Bourbon Milkshake

Brooklyn Farmhouse has had a sweet tooth lately, but I couldn’t resist sharing yet another dessert recipe with you – albeit a rather more grownup dessert. I totally stole this idea from a restaurant in Portland, Maine called Fore Street; after having my first bourbon milkshake there, I wondered why this idea had never crossed my mind before. It’s so deliciously simple and so deliciously boozy. I made my own vanilla ice cream using milk and cream from the fantastic Milk Thistle Farm in Columbia County, NY – seriously, seriously some of the best milk, cream, and yogurt I’ve ever tasted. Ice cream made from their products is undeniably a step above even super-premium commercial ice creams. (Another benefit to making your own ice cream at home: many commercial ice creams have air whipped into them to increase the volume of the product, so you’re sometimes paying as much for air as for ice cream. Very little air is incorporated into homemade ice cream.) If you can find local milk, cream, and eggs in your area, try to use in your ice cream – you’ll notice a big difference in richness, texture, and taste.

I know my dad is a big fan of good bourbon – dare I say that Bourbon Milkshakes would make a fun ending to a Father’s Day dinner? With possibly a bottle of bourbon as an accompanying present? If my dad didn’t live all the way in Washington State, I’d make these for him for Father’s Day.

If you don’t have time (or an ice cream maker) to make your own ice cream, get yourself some good vanilla ice cream and add a half-teaspoon of high-quality vanilla extract to it when you’re blending in the blender, just to kick the flavor up a notch.

Ingredients:

For the Vanilla Ice Cream:
(Makes 1 quart)

2 cups heavy cream
2 cups whole milk
1 vanilla bean, split
1 cup raw sugar or granulated sugar, divided
6 egg yolks
1 tablespoon liquor of choice (I used Liquor 43, a vanilla-flavored liquor; rum or bourbon would be nice) (optional)

For the Bourbon Milkshakes:
(Makes 4-5 small milkshakes)

3 ounces of bourbon (3 shots)
1 quart vanilla ice cream
1/2 teaspoon real vanilla extract (if using store-bought vanilla ice cream)
Splash of milk (optional)

Special Equipment: ice cream maker, blender

Procedure:

For the Vanilla Ice Cream:

1. Combine the cream and milk in a medium heavy saucepot. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the pot and add the bean. Add half of the sugar (1/2 cup) to the pot and stir briefly to combine.
2. Turn the heat to medium and bring the milk-cream mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and let steep for 20 minutes.
3. Return the milk-cream mixture to a simmer over medium-low heat.
4. Ready an ice bath: add a generous amount of ice to a large bowl. Add cold water to the ice, and place another large bowl on top of the ice bath. Have a fine-mesh strainer ready to go.
5. In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until the sugar starts to dissolve and the mixture lightens in color.
6. Temper the egg mixture by adding a small ladleful of the hot milk-cream mixture to the egg mixture, whisking quickly to combine. Add more of the hot milk-cream mixture to the egg mixture, a ladleful at a time, whisking constantly, until you’ve used about 1/3 of the milk-cream mixture.
7. Add the egg mixture to the remaining milk-cream mixture in your saucepot. Heat the mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a wooden spoon. (Do not boil!)
8. Immediately pour the mixture through your waiting fine-mesh strainer into the bowl over the ice bath. Stir the mixture to cool it down. Cool the mixture completely. (Discard the vanilla bean, or rinse thoroughly and use for vanilla sugar.)
9. Stir in the optional tablespoon of liquor.
10. Freeze the mixture according to your ice cream-maker’s instructions, then freeze completely until very firm.

For the Bourbon Milkshakes:

1. Combine the bourbon and ice cream in a blender. Blend until smooth. If mixture is too thick, add a splash of milk.
2. Serve in small old-fashioned (lowball) glasses or wine glasses.