Frozen Creme Brulee Drink

Foodbuzz Tastemaker sent me this pretty nifty Tervis tumbler. It's shatter-proof, and it keeps your cold beverages cold and hot beverages hot. I drop stuff a lot accidentally, so this is the type of cup I need!

We were asked to show a drink in our tumblers. I couldn't think of anything hot I really wanted to do, so I came up with the idea of frozen creme brulee. What is creme brulee? It's a baked vanilla custard topped with a layer of sugar caramelized by a torch! Don't get too excited -- flame torches aren't required this time. Instead, I show you how to make a very easy caramel sauce. Cool?

To begin, I prepared my custard a day in advance because it needs to be chilled before using. This custard won't resemble the consistency of a pudding becuse that would be disgusting to drink. It needs to be thin and pourable because it will thicken once blended with ice. Think of it almost like an egg nog, though more runny.

If you've never made custard before, fear not. All you do is whisk egg yolks with sugar until light in color and thick and ribbony in texture.
Milk is heated over medium heat with a cinnamon stick for flavor. I used 1% milk because that's all I had, and I wouldn't recommend going any lower than that. You need the fat to help thicken the custard. Whole milk and 2% are best.
After the milk has heated to 160°, one cup of the hot milk is slowly whisked into the egg yolks. This tempers the eggs, preventing the mixture from curdling when added to the saucepan. The tempered eggs get whisked into the rest of the milk and the entire mixture cooks for about 5 minutes, just until thickened. Make sure you whisk constantly! Finally, it gets strained to remove any bits that have been curdled.

Simple enough? Let's continue on to the caramel sauce.

I used to have trouble caramelizing sugar. I used to have trouble making custards, both of which I was able to learn when I joined the Daring Bakers a long time ago. Trial and error, folks, and if I can do it, so can you.

I mention the Daring Bakers because I'm using the caramel sauce from one of the recipes I made with them when I was a member. It's simple to do and practically fool-proof.

The two most popular ways to make caramel is the straight method, meaning you heat sugar in a saucepan, or the water method where you mix water with sugar. The latter is what we're doing today and will make the process much easier.

First, combine the water and sugar in a stainless steel saucepan over high heat. You can use any type of pan you have, but a stainless steel pans allows you to accurately judge the color of the caramel. Otherwise, you can spoon a little of the caramel onto wax or parchment paper to determine the color.
Caramel goes fast, so don't go anywhere! Once the sugar begins to bubble, it turns colors in a matter of minutes. First, it'll be a jaundice yellow. Once it develops a dark amber color, you very carefully whisk in more water to stop the cooking process. The original recipe says to pour the water through a whole in a sheet of foil because it splatters, though I just stood as far back as I could. Once the water is poured in, continue to whisk until smooth. Reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the caramel feels tacky. It'll continue thickening as it cools, so you don't want it too thick before you take it off the heat.

Pour it into a container and let it cool completely. That was easy, wasn't it!

When both components are ready, one cup of the custard is blended with one cup of ice. Pour it into your glass, then spoon 2 tablespoons of caramel on top. It tastes great when it's all mixed together!

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Frozen Creme Brulee Drink
Caramel sauce recipe by Shuna Fish Lydon

Serves 4-5

Custard ingredients -

4 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
pinch of kosher salt
4 cups milk
1 cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Caramel ingredients -

1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water

1/2 cup water, for "stopping"

Directions -

1. Prepare the custard: Pour milk into a saucepan over medium heat. Add the cinnamon stick, and heat to 160°. In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt until color is light lemony, and the mixture forms ribbons when it falls from a whisk, about 1-2 minutes (I just used a whisk and arm power).


2. When the milk reaches temperature, remove cinnamon stick. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of hot milk into the egg yolks to temper. Pour the tempered egg yolks into the saucepan and reduce heat slightly. Whisk for 3 minutes. Strain custard into a container. Add vanilla extract and stir. Let cool completely at room temperature, then cover and chill overnight.


3. Prepare the caramel sauce: In a small, stainless steel saucepan with tall sides, mix sugar and 1/4 cup water until mixture feels like wet sand. Turn on heat to highest flame. Cook until smoking slightly, and the sugar turns dark amber in color.


