Thursday, March 29, 2018

Bourbon Cherry Cobbler with Smoked Ice Cream

This recipe is based on the worst recipe from my book, The Kamado Smoker and Grill Cookbook

Dessert recipe bourbon cherry cobbler with smoked ice cream


Actually, the real recipe is delicious, a sinful way to have cobbler for breakfast.  But I decided to upsize the recipe from a small skillet to a Dutch oven and somewhere in the writing process, the milk and flour did not get doubled while everything else did.  Ugh! 

That recipe was more for breakfast, a sort of cross between cobbler and cheese Danish.  This one is a dessert – sweet with sultry notes of smoke and bourbon mixed in.

Dutch oven dessert recipe cooked on a grill

Bourbon Cherry Cobbler with Smoked Ice Cream

Ingredients

  • Premium vanilla ice cream

For the filling

  • 3 cups cherry pie filling (about 1.5 cans)
  • 1 cup premium cherries, drained
  • 1 ounce bourbon

For the Crust

  • 1 ½ cups white sugar
  • 2/3 cup self-rising flour
  • 2/3 cup whole milk
  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Equipment needed

  • Parchment paper, optional but highly recommended
  • Grill safe 8-quart Dutch oven
  • Smoking gun


Instructions

  1. Set up your kamado grill (or another grill) for indirect heat and preheat to 350°f.
  2. Cut the parchment paper into a circle so that it comes about 2” up the side of the Dutch oven.  An easy way to do this is to fold the parchment paper in half widthwise, then lengthwise, so it’s roughly a square.  Hold the folded corner and then cut an arc from one corner to the opposite corner. Voila! Instant circle.
  3. Mix together the filling ingredients and pour into the parchment paper lined Dutch oven.
  4. Mix together the crust ingredients until well combined and then drizzle over the top of the pie filling mix.
  5. Place the Dutch oven, uncovered, in the kamado grill.  Shut the lid and let it cook for 30 minutes. 
  6. Rotate the Dutch oven 180°f from its the first orientation.  Allow the casserole to cook until golden brown on top, 15 to 30 more minutes.
  7. When ready to serve, place individual servings of ice cream on plates, cover the plates and apply 10 seconds of Applewood smoke by using a smoke gun.
  8. Serve with ice cream and warm cobbler.  Feel free to add in some whipped cream or sprinkle with powdered sugar if you like, but it is sweet enough for me.



Notes/Substitutions


The parchment paper is to prevent sticking and easier cleanup.

The original recipe just used two cans of pie filling but I found that using high-quality cocktail cherries takes this cobbler to another level.  Here I show Toschi Amarena black and Fabbri Amarena Cherries.  Luxardo is another good cocktail cherry that would work in this recipe.  They are sweet, but not as cloyingly sweet as a pie filling, so they give a little flavor contrast.

Crust poured on top of the filling.

Cook until the crust turns golden brown.  The crust will be stiff and almost like creme brulee, which makes sense with all of the sugar in the crust.

This is Polyscience "The Smoking Gun".  My brother bought it for me several years ago for Christmas.  These give a kiss of smoke flavor, they don't actually smoke the food as in preserving or cooking it.  You place wood chips in the hole on top, turn on the fan and light the wood.  The fan pushes the smoke out of the end of the tube.  These are fun for projects like this and smoked cocktails.
Another way to smoke ice cream is to make your custard first and then before chilling it, set it in a cold smoking grill.  Then use that smoked cream in a churn to make ice cream.

The powerfully sweet cherry filling is tempered by bourbon and the subtle smoke on the ice cream.  This is a solid flavor match.