bars and a smidge of cream cheese.
The main ingredients are exactly what you’d expect. You’ll also need a little butter, a dab of cream cheese and whatever is required for making the brownie batter.
This would be a fun and tasty activity with the kids, the grandkids, the neighbor kids, the big kid you married or perhaps just the kid in you! There is playfulness in making them, and my hubby even joined the action during assembly—it’s funny how quick he is to lend a hand when dessert is involved, and he was definitely excited about these.
S’mores brownies are excellent when served in their just-cooled state after baking, but (as my husband discovered) they are also great cold from the fridge. My neighbor reports that they are awesome warmed up for a few seconds in the microwave—you know, bringing that melty gooiness back to life. We even tried them warmed with a small scoop of ice cream on top. I think it’s safe to say that there is not a bad way to enjoy a s’mores brownie.
The cold, creamy ice cream was a nice complement to the ultra-rich s’mores brownie.
How to Make S’mores Brownies
Did I mention that making them is easy? You’ll find an easy click-to-print recipe at the end of the post. It includes all the measurements and directions I used. But first, some eye candy!
I started with a graham cracker base—the same as I would make for a cheesecake or key lime pie. My graham crackers were packaged in “stacks,” which are basically just pre-halved graham squares for quick and easy s’more making. I used two stacks for the crumb base. Prepare your baking pan with a few swipes of cold butter along the bottom and sides to ensure easy removal of the ooey-gooey brownies, with all its sticky sweet fillings. Add graham crackers to the bowl of a food processor, and pulse several times to break them up into rough crumbs. Then add the melted butter and pulse again several times, until the mixture resembles coarse, wet sand. Transfer the crumbs into the buttered pan and press firmly onto the bottom, but not up the sides. Bake a few minutes to set the crumbs and then let it cool.
If you don’t have a processor, place the crumbs in a gallon size zip top bag and crush with a rolling pin.
For the marshmallow layer, I used the same trick as in my S’mores Ice Cream last year—I used an electric mixer to combine the entire jar of marshmallow cream with a small amount of cream cheese. This knocks out the airy bubbles, making it more manageable for layering inside the brownies. Scoop this mixture into a zip top bag, seal it and set it aside.
The small amount of cream cheese makes the marshmallow cream super silky and spreadable.
Make the brownie batter according to package instructions. If you are obsessed with dark chocolate (ahem, like me), feel free to add a tablespoon of dark cocoa powder to the dry mix first. I planned to use Hershey milk chocolate in the layers (for its ooey-gooey properties), so the addition of cocoa is how I got my dark chocolate fix. Spoon roughly half of the brownie mixture as evenly as possible over the baked graham crust. Don’t try to spread it, as this will dislodge those beautiful crumbs. Just spoon it and let it ooze into place.
Make your brownie mix according to package instructions. Add dark cocoa if you like!
Next, snip a small corner off the bag holding the marshmallow cream and gently pipe it all over the first layer of brownie batter. I did my best to keep this layer from seeping to the edges, because marshmallow tends to turn hard and chewy if it cooks too much. My hubby jumped in to help at this point, as he had opened up the Hershey bars and broken them into individual pieces for layering onto the marshmallow cream. He may also have been doing a little quality control for me—a.k.a. taste testing the chocolate bars—and it was fun hearing him describe how he broke the bars into little pieces like that when he was a kid. You know, to make the chocolate bar last longer. 🙂
We arranged the chocolate with a little space in between so the marshmallow had plenty of room to ooze.
Putting the s’mores brownies together was a team project!
The rest of the brownie batter was layered on, and it was tricky to spoon it on evenly without creating a muddy swirl. Next time, I might use a zip top bag to pipe that on as well, but the swirls were not too pronounced. A few broken pieces of extra graham cracker, and our brownies were ready for the oven! My box mix suggested 45 to 50 minutes, and I gave it the full 50. My s’mores brownies were a bit on the “fudgy” side, and I think a few extra minutes in the oven would have been just fine.
Now, the hard part. Waiting for them to cool!
As much as I’d love to claim that the calories fell out when we cut them into squares (spoiler alert—they didn’t), I think I’ll just declare that I’m glad National S’mores Day only comes once a year!
There’s no campfire required to make these, and you don’t have to get carried away making them from scratch, either. My s’mores brownie recipe (like all my brownie riffs) is based on my favorite brownie box mix, and I am confident that it would work well with your favorite, too.