4. When color is achieved, very carefully pour in one cup of water through a piece of foil with a smallish hole in the center. Caramel will jump and sputter about, and the foil keeps it from getting on surfaces and on you.


5. Whisk over medium heat until it has reduced slightly and feels sticky between two fingers. {Obviously wait for it to cool on a spoon before touching it.} My note: It doesn't need to be as sticky as honey because it will thicken upon standing, but it should feel slightly tacky. Cool completely.


6. Prepare drinks: Pour 1 cup chilled custard into a blender, followed by 1 cup of ice. Cover, and blend until combined. Pour into a tall glass and top with 2 tablespoons caramel sauce. Enjoy!

Godiva Cold Brew Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte

Just in time for fall, I got to try two Godiva coffees thanks to the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program. I immediately set out to recreate a drink that has made its way around the blogosphere, but in a somewhat different manner.

Cold brew coffee is a method of brewing coffee without heat. Water is simply mixed to ground coffee beans and let set for 12 hours. The end result is a coffee concentrate that brings out the flavors of the roast without the bitterness.

To make a latte, you need espresso, which means you also need an espresso machine. I don't have one, so I used the Godiva Pumpkin Spice coffee as the base for my cold brew concentrate. The aroma is already wonderful, but I wanted to heighten it a little more so I added a few extra spices, ground cloves, cinnamon, and freshly grated nutmeg. Brown sugar, a pinch of salt, and pumpkin puree complete the deal. By adding the pumpkin puree to the mix as it brews, you aren't left with the bitter, raw taste you'd get if you mixed it straight into your drink. Stir in the water, and let sit for 12 hours at room temperature.

When you're ready to strain the mixture, line a fine mesh sieve with two coffee liners and place over a bowl.

The quickest way I found to strain the liquid is to pour the coffee a little at a time inside the liners, then carefully create a packet by bringing the edges of the liner together. Gently squeeze the liquid through. If there are any coffee grounds, shake the liner over the trash and reuse, repeating the process until all the coffee has been strained.

Typically, the ratio for the concentrate to liquid is 1:1, but I like my coffee a little stronger so I used a 3:1 ratio. Do whatever you prefer. To sweeten, I made a small batch of sugar syrup so that it would dissolve more easily. Finally, I topped my latte with milk foam and sprinkled a little pumpkin spice sugar on top.

I really enjoyed how this turned out. I liked how the spices came through and I thought the coffee itself had a good flavor. I'm going to brew it either in the pot or French press tomorrow morning to see how it tastes that way.

So, kind folks, are you a fan of the pumpkin latte, or not? What's your favorite fall drink?

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Godiva Cold Brew Iced Pumpkin Latte
Recipe by Christina Provo

Serves 4-5

Ingredients -

2/3 cup Godiva Pumpkin Spice coffee
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
5 1/4 cups room temperature water
milk
sugar syrup
milk foam or whipped cream

Directions -

1. Pour coffee into a pitcher or large glass jar. Stir in brown sugar, spices, and salt. Mix pumpkin puree with water and pour into pitcher. Stir to combine the coffee grounds and water. Cover and let sit for 12 hours at room temperature.


2. Before straining, stir concentrate once. Place a fine mesh sieve lined with two coffee filters over a bowl and pour a little of the liquid at a time through the sieve. Gather the ends of the coffee filters and gently squeeze liquid through, tossing out any coffee grinds between batches.


3. To serve, pour 1/2 or 3/4 cup coffee concentrate into a glass. Add 1/2 or 1/4 cup milk, and 1 tablespoon of sugar syrup if desired. Stir. Top with milk foam or whipped cream.


4. For a hot latte, heat the coffee concentrate, milk, and a tablespoon of pumpkin puree and sugar syrup on the stove until desired hotness. Top with whipped cream or milk foam.

Harry Potter and Butterbeer (with Homemade Spiced Coconut Ice Cream)

Don't forget to enter the Progresso giveaway for a chance to win Lemon Pepper Panko and a signed copy of Chef Michael Chiarello's Bottega

Harry Potter and Whichever-It-Is... Okay, it's Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, part one, opens today in theaters across the nation. And the world. Although none of the books ever mention the United States, so we're to assume the only witches and wizards are either British, French, or Russian. And none of the books mention Marmite, either.

