My favorite dessert topping
A few Thanksgivings ago, I started making Pumpkin-Bourbon Cheesecake with Graham-Pecan Crust topped topped with Brown Sugar and Bourbon Cream from Cook’s Illustrated. It is awesome. Since then, I’ve switched out the cheesecake for (slightly) less-deadly dessert options, however I kept coming back to that cream. It’s great with apple cake, bread pudding, and anything chocolate-based.
After having made it so many times, I’ve come up with a few tweaks: upping the amount of bourbon (I prefer Maker’s Mark), and doing the first step in a smaller bowl to save space in the fridge (when necessary). Here is my version:
Brown Sugar and Bourbon Cream (modified from Cook’s Illustrated, Nov 2003)
Yield: about 3 cups (sixteen 3-tablespoon servings)
Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons Maker’s Mark (I’ve tried other bourbons, but prefer the sweetness of Maker’s)
Directions:
In a medium bowl, whisk heavy cream, sour cream, brown sugar, and salt until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 4 to 24 hours to give the sugar time to dissolve.
When ready to serve, transfer the contents to a standing mixer bowl, add bourbon and beat mixture with whisk attachment at medium speed until small bubbles form around edges, about 40 seconds; increase speed to high and continue to beat until fluffy and doubled in volume, about 1 minute longer.
Note: If you have room to spare in your fridge, you can do the whole thing in the stand mixer bowl.
Per serving: 72 Cal, 4.3g Fat, 0.4g Protein, 7.2g Carbs
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)Batter Blaster: Pancakes in a can
Experience has taught me that foods served via spray can are generally inferior versions of the real thing. Reddi-wip saves you some time and mess, and while tasty, doesn’t really compare to actual whipped cream. Easy Cheese only bears a slight resemblance to its namesake, mainly in it’s color.
So what was it that compelled me to reach for a three-pack of a new aerosol-propelled food product at my neighborhood Costco? The attractive packaging? The promise of quick and easy waffles and pancakes? Maybe I simply needed more stuff in the door of my refrigerator. In any case, I came home with over three pounds of Batter Blaster.
Let me tell you: This stuff is great. It’s real pancake batter–in a can. It’s not a simulation or an approximation. The resulting pancakes and waffles are light and tasty, and the only cleanup (besides the cooking implement) is rinsing off the tip of the can.
Drinking with statistics
I drink a lot of diet soda. I know it’s full of chemicals and artificial sweeteners, but when I’m looking for a caffeine kick, it’s either that or coffee. In fact, I average about three cans per day. Now according to a recent study, I may have a 57.1% higher chance of becoming obese than if I didn’t drink the stuff.
That sucks.
Then I found some encouraging news in this study:
“The odds of obesity among current drinkers were 0.73 times lower than the odds among non-drinkers.”
Using a little arithmetic, I can reduce my obesity risk to about 15.4% by pouring a little bourbon in my soda. I suppose I could reduce it a bit more by going out and exercising.
Maybe after this buzz wears off.
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