It is no accident that you’ll find plenty of dessert and biscuit recipes made with a combination of bourbon and chocolate. Many of the tasting notes of bourbon make for an ideal complement to serve with sweets. It is only fitting that we invite some of those whispers of vanilla, caramel, cocoa, fruit, and spice found in your favorite drams to your next bowl of ice cream. Though it sounds complicated, a deliciously tempting bourbon reduction is simple to make.
Reducing bourbon means cooking it slowly over heat. This process also removes the alcohol content in your bourbon of choice, making your bourbon-flavored treat suitable for the teetotaling adults in your home who also have a sweet tooth. Use a double boiler to up the chances that you won’t burn the bourbon. Add sugar to the mixture and stir continuously to build a sweet syrup that can be drizzled over bowls of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, used to top batches of ultimate fudgy brownies, and crown slices of cake.
A sweet treat for mature palates
Use dark brown sugar to invite a subtle taste of molasses to your sweet bourbon creation, or consider sprucing up your bourbon reduction with added ingredients like butterscotch syrup, maple extract, or vanilla. The longer you cook and reduce the bourbon, the stronger of an ingredient you’ll have to use. When the bourbon is about a third of its original volume, the syrupy concoction can be used to top ice cream.
Not only can your sweet bourbon syrup be used to adorn bowls of vanilla ice cream and pints of caramel gelato, but this tasty bourbon reduction can also be used to top morning stacks of pancakes and waffles or be stirred into your next batch of cookies. Should you want to stir the sweet bourbon syrup into your next beverage, like a smooth old fashioned cocktail or your morning cup of Joe, we certainly wouldn’t judge. With bourbon syrup at the ready, the recipes coming out of your kitchen are in for a serious upgrade.