Ingredients
1 box brownie mix, plus ingredients listed to make them (usually oil, water and egg)
1 Tbsp. dark cocoa, optional for extra rich chocolate flavor
1 sleeve honey graham crackers (or two “stacks,” if your package is like mine)
3 Tbsp. salted butter, melted
7 oz. jar marshmallow cream (or fluff)
2 Tbsp. plain cream cheese
2 full-size Hershey milk chocolate bars, broken into individual pieces
1 or 2 additional graham crackers, broken into pieces for top of brownies
Directions
Preheat oven to 325° F, or temperature recommended on the brownie mix. Place rack in center of oven. Butter the bottom and sides of an 8-inch square baking dish.
Break up a sleeve of graham crackers (or two stacks) into the bowl of a food processor. Pulse several times to break them into coarse crumbs. Add melted butter and pulse several more times, until mixture resembles wet sand.
Transfer crumbs to buttered baking dish and press firmly onto the bottom but not up the sides. Use a small, flat-bottomed dish to make this easy. Bake graham crust for about 7 minutes, enough to set the crumbs. Cool to room temperature.
In a small bowl, use an electric mixer or sturdy whisk to beat cream cheese and marshmallow fluff together. Spoon mixture into a quart size, zip top bag. Seal and set the bag aside for now.
Make brownie batter according to package instructions. If using dark cocoa, add it to the dry ingredients before blending.
Carefully spoon about half of the brownie batter onto the cooled graham crust. Do not spread the batter, as this will disturb the delicate crumbs.
Snip a corner of the zip top bag and use it as a piping bag to distribute the marshmallow cream over the brownie batter. Try to keep the cream about an inch away from the side edges of the dish.
Arrange the individual Hershey pieces all over the marshmallow cream. It doesn’t have to be perfect; just aim for uniform coverage with a bit of space in between each piece.
Carefully spoon the remaining batter over the layers of marshmallow and chocolate pieces. I found this easiest by using small spoonfuls, beginning around the edges of the dish first, to keep the chocolate pieces from being pushed to the outside.
Break up about two additional graham crackers (or four, if using the stacks); arrange them randomly over the top of the brownies.
Bake for the full time recommended on the brownie package, until the top of brownies is done to its usual state. (If you’re using a favorite brand, you’ll know what they should look like on top)
Cool to room temperature before cutting and serving.
My taste for chocolate has evolved exponentially since childhood. The candy bars I loved back then—Kit Kat, Snickers, Mounds and Almond Joy were some of my favorites—all fall a little flat now that I have experienced fine, artisan chocolates. After you develop a palate for high quality, single-origin chocolate, it’s tough to go back. But occasionally, nostalgia sneaks in and makes me crave a taste of yesteryear, and that’s what happened when I had to reach past a jar of unsweetened coconut to get to my go-to brownie mix.
Why couldn’t I turn my brownies into a play on an Almond Joy candy bar, I thought, but with an elevated presentation and more texture? I reached for almonds, too, and had only one dilemma—how to incorporate the coconut so that it didn’t get lost into the brownies. I didn’t just want the flavors of an Almond Joy to be present, I wanted it to look kind of like an Almond Joy candy bar, too, and that meant I could not just add coconut to the brownie mix. No, I needed to create a filling that would be enveloped inside the brownie, and I wanted it to be bite size with two almonds, just like the candy bar.
These miniature, two-bite brownies were a home run!
I found a recipe on Pinterest for a coconut filling intended for layer cakes, and as I considered the steps of cooking the milk and sugar together until it was dissolved and thickened, it occurred to me: isn’t that basically sweetened condensed milk, and why not just use that? It was perfect for transforming plain, shredded coconut into a thick, sticky, coconutty filling.
I love this new Eagle brand condensed milk in a pouch. It’s perfect when you only need a small amount. Use enough to hold the coconut together. If your spoon stands upright, it’s good!
My brownie mix got an extra boost of dark chocolate from a spoonful of dark cocoa powder. I did this because I always wished that the candy company had made a dark chocolate version of the Almond Joy—sort of a Mounds-Almond Joy combination thing. I also gave the almond flavor a boost with a touch of almond extract added to the liquid ingredients used to make the brownie batter.
