Haute + Heirloom

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Salty Vanilla Bean-Dulce de Leche Iced Coffee with Coffee Ice Cubes

Homemade Salty Vanilla Bean-Dulce de Leche Iced Coffee with Coffee Ice Cubes

Have y'all ever had that perfect iced coffee on a hot summer day? It's really perfection. Nothin' can touch it. Especially when you can put the top down on your convertible and listen to bad 80's music... loudly. Okay, so Starbucks is my life and as much as I love spending $10 on an iced coffee every morning... I could spare to save a few bucks here n' there, so why not make them at home?? It's brilliant actually. Apparently, you can't just boil up your favorite brew, you have to "cold brew" it. This requires some preparation indeed, but it'll be totes worth it in the end. AND, you'll have enough coffee base to last you a month! I followed the Pioneer Woman's recipe for the Perfect Iced Coffee as a base, it kinda all just took off from there. That's when I decided I wanted to make a salted caramel iced coffee that'll knock your socks off :) You need to find a good caramel-flavored coffee first. I bought an original flavor from The Fresh Market on a whim and fell in love with it, but really any brand will do. After that you have to make the key component to this iced coffee... the Homemade Salty Vanilla Bean-Dulce de Leche Syrup. Dulce de Leche is the elixir of the gods. It's thick, luscious, and deep caramel-y deliciousness. I added a whole mess of vanilla beans and fleur de sel to take it over the top, too. Next, all you have to do is fill a big 'ole glass with coffee ice cubes, a splash of cream, cold brew coffee, and dulce de leche syrup. Stir it all up and plop a spoon in it to make it the perfect summer treat!! Enjoy :)

For the Cold Brew Caramel Coffee:

1lb Caramel Flavored Ground Coffee (I love The Fresh Market’s brand)

8Q Cold Water

For the Salty Vanilla Bean-Dulce de Leche Syrup:

2 Cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk

2 Cans of Evaporated Milk

1-2 Vanilla Beans, Split & Scraped for Seeds

1T Vanilla Extract

Vanilla Bean Fleur de Sel (to taste or as much as you like to make a salty caramel)

For the Iced Coffee:

Prepared Cold Brew Caramel Coffee

Prepared Salty Vanilla Bean-Dulce de Leche Syrup, Chilled

Milk, Half & Half, or Heavy Cream (optional)

Homemade Coffee Ice Cubes

Vanilla Bean Fleur de Sel, For Sprinkling

Directions:

1. For the Cold Brew Caramel Coffee: In a large container, mix ground coffee with water. Cover and allow it to sit at room temperature eight hours or overnight. Line a fine mesh strainer with cheesecloth and set over a pitcher or other container. Pour coffee/water mixture through the strainer, allowing all liquid to run through. Discard grounds. Place coffee liquid in the fridge and allow it to cool. Use it as needed.

2. For the Salty Vanilla Bean-Dulce de Leche Syrup: Caramelize the sweetened condensed milk by pouring the condensed milk into a glass-baking dish. Cover with foil and place dish inside a larger poaching pan. Add water to poaching pan until half way up sides of baking dish. Bake for roughly 2-3 hours or until it has reached a deep caramel color. Using a rubber spatula, spoon this mixture into a mixing bowl. Add in the cans of evaporated milk, vanilla bean seeds, vanilla extract, and salt (to taste). Whisk until smooth and creamy. Pour the mixture into a jar or bottle and refrigerate until chilled. Shake before using.

3. To Make the Iced Coffee: Pack a glass full of coffee ice cubes. Fill glass 2/3 full with caramel coffee liquid. Add healthy splash of half & half, milk, or heavy cream. Add the Salty Vanilla Bean-Dulce de Leche syrup and stir to combine. Taste and adjust half-and-half and/or sweetened condensed milk as needed. Sprinkle with salt and enjoy immediately with a straw!

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Summer Staples : Roasted Summer Berry Swirled Buttermilk Ice Cream Sandwiches with Rehydrated Berry-Sweet Corn Cookies + Lemon Curd Center

Summer Staples : Roasted Summer Berry Swirled Buttermilk Ice Cream Sandwiches with
Rehydrated Berry-Sweet Corn Cookies + Lemon Curd Center

