More Bourbon Caramel

I know I've posted about this before, but I just love bourbon and caramel.  What can I say?

Butter Bourbon Dipping Sauce:

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons bourbon
• 1/4 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

In a large, heavy skillet, heat the sugar over medium heat, stirring with a fork until it begins to melt. Once it is melting, stop stirring and cook, swirling the skillet occasionally so the sugar melts evenly. Cook until it is dark amber in color, and then remove from the heat. Put an oven mitt on the hand you will be using to stir in the ingredients and stand back to avoid splattering. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the butter, water, bourbon, vinegar, and salt and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until caramel has dissolved. Add the cream and bring to a boil and allow to cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring, and then remove from heat. Allow to cool down.

Banana cupcakes

With Iron Chef: Battle Cupcake on the horizon I had some serious decisions to make.
Blueberry Lemon?
My classic Pumpkin Spice?
Something more classic?
Chocolate and. . . ? (banana, peanut butter, raspberry. . . . )
The options are limitless. However, I landed on chocolate and peanut butter. And banana. And butterscotch. Um. . .I may have gotten carried away.

Banana Cupcakes
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 pinch salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup light brown sugar
2 eggs
5 ripe bananas, mashed
2/3 - 1 cup lowfat vanilla yogurt
Add ins: nuts, semi-sweet chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, etc.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 2 - 8 inch round pans, or prep cupcake pans. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter, white sugar and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Mix in the bananas. Add flour mixture alternately with the yogurt to the creamed mixture. Stir in nuts, or chips. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
I saw a lady on tv put the batter into a plastic bag and cut off the tip to pipe into the pans - this is my new favorite thing. I feel bad about wasting the bag, but it is so much cleaner and easier than spooning it in.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes (15 minutes for mini cupcakes, 20 minutes for full sized cupcakes). Remove from oven, and place on a damp tea towel to cool.

One batch I left plain. One I added semi sweet chocolate chips to. One I added butterscotch chips to.
Then I took a can of triple chocolate chip frosting and mixed 1/4 cup of peanut butter in. The results are pretty sweet; I may have to cut back on the sugar in the batter, or UCK make my own frosting so it's not so sweet. Of all the combos, I was the biggest fan of the plain cakes with the peanut butter and chocolate frosting; the boys like the chocolate chip with the peanut butter and chocolate frosting; we all agreed that while very tasty, the butterscotch chip version was just way too sweet.

I'm not in love with the results, but they're pretty damn tasty. I considered drizzling some bourbon caramel on top instead of frosting, but was too tired of baking to whip up a batch.

The next day I made the salted caramel frosting (which I added bourbon to, thankyouverymuch) I found on The Kitchn and this, my friends, was the winner. Definitely NOT on the butterscotch, but yes on the plain, and yes on the chocolate chip.
I think for my birthday I'll make my banana cake with the salted caramel bourbon frosting and maybe the drizzle of chocolate they mention in the recipe on Savour-fare.

**Update**
The more I think about it, the more irritated I am that these cupcakes were so DENSE and banana bready. This here recipe is incredibly similar, but they're promising light and fluffy results. . . maybe I'll give it a shot. Maybe instead of using so many nanas to get that nana flavor, I'll have to * gasp * use banana extract or something. I think it's the fruit that's weighing things down.
This one wants me to believe it's the best ever (some cakes are so full of themselves). We shall see people, we shall see. Now that I have to make them for Thanksgiving it seems I'll have plenty of time to experiment.

Bourbon Caramel

Who doesn't want this?

Bourbon Caramel

Yield: 1 1/3 cups (serving size: about 1 tablespoon)

1 1/2 c sugar
2/3 c water
2 tsp light corn syrup
1/4 c evaporated low-fat milk
1/4 c ff 1/2 & 1/2
1 tbsp butter
3 tbsp bourbon

Sprinkle sugar in an even layer in a large, heavy saucepan. Combine 2/3 cup water and syrup; pour over sugar. Cook over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves (about 4 minutes), stirring gently. Cook an additional 20 minutes or until golden (do not stir). Remove from heat. Gradually stir in milk, half-and-half, and butter using a long-handled wooden spoon (mixture will bubble vigorously). Cook over low heat until mixture is smooth, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in bourbon. Serve warm. (Mixture thickens as it cools.)

Cocktails and Infusions

Thanks to Nirvino spoiling me rotten, I've been hard into the fun, new, tasty, cuisine type cocktails lately. Even more so than when Bourbon and Branch first opened, or when I was hanging out at Rye Bar, or when I first got into the classics - Sidecars, Old Fashioneds and Manhattans. I'm still dreaming about the Rio Grande at 15 Romolo.

Anyway, I was at Sasso in Boston last night, and they're a home infusionist's heaven. Not just cucumber in vodka, mint in some rum, pineapple in whatever - forget standard or simple. These guys are doing stuff like vanilla and pear in bourbon (HELLO), pineapple and cinnamon, star anise, apple pie; all in gins, rums, vodkas, bourbons. . . . I'm going to have to try to sneak back and steal their infusion list and give it to Q so he can start making me some new infusions (they had several that were similar to the ones he makes).

I had a drink called The Huntington - the bartender drizzles honey inside a martini glass, shakes up Maker's Mark and pear juice with ice, and pours it into the glass. It might just replace my Manhattan. It's awesome. I'm thinking of carrying pear juice in my purse with me so SF bars can make it for me. I bet it would be awesome with that vanilla cognac Navan, or maybe I'll just infuse some Maker's with vanilla at home OMG I'msoexcited.

In any case, this doesn't look like the latest menu posted online, but here were some others that I might want to recreate:
Spiced Cherry Martini (stoli vanil, spiced cherry puree)

Chilled Apple Cider (Zacapa 23-year rum, spiced apple cider)

Parisian Martini (stoli raspberry, pineapple, raspberry, champagne)

Raspberry Truffle (stoli raspberry, godiva white chocolate, bailey's, chambord)

Blackberry & Brown Sugar Mojito (bacardi, muddled blackberry & mint, brown sugar, soda)

And also, who knew Safeway had hopped on the infusion train?

• 1 liter vodka
• 1 pint blueberries, rinsed and dried
• 1 cup raspberry flavored liqueur
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 twist lime zest, garnish

To make the blueberry vodka: Pour out approximately 1/3 of the bottle of vodka into a holding container; set aside. Score each blueberry with a small nick and place into vodka bottle. With the vodka previously set aside, fill the vodka bottle until just below the neck. Add just enough raspberry liqueur to top off the bottle. Let sit in a dark place for 2 weeks. 

 

To make martinis: In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine 2 parts blueberry vodka, 1 part raspberry liqueur, and a dash of lime juice. Shake vigorously and strain into glass. Garnish with twist of lime zest.

Please post your infusions!!!!!!!!