A few more notes worth mentioning before I dive into a visual walk-through of how I put these fun little treats together:
To keep this from being too sweet, I combined equal amounts of sweetened and unsweetened shredded coconut. The latter is sometimes labeled “dessicated” coconut, and you can find it in the baking aisle of a well-stocked supermarket or online from Bob’s Red Mill (where I get it). This is my preferred coconut for most recipes—cookies, smoothies, muffins, etc.—and I chose to use some of it here because I knew the filling would be sweet enough with the addition of the condensed milk and the amount of sweetened coconut. I pulsed the coconut in the food processor, too, to knock down some of the shaggy texture.
My go-to brownie mix is Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate, but (I can’t believe I’m about to say this) the chocolate chunks included in the mix may not be right for this recipe. If you are making this as mini muffins, as I did, you will find that the melted chocolate bits hinder the work of loosening and removing the brownie bites from the pan. The dark chocolate flavor is great but consider using a brownie mix that doesn’t have chips or pieces of chocolate in it; you’ll have an easier time removing the brownie bites without breaking them.
Finally, and this is important, the amounts of brownie batter and coconut filling exceed what is needed in the 24-count mini muffin pan. I had enough of both left over to make a small skillet brownie, and trust me when I tell you, that was not a bad decision either. If you decide to do this, I’d like to suggest that you eat it warm. Mmm…
Yes, really.
OK, preheat the oven to the temperature suggested on your brownie mix, and let’s get this started!
Use a spoon to fill each buttered mini muffin cup about halfway, leaving room for the coconut filling.
Roll a teaspoon of coconut filling into a ball about the size of a marble, and press it down into the batter.
Top with enough additional batter to cover the coconut ball.
Nothing makes dark chocolate better than a tiny touch of flaky sea salt!
Bake at 325 F. Check your brownies at 15 minutes. They should be plump and shiny on top.
Allow them to cool in the mini muffin tin until they are easy to handle. Use a thin knife or offset icing spatula to loosen them.
For the extra batter and filling, layer them in a mini cast iron skillet or small glass baking dish.
Top with chopped almonds and a slight sprinkle of flaky sea salt.
For this one, give it about 30 minutes in the oven. Watch for visual cues of doneness: shiny top with no jiggling.
Oh, my. 😉
So, was all this necessary? Couldn’t I have just chopped up some Almond Joy candies and added them to the brownies, the way I did with the Leftover Snickers Brownies I made at Halloween a few years ago? Sure, and that would have been tasty, too, but this was a lot more fun. 😊
This is a fun way to dress up a box mix, bringing together the flavors of a classic candy bar with fudgy, soft and chewy brownies.
Ingredients
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 box brownie mix plus ingredients on package to make them
1 Tbsp. dark cocoa powder, optional
1/2 tsp. almond extract, optional
24 whole raw almonds
a few pinches flaky sea salt, optional
Note that this recipe will yield more batter and coconut filling than you will need for a single pan of mini muffin-size brownie bites. Plan ahead to use up the rest in a small baking dish or extra mini muffin pan.
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 F, or whatever temperature is recommended for the brownie mix. Generously butter the inside of every cup on a mini muffin pan.
Combine sweetened and unsweetened coconuts in the bowl of a food processor and pulse several times to make a finer texture. Transfer the coconut to a bowl. Add the sweetened condensed milk and stir until evenly blended. This will be a thick, sticky mixture.
Prepare brownie batter, adding the dark cocoa to the dry mix and the almond extract to the liquids. Fill the mini muffin cups about halfway. Scoop out a small amount of coconut filling and roll it between your hands into a ball about the size of a marble. Press the coconut ball into a muffin cup, letting the batter come up the sides around it. Repeat with the remaining muffin cups, then drop a slight spoonful of batter on top to fully enclose the coconut ball. You will have a significant amount of batter left over. See Step 5 for suggestions.
Place two almonds on each brownie bite and scatter a few small pinches of flaky sea salt over the pan. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes. Allow brownie bites to cool in the pan until they are easy to handle. Run a thin rounded knife around the edges of the brownie bites to aid in releasing them. Let them cool completely on a plate or tray.
With the remaining batter and filling, we made a warm miniature skillet brownie for two. This could also be baked up in a small glass baking dish, or make a second batch of mini brownie bites when the pan is fully cooled. Use the same method of layering coconut filling over about half of the batter, then pour the last of the batter over to cover it. Sprinkle with chopped almonds and bake for 30 minutes. Enjoy warm!