I've been on a really big ice cream sandwich kick as of this summer. It's really the perfect cool treat during a hot day. Especially when you have a homemade cookie and a killer creamy-icy filling... it can't be beat! These summer treats start with Momofuku's famous sweet corn cookie that has been dialed up a notch with some vanilla bean rum rehydrated summer berries. The chilled cookie dough is then rolled in raw bourbon vanilla sugar, which gives it the perfect crackly-crunchy exterior. These cookies are truly fabulous on their own and I can guarantee you'll want to make them over and over again like I have in the last month. They taste like a mixture between cornbread + yellow cake. It's divine and you just have to make them! Better yet, make them with ice cream stuffed in between the middle. This ice cream is Southern to its core because it has the ever-so-popular buttermilk as the base. It's perfectly tangy and is balanced amazingly with the swirls of sweet berry preserves. But what I'm most excited about is the lemon curd center. With the use of my handy-dandy doughnut cutter, I was able to cut out perfectly round ice cream fillings, and then pop our the center and fill it with creamy lemon curd. It's the best little surprise when you bite into the ice cream sandwiches and get a lemony burst of flavor! All of these components work together brilliantly and quite frankly, I can't wait to use this doughnut-ice cream filling technique for sandwiches in the future!! Enjoy :)

For the Roasted Summer Berry Swirled Buttermilk Ice Cream:

1 Stick Unsalted Butter, Melted & Cooled Slightly

2C Heavy Cream

1C Buttermilk, Well-Shaken

6 Egg Yolks

1C Sugar

½t Salt

2T Buttermilk Powder, Sifted

1t Vanilla

2T Vanilla Bean Infused Rum (or any kind of infused booze that is clear)

1 Whole Vanilla Bean, Split & Scraped for Seeds

Homemade Roasted Summer Berry Jam (or any other kind of preserves may be used)

Homemade or Store-Bought Lemon Curd, For the Center Filling

For the Rehydrated Berry-Sweet Corn Cookies:

2 Sticks of Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature

1 ½C Sugar

1 Egg

1 1/3C AP Flour

¼C Corn Flour

2/3C Freeze Dried Corn Powder

¾t Baking Powder

¼t Baking Soda

1 ½t Salt

½C Each of Dehydrated or Freeze Dried Berries (blueberries, raspberries, & strawberries)

2-3T Vanilla Bean Infused Rum (or just enough to barely rehydrate the berries until soft)

Raw Bourbon Vanilla Sugar, For Rolling the Cookies in

Directions:

1. For the Roasted Summer Berry Swirled Buttermilk Ice Cream: In a saucepan, bring the cream, buttermilk, sifted buttermilk powder, vanilla bean pods, and vanilla bean seeds to a simmer. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt until fluffy. Slowly whisk in the melted butter. Once combined, gradually and slowly into the simmering milk. Pour this mixture back into the saucepan and cook over low heat, until thickened (it should coat the back of a spoon). Strain the custard into a bowl that is placed into an ice bath. Stir in the vanilla bean infused rum and vanilla. Cool the custard base until completely chilled. Once the mixture is chilled, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. As soon as the mixture is done churning, pour or scoop in one-third of the ice cream into a large container, and then spoon some of the summer berry preserves on top of the ice cream. Using the spoon, smooth it out into any even layer and swirl it some for a pretty marbling effect. Repeat this process until all of the ice cream and preserves have been use. Once it has been assembled, store in the freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.

2. For the Rehydrated Berry-Sweet Corn Cookies:In a small bowl combine the dried summer fruit with the vanilla bean infused rum. Using a spoon, toss the berries and liquid together until they are completely coated. Let them sit and plump up while you make the cookie dough batter. Combine the butter and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, and cream together on medium-high for about 2 to 3 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the egg, and beat for 7 to 8 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour, corn flour, corn powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix just until the dough comes together, beat no longer than 1 minute. Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add in the rehydrated berries and gently beat them in until they are just incorporated. Using an ice cream scoop, portion out the cookie dough onto a Silpat-lined sheet pan. Pat the tops of the cookie dough balls until they are flat on top. Wrap the sheet pan tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 12-24 hours. Do not bake your cookies from room temperature or they will not bake up properly.

3. Baking the Cookies:Remove the chilled cookie dough balls from the refrigerator and immediately roll them in the raw sugar (this will give them a crackly crust, yet chewy interior). Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Arrange the chilled dough a minimum of 4 inches apart on Silpat-lined sheet pans. Bake for 18 minutes. The cookies will puff, crackle, and spread. After 18 minutes, they should be faintly browned on the edges yet still bright yellow in the center; give them an extra minute if not. Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pans before transferring to a plate or to an airtight container for storage. At room temp, the cookies will keep fresh for 5 days.

4. Preparing the Ice Cream Center:Using a doughnut cookie cutter, cut out rounds of the buttermilk ice cream. And then using a knife or spoon, push or scoop out the center of the ice cream. Place the hollowed out rounds onto parchment paper and freeze them again to re-harden or re-firm the texture of the ice cream. Once it has frozen again, place the ice cream rounds onto a cookie and spoon some lemon curd into the hollowed out center. Top with another cookie and enjoy before it melts!