Bobby Flay's Bar Americain Cookbook - Bobby Flay [68]
½ vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¾ pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1½ cups superfine sugar
1. To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour two 9-inch round cake pans and line the bottom of each pan with parchment paper.
2. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.
3. Beat the butter, sugar, and oil in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl, and beat until incorporated. Beat in the vanilla, vinegar, and food coloring.
4. Add the flour mixture to the batter in 3 batches, alternating with the buttermilk and mixing well after each addition. Divide the batter evenly between the prepared pans and bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes before removing the cakes from the pans. Let cool completely on the rack before frosting.
5. To make the frosting, combine the cream, milk, and vanilla bean and seeds in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Remove the vanilla bean and discard. Add the flour and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened to a paste, about 2 minutes. Scrape into a bowl, cover, and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours.
6. Combine the butter and sugar in a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat until the mixture is very fluffy and the sugar is totally dissolved, about 6 minutes. Add the cold paste, a few tablespoons at a time, to the butter mixture and whip until light and fluffy.
7. Slice each cake layer in half horizontally. Place one cake layer on a cake round and spread about one-fifth of the frosting evenly over the top. Repeat to make 3 layers and top with the remaining cake layer, top side up. Use the remaining frosting to frost the top and sides of the cake. The cake will keep for up to 8 hours at cool room temperature.
8. To serve, slice the cake into pieces.
Bourbon Praline Profiteroles
BOURBON PRALINE PROFITEROLES
BUTTERMILK ICE CREAM
OK, in my wildest dreams I couldn’t come up with a more perfect dessert for myself. Bourbon, ice cream, buttermilk, pecans, and light, buttery-crispy profiteroles; it doesn’t get any better for me (except for maybe the Blueberry Lemon Crêpes, oh, and the Blackberry Soufflé). For some reason my sweet tooth always leans toward anything southern, and anything with bourbon in it is all right by me.
Makes 8 profiteroles with 1 quart ice cream; serves 4 or 8
Buttermilk Praline Ice Cream
1½ cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
8 large egg yolks
½ cup sugar
1½ cups buttermilk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup coarsely chopped store-bought pralines, plus more for garnish
Profiteroles
Nonstick cooking spray
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter
3 tablespoons sugar
¼ teaspoon fine salt
¾ cup all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
¼ cup whole milk
Bourbon Toffee Sauce
1. To make the ice cream, prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice and water and nestling a medium bowl in the ice.
2. Bring the cream and vanilla bean and seeds to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
3. Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until the mixture is pale and thick. Slowly whisk the warm cream into the yolk mixture. Remove the vanilla bean, return the entire mixture to the saucepan, and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture coats the back of the spoon, about 3 minutes. Strain the mixture into the bowl set inside the ice bath, add the buttermilk and vanilla, and stir until it is very cold, about 5 minutes.
4. Transfer the chilled mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Scrape the ice cream into a large bowl and fold in the pralines. Cover tightly and store in the freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.
5. To make the profiteroles, position a rack in the upper