Fall Flavor of the Week: Beenut Butter Crunch

   In anxious anticipation for the leaves to fade to golds and reds and browns and fall from their canopy homes to garnish the lawns and sidewalks, which we traverse to class everyday, I have decided to pay tribute to my favorite season with flavors that evoke such feelings and responses as the cool, crisp weather and rustic colors so do.

   This week I created an ice cream inspired by a pie, which I saw in a magazine. When I saw the recipe, my mouth watered; and I then knew that I had to recapture that flavor in frozen form. And thus, Beenut Butter Crunch was contrived.

Beenut Butter Crunch - smooth, creamy peanut butter ice cream swirled with fudge and studded with crunchy honey comb

   As I have stated many times before, Peanut Butter ice cream is my ultimate favorite--it's what I fill out in response to those 'Last Meal On Earth' questions. However, until I made my own, I was left in a depressing state of want for better peanut butter flavor in my ice creams. I found none that captured that potent, salty flavor I so desired--the potency which gives you that burn in your throat as you eat it (ask any Shirey about that peanut butter burn and they'll tell you all about it). And that is what, in turn, lead me to begin creating my own peanut butter flavors.
   Unlike most ice cream duds, I add salt to my peanut butter base, otherwise it loses that real peanut flavor (that 'burn'). This creates a whole new experience with my ice creams; reduce the sugar, and increase the ingredients that matter, the ones that get at the realness of what flavor recreation is all about.

   I homemake everything that I possibly can. So, naturally, I had to create my own fudge sauce recipe. I wanted it to be thick, pungent, and fudge-y, not a basic chocolate sauce. I used brown sugar instead of white sugar, which I thought captured a completely different flavor base; cocoa; corn syrup; heavy cream; and a...pinch of salt...Oh?! After this melted together, I added butter and quality bitter-sweet chocolate, not that cheap waxy stuff. In contrast with most other recipes I've seen, I refused to add vanilla to my fudge sauce. What's with this ceremonial addition of vanilla in everything? What does it do? I don't add vanilla in anything that isn't supposed to be vanilla flavored. I was rewarded with a thick, dark, fudge that had a bitter-sweet flavor. Just what I wanted.
 
   What I was most looking forward to was the honey comb. I did not buy real honey comb, though that would have been really cool, and I highly doubt that honey comb can be found anywhere in Tuscaloosa. "What's Honey Comb?" I can hear them say. Well, you might find it at Homegrown Alabama on Thursday nights. Regardless, I made my own. Yeah, I did. I can't? I did.
   After looking over the recipe, I realized it was identical to making a 'brittle'. Sugar, corn syrup, honey, and baking soda. Boom. Boil it, let it expand (when the baking soda is added it gets feisty), pour it out, and let it harden.
   I am going to show you something. But don't jump out of your seat. You might think it's weird/frightening/alive, or like something the Ghostbusters would tackle down in a sewer somewhere.

 

   It was actually rather good. In fact, it was the key element to this ice cream being labeled as "better than my Salted Caramel" by 90% of those who had both. I was worried about making another flavor in the shadow of such a huge hit with Salted Caramel, but apparently I "knocked it out of the park" as they say.

"It was a smashing hit with the ladies" - Phil Deaton

"This is unbelievable. Is this real?" - Jake Reynolds

"Reese, I believe you have outdone Salted Caramel" - Joe Ziegler

  The proof is in the magic. And the magic is in the ice cream.

   The flavors worked exceptionally well with each other, all three highlighting their own uniqueness, but also accenting on the strengths and tastes of the others. The salty-sweetness of the peanut butter matched well with the fudge, obviously (peanut butter and chocolate is the best combination since Earth and Oxygen), but it went perfectly with the sweet, sweet honey comb. After eating the ice cream, Joe Ziegler pondered about what he was tasting that was so unique in the pint. I let him try some leftover honey comb, and he immediately said it was the X-Factor. It was super crunchy, like brittle, and added huge, unique flavor to the creamy peanut butter base.

  I am most assuredly going to make this flavor again, though not sure when. It will definitely be set in the Flavor Bank for future Scoop Shop usage.

  Thanks to all those who tried it, and thank you for your helpful, generous, praising comments about my ice cream. I love to share my creations with you, and I look forward, with eager anticipation, to next week's flavor. Until then,

Reese O'Shirey, Esquire