Vanilla bourbon peach sundaesStephanie Eddy/The Globe and Mail
Back away from the maraschino cherries and step up your sundae-making game with this fun flavour combo. You can't go wrong with ripe peach slices, homemade vanilla-bourbon ice cream and buttery oat cookie crumble – basically summer in a bowl.
Servings: 7 sundaes
Ready Time: 12 hours (includes ice cream chilling time)
Vanilla bourbon ice cream
1/4 cup bourbon
1 cup whole milk
2 cups whipping cream
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 egg
4 egg yolks
Oat cookie crumble
1 cup flour
1/2 cup instant oats
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
4 ripe peaches, sliced
Method
In a medium pot, heat the bourbon over medium heat, swirling occasionally until it comes to a gentle simmer. Simmer for one minute, then pour into a bowl and set aside to cool.
In the same pot, combine milk and cream and place over medium-low heat until steaming but not boiling.
In a separate bowl, thoroughly whisk together sugar, salt, egg and egg yolks until thick and creamy.
Once the milk-cream mixture is steaming, carefully pour into the egg mixture in a thin stream while whisking constantly. Scrape the custard back into the pot and place on medium-low heat. Stir continuously, scraping along the bottom of the pot, until thick enough to coat the back of the spoon (approximately 8 to 10 minutes).
Pour the custard into a bowl and stir in the cooled bourbon. Place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Chill thoroughly in the fridge for 5 hours or overnight.
Once the custard has chilled, churn it according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. The ice cream will still be quite soft, so to firm it up scrape it into a container, cover it and place it in the freezer for 4 to 5 hours. It will last in an airtight container in the freezer for more than a week.
While the ice cream is firming up, make the oat cookie crumble.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, sugars, salt and cinnamon. Use a pastry cutter or two knives to cut the chilled butter into the flour mixture until the butter is roughly the size of peas.
Evenly spread the dough on a baking sheet. Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until it has spread out in the pan and turned a light golden brown on top. The dough will meld together in the oven and will be very soft while hot. Allow the tray to cool on a wire rack until the cookie crumble is firm, then use a spatula to break it up into chunks.
Assemble the sundaes by dividing the peaches into serving bowls and top with the ice cream and cookie crumble. Serve immediately.