Pumpkin Bourbon Flip

Pumpkin-mania is here folks. Lattes, beer, ice cream, pie – you name it. If it’s Autumn, it’s pumpkin.

A lot of people make fun of the pumpkin craze, but I for one welcome our new pumpkin overlords. Pumpkin and its other squash-kin are delicious, vibrant, versatile, and cheap. They are great in a wide array of sweet and savory dishes and the perfect antidote to cold-weather gloom.

However, even though pumpkin dominates Autumn like no other seasonal vegetable and pairs great with all things sweet and creamy, there is a surprising lack of pumpkin cocktails.

Enter the Pumpkin Bourbon Flip.

Bourbon Panna Cotta with Hot Fudge Sauce

Once again I have to apologize for how tardy I’ve been in posting new recipes. I actually made this dish back on Valentine’s Day, but work and school have been all-consuming over the past several months. Add in the fact that Maggie and I just bought our first home (!!!) and you can imagine it’s been a very busy time for me. Now that things have settled down though I hope to get back to a more regular posting schedule.

If you were expecting a verbose return, I’m going to disappoint you once more; there isn’t that much to say about this dish. It’s cream, vanilla, nutmeg, chocolate – and bourbon. If you aren’t sold after hearing that lineup, you might be a lost cause. I just don’t think there is anything I can do.

The real uniqueness of panna cotta comes from the silky yet firm texture and, of course, the presentation. I used a broad, shallow dish for the cast, but you can really use any shape you want as long as you can get the panna cotta out after a warm water bath. Feel free to experiment!

Bourbon Panna Cotta with Hot Fudge Sauce (serves 4)

Panna Cotta Ingredients

• 1/4 cup bourbon
• 1 tablespoon unflavored powdered gelatin
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 dash of nutmeg

Hot Fudge Sauce Ingredients

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 1 pinch of salt
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate, broken into small pieces

Instructions

1. Pour the bourbon into a bowl and sprinkle the gelatin over it. Let stand for 4-5 minutes until the gelatin has softened and dissolved.
2. In a saucepan, heat the cream on medium until it begins to simmer. Add the sugar, vanilla extract, and nutmeg and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved.
3. Pour the cream mixture into the bowl and gentle mix into the bourbon and gelatin until fully incorporated. Divide the mixture into serving vessels and refrigerate for at least four hours to give the panna cotta time to set up.
4. In a saucepan, heat the 1/2 cup of heavy cream to a simmer. Add the brown sugar, salt and butter and continue simmering until dissolved. Add in half the chocolate and continue stirring until melted and mixed in. Repeat with the second half of the chocolate and remove the pan from the heat.
5. To serve, fill a pot or casserole dish with hot water and set the panna cotta vessels inside so that the tops are just above the water line. After about 1 minute, remove the vessels from the water and run a knife along the outside edge. Gently flip the vessel onto a plate, giving it a light pat if the panna cotta doesn’t come free immediately. Drizzle with hot fudge sauce and serve.

Bourbon, Nutella and Chocolate Mousse

I am, probably unsurprisingly, a big proponent of challenging myself in the culinary field. I love trying to make things I never have before or test new (sometime ridiculous-sounding) ideas in the kitchen.

Needless to say, when someone else challenges me, there’s no way I can turn it down.

This particular dish came about after a friend challenged to make a delicious, classy desert out of Nutella. While Nutella makes for a delicious addition to many sweet treats, rarely does it make an appearance in more upscale dishes. Challenge accepted.

The resulting Bourbon, Nutella and Chocolate Mousse was an outright win. The sometimes-overwhelming flavor of nutella is balanced by the chocolate, resulting in a sweet fusion of flavors that make up the base of the dish. After the initial taste, the bourbon comes to the forefront with sharp, oaken notes that form the perfect compliment. And of course, all of this comes in luscious mousse form with light and fluffy texture.

Overall, this is a decadent take on a classic desert that would be perfectly at home on the menu of a swanky restaurant. If you’re looking to show off a little – and willing to put in some work, whisking egg whites and cream isn’t easy – this dish will definitely do the trick!

p.s. when making this dish it is important to be mindful of the golden rule for any kind of cooking with alcohol: some for the recipe, some for you! (Since you have bourbon already, I might recommend the Southern Storm Cloud)

Bourbon, Nutella and Chocolate Mousse

• 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup nutella
• 6 eggs, separated into whites and yolks (how-to can be found here)
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• Chopped almonds or walnuts, to garnish (optional)

1. Set up a double boiler by placing a stainless steel bowl over a pot with 1 inch of water in it. Make sure the bowl does not touch the water. Bring to a simmer at medium-low heat and place the chocolate chips inside to melt. Watch them carefully and stir them regularly to ensure they don’t burn. Once they have melted, remove them from heat and add the nutella, mixing evenly.
2. While waiting for the chips to melt, place the egg whites and sugar unto a bowl together. Whisk vigorously until the eggs double in volume and reach soft peaks.
3. In another bowl whisk the heavy cream until it thickens and doubles in volume. Add the egg yolks to this bowl and fold them into the heavy cream. (It is important to be gentle during this process and fold rather than stir the mixture by scooping under to the bottom of the bowl and moving the contents to the side, up, then back over. Simply stirring it will result in the mousse losing its characteristic fluffiness.)
4. Add the whipped egg whites, chocolate-nutella mixture and bourbon to the heavy cream mixture and fold until evenly distributed.
5. Empty the mousse into a vessel of your choosing (Martini glasses are always a good choice) and allow to chill for at least three hours, preferably overnight)

Southern Storm Cloud

It’s about time this blog had a cocktail on it!

This recipe is a play on one of my favorite mixed drinks – the Dark and Stormy – which combines the exceedingly complimentary flavors of ginger beer and dark rum. For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of trying ginger beer before, it’s easy to imagine – ginger ale with far, far more ginger!  Both ingredients are spiced and sugary, creating a zesty tempest of a cocktail.

The Southern Storm Cloud substitutes bourbon for the dark rum, giving it a stiffer, more woodsy flavor and providing a delicious contrast to the sweetness and spice of the ginger beer rather than doubling down on it. There are notes of sweetness, but nothing that will leave you with a headache the next morning.  It packs a punch but isn’t too heavy or complex.

All in all, this is a crisp, unique cocktail that’s perfect for starting a happy hour right on your own front porch!

Southern Storm Cloud

• 1 part bourbon
• 2 parts ginger beer (I recommend an extra ginger brew)
• 1 dash of lime juice