Sugar High Fridays::Spiced Molasses Cookie with Molasses Ice Cream and Basil Hayden Treacle Caramel Sauce

   Whew.  That was a long title.  Well, this is my first Food Blog event, and I was happy to have an ingredient that is near and dear to my heart.  Here is my contribution to Sugar High Friday, an uber-molassesy treat with a nice little bourbon kick at the end (shouldn't everything, really?).  The cookies are nice on their own and were very well received by my coworkers - although everyone thought they were chocolate and then had a bit of a surprise when they tasted them.  They are nice and spicy and filled with a deep molasses flavor, thanks to the use of blackstrap molasses and dark brown sugar.  I found the recipe at Cookie Recipes Online, and you can find it there, too, by clicking here.  The only thing I added was 1 tsp of vanilla and 1/4 tsp cardamom, which I think belongs anywhere the cinnamon/nutmeg combo is used, but is rarely included in recipes.   

For the ice cream, I used Nigella Lawson's method of whipping heavy cream with flavorings and powdered sugar, and then freezing.  You can see my recipe in the the extended version of the post.

My caramel sauce was inspired by the filling for the Caramel Melting Moments in Donna Hay's Entertaining Cookbook. 

The cookies in the recipe are always delicious but I have never been able to get the filling to firm up enough to spread without turning into toffee, so I just adapted it into a caramel sauce recipe.  I use the same ingredients, but in different proportions and with the addition of bourbon. 

This dessert would be great in the wintertime, after a nice ham or something.  The ice cream melts really fast, so I recommend keeping it in the freezer until the last possible moment.  Serve with a few sliced strawberries to cut through the richness.

Recipes follow:

Molasses Ice Cream:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/2 cup powdered sugar

1/4 cup blackstrap molasses

1 tsp. vanilla

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer and beat on high speed, with the whisk attachment, until mixture has quadrupled in volume and is firm.  Do not overwhip or you will have butter!  Place in an airtight container and freeze for at least 10 hours.

Basil Hayden's Bourbon Treacle Caramel Sauce

1/3 stick butter

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup treacle or golden syrup

splash heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2

1 1/2 ounces Basil Hayden's bourbon or other fine bourbon

Bring first 4 ingredients to a simmer in a heavy saucepan over medium heat; cook for about 4 minutes and remove from heat.  Stir in bourbon.  Pour over anything.  Even bacon.