The simple things in life are best, or so they say. But for someone who enjoys tinkering in the kitchen, I have a hard time with simple. Take the new release of the Coffee Infused Maple Syrup. The first thing we tried it on was plain vanilla ice cream; it blew everyone’s lids off. There was a repeated refrain for everyone who came near the testing kitchen, “you gotta try this,” followed by ummms and ahhs and then someone having to go out to get more vanilla ice cream.
I too, am delighted by the combo but couldn’t help but ask, ‘what if we added…’. This led to more experimentation and the answer is: if you added hazelnut praline, you would have an over-the-top delicious dessert. For all the tinkerers who can’t leave well enough alone, this one is for you.
Vanilla ice cream (we are partial to Ben and Jerry’s)
Runamok Coffee Infused Maple Syrup
Hazelnut Praline:
- 1 cup hazelnuts
- 1 ½ cup white sugar
- ⅓ cup butter
- ¾ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup milk
- 1 tsp vanilla
Preheat the oven to 375. Line a 8” x 12” cookie sheet with parchment paper. Put the hazelnuts on a seperate tray and put in the oven until the skins begin to crack, about 8 minutes. Remove from the oven and put the hazelnuts in a kitchen towel. Fold up the towel and rub the hazelnuts together, using friction to remove the skins. Open the towel, take the hazelnuts out, leaving the skins behind and chop roughly on a cutting board. Set aside.
In a medium sized pot, put in the white sugar, butter, brown sugar and milk. Bring to a boil and cook on medium heat until the temperature reaches 240. Remove from the heat and add the chopped hazelnuts and vanilla and combine. Pour the praline on to the parchment lined tray and distribute evenly with a knife. Let cool. You will have much more than you need for a few sundaes.
When ready to serve, dig 1 – 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream into a bowl or cup, pour on Coffee Infused Maple Syrup and top with crumbled hazelnut praline.
