School starts in just a few days and I am officially back on schedule. Ahead of schedule really. I have almost all of my September recipes tested, filmed, photographed, and written up ready to be published.
However, that means I’ve fallen behind on a lot of the other things I’ve been needing to do. These last few days are going to be pretty tight pressed to get everything done, but I still think it’s achievable.
Let’s talk about this recipe shall we? Every once in a while, I like to make a recipe where I can kind of play restaurant. It’s a recipe that most people probably wouldn’t bother to make at home, but would definitely order at some fancy restaurant. I do this so I can play with new flavors and techniques, and share my findings with the blog. So here we go.
Describe this Dessert to Me
Taste: There are a lot of different flavors going on here, but they all work perfectly with each other. The peaches have that classic light and sweet fruity taste, but with a bittersweet note from the charred sugar on the outside. The ice cream works with that bittersweet flavor, taking rich burnt sugar and blending it with sweet and light vanilla. Finally, the brown sugar shortbread adds a little warmth and depth to the whole ensemble.
Texture: The ice cream is perfectly creamy and smooth, and it melts a little with the warm peaches. Because we are lightly cooking the peaches, they soften a little but still hold their shape. The shortbread crumbles on top add a little crunch to break through the rest of the textures.
Ease: I will say that this is one of the more difficult recipes on this blog. It has a lot of different elements, and therefore a lot of different steps. Making the burnt sugar is probably the most difficult part, as it is a science and a fine line between bittersweet burnt sugar and overly bitter burnt sugar. However, if you give yourself plenty of time to get everything done, this is a perfectly manageable recipe.
The Burnt Sugar Ice Cream
Let’s talk about this. Burnt Sugar is a flavor that I think is slowly gaining popularity. I think for the most part people are tentative to try a food that is supposed to taste burned, but if we put that flavor in the right format it can be perfectly delicious. This ice cream is kind of like coffee ice cream because of its bittersweet flavor, but it also has the deep warmth of caramel. The vanilla in this ice cream is super important as well because it brings out the softer side in the otherwise intense burnt sugar flavor.
The Brown Butter Shortbread
This brown butter shortbread is such a simple recipe but it works so well with the other components of this dessert. It adds a little crunch to separate between the creamy ice cream and soft peaches, and it’s warm flavors of cinnamon and nutty brown butter tie together the bittersweet ice cream and flavorful peaches. It’s a simple addition but I think the shortbread is what makes this dessert work.
The Grilled Peaches
The brown sugar grilled peaches are sort of the center of this dessert. It’s peach season, so I wanted to base all the other flavors around the peaches. They still get their chance to shine, but are enhanced with brown sugar, cinnamon, and a little black pepper. The sugar caramelizes and gives these peaches a bittersweet char, and the black pepper actually brings out the fruity notes in the peach.
Grilled Peaches with Brown Butter Shortbread and Burnt Sugar Ice Cream
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the sugar and 1 Tablespoon of water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook it without stirring until it begins to melt and bubble at the sides, about 4 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, stir the caramel and cook for another 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Continue cooking as the caramel turns a darker color and starts to give off a rich, burnt smell. In another 3 minutes or so, the caramel will begin to bubble and froth, and then smoke. Let it cook like this, stirring gently for 30 seconds before removing from the heat.
- Stir the mixture off heat for about 5 minutes. Then, let it sit off heat for 10-15 minutes or until completely hardened in the bottom of the pan.
- Place the hardened caramel back on the burner on medium low heat. Pour ⅔ cup of water on top and cook. The hardened sugar will slowly soften enough so that you can stir it. It may look like there is a lump of hardened sugar in the middle and liquid on the outside, but if you keep mixing it will eventually even out into a thick syrup, similar to molasses. Pour the syrup into a glass jar and let it cool for 10 minutes at room temperature before starting the ice cream.
- Using a hand or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream in a large bowl on high speed to stiff peaks. Add in the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, salt, and 5 Tablespoons of the slightly cooled burnt sugar syrup. Whip on high speed for 1-2 minutes.
- Pour the ice cream into a 9 inch loaf pan. Place a layer of cling wrap on the surface of the ice cream. Freeze for 8 hours, preferably overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 325°F. Line a 7×13 inch baking pan with parchment paper. Make sure there is enough overhang to help lift the baked shortbread out of the pan later.
- Place the butter in a medium sized saucepan and melt it over medium heat. Once melted, the butter will begin to sizzle and foam. Keep cooking, stirring frequently, until the butter turns a caramel brown color. Pour into a shallow bowl and place in the freezer for 15 minutes
- Place the cooled brown butter (it will sort of be half solid, half liquid) in a medium sized mixing bowl. Add the granulated sugar, vanilla extract, and salt and mix on medium high speed for roughly one minute or until combined. It may look a little curdled, don't worry! Add the cornstarch, flour, and cinnamon and mix on low speed until the dough is made up of small crumbles. Add the milk and mix on medium speed until incorporated and you have a very thick, slightly dry dough.
- Press the dough into the previously prepared baking pan in an even layer. I like to use the bottom of a measuring cup to press the dough tightly. Lightly poke the top of the shortbread a handful of times with a fork to create air holes.
- Bake the shortbread for 40-45 minutes or until the edges are browned and the whole thing looks set. Let the shortbread cool completely in the pan set on a wire cooling rack. Once cool, slice it into small squares.
- In a bowl using either your hands or a spatula, toss together the brown sugar, cinnamon, 2 Tablespoons melted butter, and black pepper. Stick roughly 2 Tablespoons of this brown sugar mixture to the open surface of each peach half.
- Heat a griddle over medium heat. Melt the remaining 2 Tablespoons of butter on the pan. Place the peaches, flat sugared side down, on the griddle. Cook for 3-5 minutes or until the sugar is caramelized and the peach is very lightly charred.
- To serve, place one hot peach half into a bowl and top with 1-2 scoops of the ice cream. Crumble one square of the shortbread on top and serve immediately!