When it comes to recipe ideas, I have a hard time letting go. My mind will grab hold of a “what if” twist on a classic, and I am off and running until I find the finish line. If that idea seems impossible (or if my first, second and tenth attempt fails), I will ponder it until I figure it out.
This Irish coffee ice cream almost didn’t happen, and that would have been a shame because it shines a light on two things I enjoy—OK, three—coffee, Irish cream and ice cream. You might recall at Christmastime that I had contemplated turning My Dad’s Irish Creme into an ice cream, but I was concerned about how to make it freeze with the amount of Irish whiskey it would take to flavor it correctly. Yes, I have used spirits in my ice creams before, but usually only within the context of a syrup swirl or a splash at the end to help improve the scooping texture. Irish coffee and Irish cream have a great deal of whiskey in them so it wouldn’t be as straightforward. But I couldn’t stop thinking about it, and when I started searching out formulas for infusing ice cream with booze (and knowing when to say when), I ran across this article on Serious Eats, which gave me enough of a road map to give it a go. But this experiment was not without roadblocks.
The sheer amount of Irish whiskey in this ice cream makes it ultra-scoopable. Is that even a word?
As you can see, it turned out fine, but I had a setback the first time I attempted to freeze the mixture, and it had nothing to do with my formula. Here’s something you may not know, but should, if you happen to have an “extra” freezer that you keep in an unheated garage. When the ambient temperature of the garage (or basement, carport, etc.) drops below the settings on your freezer, trouble kicks in. And over last weekend, we had an overnight low of 19° F (which is, frankly, ridiculous and rare for us in North Carolina this close to Spring), and the freezer bowl for my ice cream maker suffered for it because the freezer could not regulate properly with the fluctuation of the outside temperature. I did not realize this, of course, until I tried to freeze my ice cream base. After more than 30 minutes of churning, my Irish coffee not-quite-ice-cream was basically a thin, boozy milkshake (not exactly a terrible thing, either). But what I really wanted was ice cream.
Armed with the Serious Eats information, I refused to give up when my first attempt at freezing failed. I cleared a space in our kitchen freezer and gave the freezer bowl a good solid 24 hours in deep freeze mode. That made all the difference for the outcome of this ice cream, which is perfect for St. Patrick’s Day.
That frosty mug is so inviting…go on, reach in for the spoon!
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2 Tbsp. espresso powder* (see notes)
1 Tbsp. dark cocoa powder*
2 Tbsp. light corn syrup*
14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup 80-proof Irish whiskey*
*Notes
Espresso powder is very fine-textured and dissolves easily into warm milk.Jameson Irish whiskey is a classic, and my go-to for Irish recipes.
Espresso powder is not just finely ground coffee; this is a specialty ingredient that I used to infuse the milk in my recipe with a deep coffee flavor. Find it in the baking aisle of a well-stocked supermarket or online.
Chocolate is not necessarily an ingredient in Irish coffee, but I considered that a little bit of coffee works to intensify the chocolate flavor of other desserts, so why couldn’t it work the other way around? I chose to dissolve a little dark cocoa powder into the milk at the same time as the espresso powder, and it turned out to be a good decision because my coffee-hating husband found something to enjoy about this ice cream. 😊
I always add a little corn syrup to my ice cream base if I have concerns about ice crystals. Given that I wasn’t sure how the whiskey would behave in the mix, I played it safe.
The Serious Eats article was specific to mention maximum amounts of alcohol that was 80 proof, so I didn’t want to push the limit and mess it up. I used Jameson Irish Whiskey, the same brand I use when I make my Dad’s Irish cream recipe. Lower proof would not be a problem, but if your whiskey is higher, I’d recommend using less.
Instructions
Infusing the espresso powder into the milk is a better option than using brewed coffee.
I used dark cocoa to complement the coffee flavor, and it also deepened the color of my finished ice cream.
Corn syrup helps prevent the sugars from crystallizing, which I though might be a problem with so much whiskey in the mix.
The condensed milk ice cream base is quickly becoming my go-to method. It is so easy to make and no additional sugar is needed.
Whisk the infused milk and sweetened condensed milk together first.
Next stir in the heavy cream. With the other ingredients already blended, you don’t have to worry about whipping air into the cream.
