One of those days

Today is one of those days, when I sit at my computer and I try to write something, anything, but nothing comes out. Well, of course something comes out because you're reading this, but this is not what I was meaning to write.






So, I could sit here, at my desk, facing the dread that is the blank page, or I could go out there, where the birds are chirping and the sun is shining and the whole of nature—who has obviously forgotten it's the beginning of October—is screaming for me to get out of my apartment.






Would you blame me if I chose the latter?

I knew you wouldn't.






Oh, and before I go, I know it's kind of soon to be posting another ice cream recipe after this one but people, we got an Indian summer on our hands over here. I have to take full advantage of that before it's too late.






Ice cream is in order. White chocolate ice cream with a caramel-Kahlua sauce.






It's good.

It's pretty damn good actually.

[Those of you who are living in places where the cold weather is already knocking at your door, no hard feelings, ok?]






Enough said.

Where did I put my flip-flops?













White Chocolate Ice Cream with a Caramel-Kahlua Sauce
Ice cream recipe adapted from The Perfect Scoop

This ice cream is not too sweet and has a subtle white chocolate flavor.
You can also serve it with a raspberry sauce.

The caramel-Kahlua sauce was a very successful improvisation by yours truly (I can do it with music and I can do it with sauces too. Ha!). It has a silky smooth texture and is not overly sweet, and I just can't stop using it on ice creams, waffles and cakes ever since I made it for the first time a couple of months ago.

You must use good quality white chocolate; I can't stress this enough. If it's not good quality then the ice cream will be granular and it will not taste good. I'm speaking from experience.

If you don't have an ice cream maker, don't you worry. Below, I'm including instructions on how to make the ice cream without it.






Yield: about 1 liter of ice cream / about 1 ½ cup of caramel-Kahlua sauce

Ingredients

for the ice cream
230 g good quality white chocolate (at least 28% cocoa butter), chopped
240 ml whole milk
130 g sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
470 ml cream, full fat

for the caramel-Kahlua sauce
115 g unsalted butter
115 g soft, light brown sugar
120 ml cream, full fat
60 ml Kahlua

Special equipment: fine sieve, ice cream maker (optional yet preferable), instant-read thermometer (optional)


Preparation

for the ice cream
Put the chopped white chocolate in a large bowl and set a fine sieve over it.

In a medium-sized saucepan, add the milk, sugar and salt and warm over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves. The milk must get warm, not hot.
In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Very slowly, pour the warm milk over the egg yolks, whisking quickly and continuously. When you have poured all of the milk, return mixture to the saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula. Stir the mixture until it thickens and coats the spatula, or until an instant-read thermometer reads 76 degrees Celsius.
Pour the custard through the fine sieve and into the bowl containing the chopped white chocolate. Stir well with a spatula until the chocolate has melted completely and you have a smooth mixture. Then add the cream and stir well.


Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and a little water, and place the bowl with the ice cream mixture on top. Stir the mixture with a rubber spatula in order to cool it down. Once cool, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.
Then whisk the mixture and pour it into your ice cream maker. Continue, following the manufacturer's instructions.

Alternatively, if you don't have an ice cream maker, empty the chilled ice cream mixture into a container suitable for the freezer. Put mixture in the freezer, take it out after 40 minutes and whisk it very well. You can also beat it with a spatula vigorously (or you can use a blender, or even a stick blender).
Continue doing the same thing every half hour, until it's too thick and frozen to beat or whisk. The whole process will take about two and a half hours.

for the caramel-Kahlua sauce
Put the butter in a medium-sized saucepan and melt it over medium heat. Add the sugar and stir with a wooden spoon until dissolved. Continue stirring until the mixture starts to bubble, begins to take on a dark caramel color and thickens.
You need to be very careful because the mixture will be extremely hot.


When the mixture has become thick enough (slightly thicker than condensed milk), remove the saucepan from the heat.
Then add slowly the cream and whisk until incorporated. Add the Kahlua and stir well with a wooden spoon. Empty the sauce in a clean bowl and allow to cool.

You can either serve it warm or put it in the fridge for later use. When served straight from the fridge it is thicker and better in my opinion.

Keep it in the fridge, covered tightly with plastic wrap for 3 to 4 days.