All posts tagged root beer

Root Beer Float Ice Cream

In the last month or so, I have seen this root beer float ice cream make an appearance on a few of my friend’s blogs. I finally decided that I had to make it, like now, but I didn’t have the root beer extract. I figured that would be easy enough to pick up at the grocery store, you know, by all the other extracts. SO WRONG! I went to Target, Dominick’s and Jewel. They didn’t have it. I asked my friends where they got it and they said Wal-Mart…so I went to Wal-Mart and you know what? No stinkin’ root beer extract. More determined now than ever, I thought maybe it was Super Wal-Mart. So, I went to one in the next town over, approached the baking section and scanned through the first shelf of extracts. None yet. I was getting anxious as I scanned the next shelf and stopped at ROOT BEER EXTRACT!! I was so excited. Funny how something so silly can make me so happy. Okay, I know last week I made pumpkin bread to celebrate fall and now, here I am making ice cream. WTH right? Well see, ice cream isn’t seasonal to me. I eat ice cream just about everyday, no matter how cold it is outside. And, here in Chicago, it gets pretty darn cold.

So, now that I finally had the extract, I pulled out the recipe and saw that it had 2 raw eggs. Boo. That’s why I should read recipes first. Now I was a bit nervous for the kids to eat it. Although, I’m not sure why. I have eaten tons of raw cookie dough, brownie and cake batters, you name it, I’ve eaten it….and I’m still here. Anyways, I decided it would be a good idea to make a cooked custard base. So, I went to the ice cream bible, The Perfect Scoop, and saw that his cooked recipe was almost the same as the original recipe, except for 6 yolks instead of 2 whole eggs and it added a vanilla bean. Well, vanilla bean is never a bad addition. The only problem with a cooked base is that you have to use a water bath and wait for it to cool. Nuts. Waiting to taste a new dessert is not my strong suit Once the base was chilled, I poured it into the ice cream maker and about 20 minutes later I had to taste it. I was promptly busted by the kids, so they each had to have a taste. They loved it! Alex kept circling me with his mouth open like a little baby bird. But really, what’s not to love here? A creamy frozen custard base with vanilla bean and root beer extract, creating the perfect all-in-one root beer float. Sometimes I have such high hopes for a recipe, and then I am let down by the results. Not this time….

Root Beer Float Ice Cream

1 cup (250mL) whole milk

¾ cup (150g) sugar

2 cups (500mL) heavy cream, divided

Pinch of salt

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

6 large egg yolks

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon root beer extract I used Watkins

Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of cream, and salt in a medium saucepan. Scrape the vanilla bean seeds into the warmed milk and add in the used vanilla bean. Cover the pan and remove from heat. Let the mixture sit to steep at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream into a large bowl and set a fine mesh strainer on top. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks until smooth. Slowly pour the warmed milk mixture into the bowl of egg yolks, whisking constantly. Scrape the entire mixture back into the saucepan. On medium heat, stir constantly with a spatula, scraping the bottom of the pan as you stir, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of the spatula. Pour the custard through the strainer, into the bowl with the cream and stir. Pull the vanilla bean out of the strainer and put it back into the custard. Add the vanilla extract and root beer extract. Stir until cool over an ice bath. Cover and refrigerate until the mixture is completely chilled. Make sure to take out the vanilla bean before churning. Freeze the chilled base in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Source: inspiration from What’s Cookin Chicago (also seen on Eva Bakes, Jenna’s Cooking Journey and The Jey of Cooking) and the ice cream base from The Perfect Scoop (David Lebovitz)

Note:

Most of the photos of this ice cream show it is brown in color. As you can see, mine was not. It was more of a creamy, light yellow. I’m guessing it was because of the extra egg yolks in my base or maybe a variance in the brand of root beer extract

5 Comments

by Just Baked on October 8, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in ice cream

Tagged cooked, custard, egg yolks, float, freezer, frozen, heavy cream, ice cream, kids, root beer, summer, vanilla bean

Posted by Just Baked on October 8, 2012

http://justbakedbyme.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/root-beer-float-ice-cream/

Root Beer Float Popsicles

As you might have guessed…yep, it’s still too hot to bake today Actually, let me clarify that. I got up early this morning to make cheesecake swirl blondies. But, they turned out more like a bland, thick cake with a cheesecake mess on top. Yuck. So, technically, it was too hot to bake again Oh, well. Sometimes failure leads you to better things. Things like root beer float popsicles. When I decided to make the cookies and cream popsicles the other day, this choice was a very close second. So, I decided to give these a try. After all, one of my family’s favorite beat the Chicago summer heat treats is a root beer float. My kids love it because it is one of the rare occasions that they get to indulge in a soda. They always mix it together immediately into a thick root beer float milkshake. Not me. I prefer to take a small scoop from the ice cream and fill the rest of the spoon with soda and then eat it, spoonful by spoonful. However you eat them, root beer floats are simply delicious.

Most recipes I see for root beer float pops are just root beer layered with vanilla ice cream. Good, but not great. How do you make them great? You make homemade vanilla custard to layer with the root beer. It is really easy and so worth the extra effort. Don’t worry about the egg yolks. Even if they do get a little bit scrambled, you can strain the custard and it will still be perfect. The only downside is that it does take some time because you have to freeze between each layer so they don’t all run together. And, though they would still taste delicious, and I know Jack and Sammie wouldn’t care, I would!

So, the next time you have a hankering for a root beer float, go on and ditch the mugs and make these fun pops instead.

Root Beer Float Popsicles

Yield: 12 to 14 pops

1 cup (8 fl oz/250mL) heavy cream

1 cup (8fl oz/250mL) whole milk

4 large egg yolks

1/3 cup (3oz/90g) sugar

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

2 cups (16 fl oz/500mL) root beer - Open at least 30 minutes before using. I used IBC

In a heavy saucepan over med-high heat, warm the cream and milk until the mixture just comes to a simmer, about 5 minutes. In a heatproof bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and salt until the mixture doubles in volume, 2 minutes. Slowly pour half of the warm cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking until smooth. Pour the mixture into the saucepan and place over medium heat. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, 1 to 2 minutes. Do not boil. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl and cool completely over an ice bath. I skipped the sieve since my custard mixture looked smooth.

If using conventional ice pop molds, fill the mold 1/4 full with the vanilla custard and freeze until partially frozen, about 30 minutes. Pour in the root beer, filling the molds until they are half full, and again, freeze until partially frozen, about 30 minutes. Pour in the remaining vanilla custard, filling until the molds are 3/4 full. I had custard left. If using sticks, insert them into the molds and freeze until almost completely solid, about 1 hour. Fill the molds with the remaining root beer. Cover and freeze until solid, at least 2.5 hours or up to 3 days. (It is not recommended to use carbonated beverages in instant ice pop makers like Zokus).

Source: Ice Pops: Recipes for Fresh and Flavorful Frozen Treats