Anyway.

I usually celebrate in some sort of way by making a treat, typically pumpkin pasties. I even have a crapton of pictures of the spread I assembled, complete with a jar of Marmite that I haven't since touched, from an "after the Deathly Hallows book release fiesta" that I've never developed. I'm not even a huge Harry Potter fan. I didn't swoon when Robert Patterson decided to eff the wizarding world after being destroyed by Voldemort by becoming a vampire. "Yeah, take that, Harry! Forget your scar -- I sparkle in the sunlight."

So anyway, again, my mom was throwing the idea around of creating a homemade butterbeer centered around our new favorite fall-flavored tea, Bigelow's Pumpkin Spice Tea. The version of butterbeer we make uses vanilla ice cream blended with brown sugar-and-spice mixed in butter, scooped in a mug, and topped with hot apple cider. Well, we had no ice cream. But why not make our own?

And so I did. I could have done that spell Hermoine does where she makes recipes come together. (Doesn't it bother you that this "spell" only works if the ingredients are present -- meaning, they have to originate from in the flesh and be in the same room instead of appearing from thin air? That's not magic, folks.) But instead I used regular cooking skills. Mom had the idea of using a can of coconut milk, as the higher fat content would erase the need of the butter. I quickly cracked and separated egg yolks from whites, whisked with sugar, then added whole milk and a can of whole coconut milk in a saucepan. With a pinch of salt and various spices, the custard was on its way, slowly heating up to a thickened mixture. I debated just using coconut milk, but I wasn't sure if it'd turn out too icy. However, I'll try it again since it'd have been lactose free.

Once that was set, I ended up refrigerating the custard overnight. You can then freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions, or do the caveman version of pouring the custard into a wide container with decently high sides, freeze, and stir in 15 minute increments.

Referencing my old ice cream post, the increments between stirring were longer. Maybe this was because the custard wasn't as chilled, but more room temperature, and then I realized I had followed David Lebovitz' instructions. So check earlier or check later, you decide.

(So during this ice cream venture, I decided to mix the almost frozen mix one time passed when it probably needed it, and instead of being completely smooth it took on a strange texturized appearance, as you can see in my picture. Not sure why this was.)

The ice cream came out incredibly delicious, thought with just a subtle hint of coconut. Not too sweet, yet sweet at the same time. Next step was to brew the tea, sweeten just a tad (1 teaspoon sugar per cup), then pour over the ice cream scooped inside a mug. What you get is a delicious foam as the ice cream melts from the hot tea. Eventually, the entire cup becomes cooler. I liked the way it tasted, though I think the apple cider gave it a rounder taste. Until most of the ice cream had melted, it still tasted a little watered down, but not bad at all.

What I would suggest is to brew the tea at double strength and sweeten more, or steep the tea bags in heated apple cider.

Definitely try this out if you're looking for a fun spin on your Harry Potter party.

(Recipe after the jump)

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Spiced Coconut Ice Cream
Recipe by Christina Provo

ingredients ~

4 large egg yolks, room temperature
3/4 cups granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1 14.5 ounce can whole coconut milk
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

directions ~

1. Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan until combined. Slowly pour in both milks, whisking to combine. Stir in the spices. Turn the heat up to medium and cook, stirring almost constantly, for 5 minutes. Add the cinnamon stick, which will steep during the remaining cooking time. Continue cooking until the custard thickens, around 5-10 minutes. To test, it'll coat the back of a spoon and won't bleed into a line drawn through the center.


2. Immediately remove from the heat and pour into a plastic bowl. Let cool to room temperature; cover, and refrigerate overnight.


3. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions, or pour into a deep container. Place dish in the freezer. In 20 minutes, take the dish out and stir the ice cream. It'll have begun to freeze around the sides. Make sure you mix thoroughly so the custard is all once consistency.


4. Return to freezer, and repeat every 15-20 minutes, totaling 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes. Cover, and freeze until eaten.

To make butterbeer

Brew a tea bag of Bigelow's Pumpkin Spice Tea in a cup of heated apple cider. Stir in a teaspoon of sugar. Scoop some ice cream into a mug, then pour the tea on top. Stir with your fake wand that is the equivalent of a fake Star Wars lightsaber. Enjoy!