Pairing Challenge

Winner Winner Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Dinner + Recipe

Truly the most fun we’ve had with the Beer Versus Wine Challenge yet!  Just check out the vote post.  Suggestions continued pumping in even after nominations were closed.  Or look at the Facebook comments from the vote post announcement:

And The Suggestions Keep Pouring In!

And The Suggestions Keep Pouring In!

I’m glad everyone had fun with this challenge and that we were all able to relive childhood memories by dumping alcohol on ice cream.  How woulda thunk beer floats were so popular?

Nominees definitely skewed heavily towards beer which really did surprise me.  I was expecting lots of sweet wine pairings that Aunt Alice would go nuts for (Aunt Alice likes it sweet) but only one, Quady Winery’s Elysium, was nominated.  Instead, readers favored dark and malty beers with hints of bitter coffee and espresso.  Including our winner…

And the winner of the adult ice cream party is Trophy Brewing’s Slingshot Coffee Porter as nominated by The Wandering SheppardWe also have our first two time winner.  If you remember, The Wandering Sheppard also won the inaugural challenge of Fish and Chips.  We look forward to seeing Art’s pairing challenge the first week of September right here on The Wandering Gourmand.

Beer Float What????

Beer Float What????

Homemade Ice Cream Recipe

If you’ve never tried homemade ice cream, you truly don’t know what you’re missing.  A few weeks ago the Beavers were over for dinner.  I asked them to bring dessert as sweets aren’t my specialty (just give me a glass of scotch after dinner and I’m happy).  To our surprise, they brought homemade ice cream.  I don’t think I’ll ever go back to store bought.  Of course, you do need an ice cream maker (or, if you have KitchenAid Stand Mixer, this attachment) but the results are well worth the money.

Below is recipe from KC Hop Talk that you can try at home.  This recipe makes 6 quarts of ice cream.  Adjust the recipe portions according to the size of your ice cream freezer.

The Ingredients

  • 6 eggs or equivalent number of Egg Beaters
  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 8 cups whipping cream
  • 2 3/4 cups sugar
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

The Cooking

  • Combine milk, cream and sugar in a non-reactive pan over medium heat. Stir continuously while the mixture is on the heat. Be careful not to let it boil.  Remove from the heat once it reaches the scalding point (bubbles forming around edge of pan).   Add vanilla to the mixture.
  • In a separate container add beaten eggs. Then temper the eggs by stirring in a 1/4 cup of the cream mixture at a time until the eggs are tempered.  Then stir the tempered egg mix back into the cream mixture.
  • Let the ice cream mixture cool and apply plastic wrap to the surface to keep a skin from forming on the surface. Chill the mixture in the refrigerator.  Once the mix is chilled you can add it to your ice cream freezer.