That shiny red bag of beautiful bread. Sitting on the counter and CALLING to me.
Raisin Bread: "Brooke....come make a giant stack of buttery, warm cinnamon-sweet crispy comfort!!! We've been friends long before you and carbs were enemies! It's okay. Raisins are fruit."
Brooke: "Raisin Bread, you sound a lot like my friend, Pizza."
Raisin Bread: "But you can't make an ice cream out of Pizza"
And all of a sudden, Raisin Bread's really got a point.
Okay....so presumably YOUR weekend was not weirdly spent giving vocal life to seemingly inanimate food in your kitchen but mine was. And it was downright inspirational. Raisin Bread Ice Cream?! BUT WHAT BOOZE SHALL WE USE?! (I sincerely hope you read that with the same dramatic emphasis as I just typed. Use big arms.) Well, I couldn't decide so I split the difference. So today we play with Buttershots and Hot Damn liquors. Deep breaths. We got this. So what do you need? Definitely......an ice cream machine.
GO TO THE STORE FOR:
- 2 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- vanilla bean, halved and scraped
- a medium to large sized bowl with 4 egg yolks, beaten
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup each of Buttershots and Hot Damn (or any butterscotch and cinnamon schnapps you fancy.)
- 1/3 -1/2 cup raisins, depending on what your machine recommends
THE DAY BEFORE:
- Take 1 cup of your desired liquor. I'm doing an even mix of Buttershots and Hot Damn. Feel free to lean more towards one or the other. Free will, and all of that. Bring to almost to a boil, reduce amount by 1/3 and remove from heat source. Allow to cool completely.
- Take your raisins and drop them in the reduced mixture and cover. Let soak overnight. Do you have to? No. You could do it for a few hours BUT my greatest joy of raisin toast was the way the raisins would plump up big and juicy from all the butter. Oh yes. A JOY. So in an effort to recreate the sheer ecstasy of these raisins, let them soak.
- Play "Resident Evil 4" again. At least the village level. It really was great.
ICE CREAM DAY:
GET IT TOGETHER......no seriously. Making a custard is a bit involved and if you have everything near you, life will be way less complicated. Before you start, Get a big bowl. Put ice in it. Get another bowl and put it in the ice bowl. Like it's taking a little icy bath. Awww. Cute.
ALSO....Get a fine mesh strainer and put it over the empty bowl. This will catch any mistakes that may happen when you introduce the eggs into the hot cream. It'll also catch any vanilla bean shrapnel we might not want in our smooth and creamy ice cream. (It's also a FANTASTIC mask in an impromptu kitchen fencing match. Tested and approved.)
A WHISK and A LADLE....will also be used. You should probably grab a SPATULA for good measure. You know what? Grab two! Let's get real Food Network with it, shall we?
- Put your sugar, milk, vanilla bean and cream all in a pot and slowly start to bring it up to where it's steaming. Not boiling. The whole time you are whisking. Whisk, whisk, whisk. Hold your core muscles tight as you do this. Why not get some abdominal workout benefits as a preemptive apology to them for the delicious ice cream you are about to stuff in your face? Bonus if you do squats at the same time. Totally counts as your work out.
- Okay.....it's go time. Once the creamy is all steamy.......ladle some into your egg bowl and whisk THAT as you do it. We are warming up the eggs with a little cream before throwing them in the pot. Otherwise we're going to get Scrambled Egg ice cream. Few things are grosser. Now pour that mixture back into the pot and whisk, whisk, whisk it into the cream. Keep it from boiling.
- Dip a spatula in the custard and drag a finger across the back. If there's a clean line that stays, the custard is thick enough. Pour it through the mesh strainer into the bowl and remove the strainer. Notice all of the "ookies" you stopped from going into your ice cream. You are welcome. Set the custard bowl aside in the ice bowl until it cools, stirring occasionally to help speed up the cooling process. Once cool, lay a piece of plastic wrap over the custard's surface. This will stop what I call...."The Pudding Skin Effect". Take it out of its bath, pat its bottom dry and put it in the fridge. You love your little custard, don't you?
- Now relax for at least 4 hours. Play some more "Resident Evil 4". Ashley is not going to save herself. (Because quite honestly video games rarely feature a strong female lead. For shame.) The colder the custard gets, the thicker and richer it gets. You could even make it when you do the raisins the day before if you wanted to be a rockstar. Go ahead! Do it. You won't.
WHERE IS MY ICE CREAM?
- Chill. Get it? Okay. Sorry. Take your cold creamy custard and mix in your cold boozy raisin liquid. Reserve the raisins until right before you are ready to stop the machine.
- Start your engine! Turn that magic machine on and pour in your concoction. Set a timer for 10 minutes and dance in your kitchen like a happy little garden elf in anticipation of the deliciousness that surely awaits you. DON'T FORGET!!! Right before you turn it off, add those delicious raisins.
- Scrape out the mixture into an airtight freezable container. Place plastic wrap on top of the ice cream's surface. It's really just a great trick for any sauce or cream. Keeps the air out. In this case, it stops freezer burn. Put the lid on and stick in the freezer for at least 4 hours to set up.
- Serve by itself scooped or put it on some raisin toast like a breakfast ice cream sandwich.
- Bliss out.
Makes enough for 3-4 people, technically.
Makes enough for 2 people, realistically.
Makes enough for me, more than likely.
You know. This all seems very complicated. You should probably just find our truck. We'll do brunch.
:) Brooke