I love Mad Men. I love how everyone on the show smokes and actually makes it look glamourous. I love the beautiful attention to detail with the set and wardrobe. And probably most of all, I love how everyone on the set drinks heavily, yet would never be condsidered an alcoholic. If Don Draper had a favorite dessert-because he is not exactly the dessert type-it would be a Brandy Ice. This recipe is dedicated to all of you who aren’t afraid of a good, stiff drink added to your dessert.
Brandy Ice
serves 8
My husband’s family owned a restaurant for fifty two wonderful years until they closed it down -by their own free will and ready to retire- in 2000. Brandy ice was their most requested dessert that they served. This recipe is simple, fast and elegant. The key to success in this dessert is the stainless steel bowl in which you mix your ingredients. The steel bowl keeps the ice cream cold and prevents it from turnning soupy.
I plan to serve this for our Christmas Eve dessert this year because you can also make it ahead of time and just pop it into the freezer until you need it. Warning-it tastes best made fresh, but when you need to save time it still works well.
Ingredients:
1/2 carton good vanilla ice cream like Homer’s (a local favorite among the North Shore crowd).
I used E&J VSOP brandy. Add as much or as little brandy as you like. Sorry, no exact measurements here. It is really up to you, but you would be surprised at how much you can get away with and it won’t overpower your dessert.
Directions:
Scoop the ice cream into a stainless steel bowl of a standing mixer or you can mix it by hand in steel bowl. Add brandy and turn mixer on high for less than a minute until mixture is smooth and creamy. Spoon into bowls and enjoy.
You could garnish it with a small peppermint stick or sprig of mint and a little more brandy on top if you like.
Cheers.
P.S. Thank you AMC for your beautiful images and for airing a brilliant show.
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