This is a custom invention, created for none other than my very own father, my papa bear, also often known among friends as Pablo. My papa (and I'm sure many other papas out there) dearly adores oatmeal raisin cookies... Anytime I bake cookies, he wishes aloud and quite clearly that they will be oatmeal raisin cookies, which unfortunately for him they usually are not. Another thing he often requests is my homemade ice cream. Since I moved out, he has had to resort to STORE BOUGHT ICE CREAM heaven forbid. Seeing as it's not only FATHERS DAY but also his BIRTHDAY this past weekend... I figured I owed it to him to whip up a special treat! In the spirit of "why or when you can and" I decided not to make cookies or ice cream, but to instead make an ice cream INSPIRED by cookies! This flavour is designed specifically with my dad in mind, however I am fairly confident that this concoction would suit many a father on Father's day. Or any hot summer weekend for that matter, of which I'm sure there will be plenty. And worst case scenario it suits me juuuuust fine. Oatmeal Raisin Ice cream begins humbly with whole milk, heavy cream and all the usual custard-culprits. However I'm twisting things up by infusing the milk with toasted oats, hoping to squeeze out any extra nutty-oat-flavour that I can to make this ice cream special. While we wait for things to chill, we're still busy in the kitchen, baking up oat streusel to crumble into the ice cream at the end. We're also soaking raisins in RUM because YUM. Layers of flavour, layers of love. Kinda like an oatmeal ice cream sandwich, all blended into one bowl. To my papa and to all the DADs out there... this scoop's for you! What makes this ice cream as special as my papa? I've toasted oats to bring out their nutty flavour, then steeped them in the ice cream base. I've used three varieties of raisins just for fun and colour and partially due to my curiosity... (The bulk bins have three different kinds, and so I'm like, LETS TRY THEM ALL) and soaked them in a spiced-rum simple syrup. The spiced flavour of the rum will pair nicely with everything here, however any old rum will do. By soaking our raisins in syrup, this will plump them up and ensure that they stay soft even when frozen into the ice cream. If you don't have rum you can always soak the raisins in a simple syrup without the rum instead. THE RESULT: A creamy smooth ice cream, reminiscent of vanilla but dare I say creamier in flavour due to the oats. Soft & sweet fruity raisins swirled throughout, (not the rock hard pellets of disappointment that raisins sometimes can be...) and a crunchy, salty oat-cookie crumb in every bite. I give you: The Papa Bear Ice Cream! Oatmeal Raisin Ice Cream (AKA Papa Bear Ice Cream)Recipe adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, inspired by my Dad ice cream base:
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WARNING these cupcakes are dangerously sweet but sometimes you just need that hard core sugar hit. Brown sugar is the star here and when combined with a healthy amount of butter and cream (and most importantly SALT to balance all that sticky sweetness) we have a tasty treat for you. These cupcakes came about when I wanted to make a Harry-Potter-Butterbeer-type of cupcake for the cafe where I work (hence the lightning bolt garnish). I made way too much butterscotch sauce the first go-round so I got to make the cupcakes again for halloween, this time with lil ghosts on top! I giggled a lot while decorating each one with tiny edible googly eyes... which I now want to put on everything. Butterscotch CupcakesThe cupcake recipe makes a delicious brown sugar cupcake all on it's own, if you don't want to go the extra sweet route of filling them with the butterscotch. I've been known to add a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter which I think makes them even better! Brown Sugar Cupcakes:
*I hardly use a recipe for cream cheese frosting these days... rather I tend to use a ratio of approximately 2 parts cream cheese to one part butter, and add powdered sugar to taste. A good pinch of salt helps to balance out the super sweet powdered sugar, and vanilla makes it extra tasty. Follow your heart, but a good starting point is:
Butterscotch Sauce: Again, this will probably make more than you need for the cupcakes... the leftover can be used in hot drinks, drizzled on cakes or as a tasty ice cream sundae topping!
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