Your friends will never find this flavor of ice cream at the local scoop shop. This will wow any beer lover and a make a great end to a wonderful beer dinner. Serves four.
Ingredients for Ice Cream Base:
- 11.2 oz. Rochefort Trappist 8, Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy
- 2 cups heavy cream, not ultra-pasteurized, preferably organic
- 1 cup whole milk, preferably organic
- ½ cup sugar, organic
- ¼ cup soft dark sugar
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 4-5 quarts liquid nitrogen*
Ingredients for Rochefort 10 Caramel:
- 11.2 oz. Rochefort Trappist 10, Abbaye Notre-Dame de Saint-Remy
- 2 cups soft dark sugar
- 8 oz. heavy cream, not ultra-pasteurized, preferably organic
- 8 oz. butter, unsalted, room temperature
- 1 pinch sea salt
Directions:
To make Ice Cream Base:
In a medium-sized pot, combine the cream, milk, sugar and soft dark sugar over medium heat. Stir to dissolve the sugar and bring mixture to 170° and remove from heat. In a separate bowl, add egg yolks and whisk for a minute. Whisk in 2 ounces of hot cream mixture to the yolks, to temper them. Add another 2 ounces, whisking to prevent cooking the mixture. Pour yolk mixture back into the remaining cream mixture, whisking to incorporate. Place the pan back over medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture thickens. The temperature should be about 168-170°. Remove from heat and strain mixture through a fine sieve into another bowl, to remove any cooked yolk and make a silk smooth finished product. Chill mixture in either a water bath or refrigerator, until mixture is cold (around 36°).
In another medium sized pot, add the bottle of Rochefort 8. Over low heat, warm this Trappist ale to a soft simmer and reduce by half. This slow cooking will help caramelize the sugars and intensify the flavors of fig, vanilla, honey, date and plum. Remove from the heat and add to the Ice Cream Base.
To make Ice Cream:
Pre-freeze a medium sized stainless steel bowl along with a spatula in the freezer for at least 15 minutes.
Place your cooled and flavored ice cream base into the bowl of an electric ice cream maker. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions and freeze accordingly. Pour the soft ice cream into the cold stainless steel bowl and pour ribbons of the Rochefort 10 Caramel over the ice cream. Using the spatula, carefully fold in the ribbons using 2-3 turns of the utensil. Pour some more ribbons onto the ice cream. There will be extra caramel sauce that can be used at time of service, or to be used in another recipe. Pour final swirled ice cream into a tight sealing container and freeze for at lease four hours to let the flavors meld.
*Optional Ice Cream Freezing Method:
In a 6 quart stainless steel bowl add half of the cooled ice cream base and carefully add about 2 cups of liquid nitrogen, pouring in the center of the bowl slowly. After the liquid nitrogen has been added, stir slowly using a spatula, scraping the bottom and sides of the bowl until the liquid nitrogen has evaporated. Notice the thickness of the base in relationship to soft serve ice cream. Repeat this same procedure until the ice cream has set, usually with about 6-8 cups of liquid Nitrogen per half batch. If you over freeze the mixture, continue to stir, equalizing the temperature of the whole mixture. If mixture is frozen solid, add some of the remaining base and let sit for a minute or two. Serve immediately.
(Sean Paxton)
