Whipped and Whiskeyed: Desserts That Pack a Bourbon Punch
What's better than drinks and desserts? Drink in the dessert! Check out recipes for delicious desserts made using bourbon below.
1. Banana Bourbon Cupcakes
Ingredients
For the cupcakes:
300 gms All-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon Baking soda
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
Pinch of Nutmeg
1 large Egg
180 gms Brown sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
60 gms Sour cream
120 gms Butter, melted
80 ml Milk
240 gms Chocolate chips
120 gms crushed Toffee pieces
For the Bourbon Buttercream
240 gms unsalted Butter
960 gms powdered Sugar
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons Bourbon
For the Bourbon Chocolate Ganache
120 gms Chocolate, chopped
3 tablespoons Heavy cream
1 tablespoon Bourbon
Method
For The Cupcakes
Preheat the oven to 175°C. Take out the muffin tin with cupcake liners. Take a bowl and mix flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and set it aside.
Take a larger bowl, whisk the egg and add brown sugar. Mix the batter until it is smooth. Add vanilla extract, sour cream and melted butter and mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients and add mashed bananas and milk. Keep mixing till all ingredients are combined and the batter becomes slightly thick. Measure 60 gms of the batter and put it in the cupcake liners till they are 2/3rd full. Bake for 18 minutes. Let it cool completely.
For The Bourbon Buttercream
Use an electric mixer and beat butter until it is smooth and creamy. Turn the speed to low and gradually add sugar, mix until it is fully combined and added. Add vanilla and bourbon, and increase the speed to medium-high. Beat until fluffy, for around 3-4 minutes. You can add more bourbon if the frosting seems too thick.
For The Bourbon Chocolate Ganache
Take another large bowl and add chocolate in it. Heat the heavy cream till bubbles start appearing on the edges. Remove the cream from heat and pour it over chocolate. Stir well till chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth and creamy. Now add bourbon and mix again until the content becomes smooth. You can either dip each cupcake in the ganache or drizzle the ganache, so that it is covered 1/3rd from top. Top the cupcakes with crushed toffee bits.
2. Vanilla Bean Sea Salt Caramels With Bourbon
Ingredients
240 gms Heavy cream
5 tablespoons unsalted Butter, cut into 1-inch chunks
1 Vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped
1 ¼ teaspoons Sea salt, plus more for sprinkling
½ teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 tablespoon Bourbon
360 grams Granulated sugar
60 gms Light corn syrup
60 gms Water
Method
Take an 8-inch square baking pan and line its sides and the bottom with parchment paper. Slightly grease the parchment paper with butter and keep the pan aside.
Take a small saucepan, add cream, butter, vanilla bean seeds and pod, sea salt. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat. Turn off the heat and stir in the vanilla extract and bourbon. Set aside the saucepan.
Take a heavy saucepan and add sugar, corn syrup and water. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat, stir till sugar is completely dissolved. Attach a candy thermometer to the pan and continue boiling the mixture without stirring. Just gently swirl the pan and the colour of the content turns golden caramel (till the temperature is around 155°C). Pour the vanilla bean mixture that was made earlier into the caramel mixture. Stir constantly or else the mixture will bubble and rise up. Let the mixture simmer, stirring constantly until the temperature reaches 120°C. Immediately remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan. Let the caramel cool for 30 minutes. Sprinkle the top of the caramel with additional sea salt and keep it aside for the caramel to cool. Lift the parchment paper from the pan, cut the caramel with a lightly greased pizza cutter into 1-inch pieces. Wrap each piece individually in pieces of wax paper.
3. Bourbon Vanilla Caramel Sauce
Ingredients
360 gms Sugar
2 tablespoon Unsalted butter
240 gms Heavy cream, room temp
1 teaspoon Lemon juice
60 gms Water
1 teaspoon Fleur de sel
30 ml Bourbon
Seeds from one Vanilla bean OR 1 teaspoon of Vanilla bean paste
Method
Take a heavy-bottomed saucepan, add sugar, water, vanilla seeds (or paste) and lemon juice. Stir to combine. Cook in medium-high heat until sugar dissolves, brushing the sides of the pan with a damp pastry brush so that sugar crystals stick to the sides. Bring it to a boil (do not stir) until sugar turns into dark amber colour. This can take 10-20 minutes. Now carefully add the cream. It will bubble and hiss a lot. Bring back to a boil and then add butter, salt and bourbon. Stir to combine until slightly thickened for 3-5 minutes. Let it cool and then store it in a jar.