I started with two tablespoons of whiskey, but ended up using a total of four in the ice cream base. That’s 1/4 cup!
This is what my “ice cream” looked like after my first attempt at freezing. It was pretty much like a melted milkshake.
I crossed my fingers for the second go-round, after having my ice cream bowl in the deep freeze for 24 hours.
Much better!
Transfer the mix to an insulated freezer container to “ripen” overnight.
Heat the milk in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the espresso powder and dark cocoa powder until dissolved and evenly incorporated. Remove from heat and stir in the corn syrup.
Transfer the milk to a large bowl and whisk it together with the sweetened condensed milk. These ingredients are at opposite ends of the consistency scale, and I like to combine them first so that I don’t accidentally whisk the heavy cream into thickening.
Gently whisk or stir in the heavy cream until blended, then stir in the Irish whiskey. Cover the bowl and refrigerate several hours to overnight (colder is better).
Stir or whisk the ice cream base just before freezing to reincorporate any settled ingredients. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions, and don’t be surprised if it takes a few extra minutes to achieve soft-serve consistency. Transfer the churned ice cream to an insulated container and put in the coldest spot of your (inside) freezer overnight before serving.
Because of the high alcohol content, this ice cream will scoop very easily and will melt more quickly than typical ice cream upon serving.
Every year, I say that I want to make something elaborate for Mardi Gras—a king cake or jambalaya or étouffée (which my computer just tried to auto-correct as “toupee”)—but I usually miss my chance because I’m tied up making things for Super Bowl or Valentine’s Day. As much as I try, I simply can’t do everything at once.
But because Easter has a floating date (blame it on the moon), so does Ash Wednesday and so does Mardi Gras—and as luck would have it, I have had a little free time after Super Bowl to get my act together in time for this year’s Mardi Gras, which will be March 1. Frankly, I wonder whether I am qualified to make something as traditional as a king cake, given that I have never actually been to New Orleans. I do make a good gumbo, and there was that jambalaya deep-dish pizza last year that was pretty awesome, but I am not prone to do too many repeats, and my craving for a dessert was getting the better of me.
And that’s how this Bananas Foster ice cream came to be.
The Bananas Foster swirl is very prominent and so flavorful.
Bananas Foster is a decadently sweet dessert, native to New Orleans. The traditional recipe involves flaming rum-soaked syrup including brown sugar, cinnamon and butter—all spooned over caramelized bananas and served with a scoop of creamy vanilla ice cream. In a previous season of my life, I experienced the pure joy of having Bananas Foster prepared tableside, and those flavors never quite cleared my imagination. It was all at once tropical, sweet, warm, cold, sensual, creamy, boozy and flat-out amazing. What could possibly go wrong, I thought, in skipping the flambé and just adapting that whole mix into an ice cream?
For the richness factor, I started with my go-to custard base for the ice cream, but I used brown sugar rather than white to lay a foundation of warm, molasses-y flavor. I caramelized a couple of ripe, mashed bananas into a mixture of brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg, then I poured in a shot of aged dark rum from Jamaica (the same rum I used recently in those “air fryer” jerk wings). Both components got an overnight chill, and then I froze the ice cream and layered in the bananas foster filling the next day.
One of these days, I’ll get to New Orleans to celebrate Mardi Gras properly. Until then, I’ll just put on some beads and some zydeco music and enjoy another scoop of this frozen delight.
Don’t mind me, I’m just having my own private Mardi Gras over here.
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup light brown sugar (packed)
3 egg yolks (room temperature is best)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of kosher salt
1 tsp. real vanilla extract
1 Tbsp. vodka or dark rum, optional (added at the end of freezing)
Bananas Foster Swirl
3 Tbsp. salted butter
1/3 cup light or dark brown sugar
3/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
A few shavings whole nutmeg
2 very ripe bananas
1.5 oz. dark rum or spiced rum
Instructions for Custard
Full disclosure: I have made my custard-based ice cream many times, and never had this much trouble with foam. Most of the time, the custard cooks up silky and rich. But I got carried away and whipped my egg yolks too much! The ice cream turned out great, but don’t try to replicate this mistake. 🙂
For a caramel-like flavor, I sweetened the milk with brown sugar rather than white.
My free range egg yolks are going to tint my ice cream a lovely golden color.
Temper the beaten egg yolks with about half of the hot milk.
Add the cream to the pot while you temper the egg yolks, and bring the pot back up to a low simmer.
I must have been whipping it good, because my tempered egg mixture was very foamy.
Return the tempered mixture to the pot to cook a few more minutes. This foam was a bit of a problem!
I had no way to tell (through all that foam) when the custard was properly cooked, so I probably cut it short.
You’ll have to imagine the straining, because I ran out of hands to hold the camera! 🙂
Blend in the vanilla after straining.
Oh, that foam! Lay plastic film directly onto the surface of the custard and refrigerate it overnight.
Place a medium, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Combine milk and brown sugar and cook, stirring frequently, until sugar is fully dissolved and milk is steaming.
Using an electric mixer, lightly whip the egg yolks until they are lighter and somewhat airy. This usually works best with a bit of fine sugar in the bowl, but I skipped that step this time because I was using grainy brown sugar in the recipe.
When the milk mixture begins to barely bubble around the edges, transfer about half of it into a measuring cup. Add the heavy cream to the pot and bring it back up to the steaming temperature.
While that’s going, slowly and gradually add the measured hot milk mixture to the egg yolks (with the mixer running constantly). This step is called “tempering,” and it raises the temperature of the eggs slowly to cook them without scrambling them.
Pour the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepot and cook the whole mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is steaming again and the custard has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and strain the custard mixture through a mesh sieve to a clean bowl. Stir in the vanilla and let it cool for a few minutes. Taste it, because oh my goodness. I must make more brown sugar ice cream!
Carefully lay a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the surface of the custard. This serves two purposes—it prevents a skin from forming on the surface, and it prevents condensation from building and dripping into the mixture. Moisture droplets have a way of making unwanted crystals in the finished ice cream. Seal up the bowl, or cover it with an additional layer of plastic. Refrigerate overnight.
Bananas Foster Swirl
Melt butter and stir in the brown sugar to begin the Bananas Foster swirl.
Smash the bananas into the syrup, keeping a few chunks here and there.
Add cinnamon to the banana syrup.
A pinch of kosher salt will help to highlight the amazing flavors.
A few scrapes of nutmeg add another layer of spice. Use whole nutmeg if possible.
Real Bananas Foster would use spiced rum and banana liqueur, but a simple shot of my dark Jamaican rum was just right in this ice cream.
Add the rum when the syrup mixture appears bubbly, and bring it back to a low boil.
When the mixture is syrupy and thickened, remove from heat and cool completely. Refrigerate overnight.
Melt the butter in a medium skillet. Stir in the brown sugar until it seems dissolved and a bit syrupy. Stir in the cinnamon and nutmeg.
Add the bananas to the skillet, one at a time, and mash them into the syrup with a fork. It’s OK to keep a few visible chunks of banana—in fact, I recommend it. When the mixture is bubbling all over, stir in the dark rum until evenly blended. Cook a few minutes longer, until it begins to bubble again, and then remove from heat and let it cool.
Transfer the mixture to a bowl and refrigerate it overnight.
Finishing the Ice Cream
The overnight chill finally calmed down that foam! Stir to reincorporate any settled ingredients.
The spiced banana mixture was thick, so I placed it in a zip-top bag for easy layering when the ice cream was churned.
Freeze the custard, following the instructions for your ice cream machine.
When the ice cream is soft-serve consistency, blend in the optional vodka, which improves the texture for easy scooping.
Layer about 1/3 of the ice cream into an insulated container. I left it in dollops and piped the spiced banana mixture over and around the dollops. Repeat these layers.
Finish with the remaining ice cream. Cover and send it to the freezer overnight for ripening.
Stir the custard to reincorporate any ingredients that may have settled to the bottom of the bowl. Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream has reached the consistency of soft-serve, add the vodka or rum (if using) and churn another minute until it’s fully blended.
Layer 1/3 of the ice cream in an insulated container, then spoon or pipe about 1/3 of the banana swirl mixture over it. Continue with another 1/3 of the ice cream, then another 1/3 of the remaining swirl mixture*. Finish with the remaining ice cream. Freeze several hours to overnight.
*Note
When this recipe was finished, I had about 1/4 cup extra Bananas Foster Swirl mixture left over. You can discard this, or mix it into some muffin or pancake batter, or stir it into Sunday morning oatmeal!
Comfort du Jour 