BOURBON CARAMEL SEMIFREDDO W/ CANDIED SALTED PECANS

By tulawdog

Ingredients

• BOURBON CANDIED SALTED PECANS
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• 50 g frosting (powdered) Sugar
• 1 tbsp bourbon
• 75 g pecans, chopped roughly
• BOURBON CARAMEL SEMIFREDDO
• 4 large eggs, separated
• 500 ml heavy whipping cream
• 150 g sugar, divided (100g, 25g, 25g)
• BOURBON CARAMEL
• 100 g sugar
• 2 tbsp bourbon
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp heavy cream

Preparation

Step 1

BOURBON CANDIED SALTED PECANS
Preheat your oven to 400°F. Prepare a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper or silpat and set aside. In a small bowl combine the salt, sugar, and bourbon. Mix until the constancy of a batter. If you need to, add more bourbon to thin it out by adding 1/4 tsp at a time. You don’t want this mixture to be too thick or too thin. Once the mixture is the right consistency, add in your pecans and toss until all the pecans are coated in the sugar mixture. Spread in an even layer on the silpat. Do not spread to the edge, rather keep it centered the caramel will spread out as it bakes. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the bubbles have slowed down bursting and are a nice deep caramel color. Remove and let cool completely.
Once completely cool, break into large shards and transfer to a large zip-lock bag removing most of the air. With a mallet or rolling pin, smash it to break up the shards into small pieces. Once the pieces are a size that you like, place the bag of smashed bits into the refrigerator until ready to use.
BOURBON CARAMEL SEMIFREDDO
Prepare a large loaf pan by lining it with a double layer of cling film. Divide the eggs by putting the yolks into a large bowl fitted for your stand mixer, seperating the egg whites into a medium-sized (3 quart) bowl. Put the heavy cream into another medium-size bowl (3 quart) and place in the refrigerator to completely chill.
Add 100g of sugar to the egg yolks and, on medium speed whisk in your stand mixer until tripled in volume. While the yolks are whisking, begin to make the caramel.
BOURBON CARAMEL
Combine sugar, bourbon and butter in a 2 quart sauce pan over medium high heat. Whisk it until it all the sugar is wet and it begins to bubble. Keep a close eye on it while it cooks at this point. Once it turns a lovely deep golden bronze color remove from heat, and whisk in the heavy cream. It will bubble up high once you add in the cream and this is why you want a bigger pan. Keep whisking until the mixture has calmed down and is bubbling and looking more like a caramel. At this point it is ready to add to the egg yolks. With your mixer still on medium speed slowly trickle the caramel into the whisked yolks. Once all the caramel has been poured in scrape down the sides of the bowl and turn the mixer back on to medium-high speed and let it whisk until cool and thick. While the yolk mixture is whisking to cool down move on to your egg whites and heavy cream.
With a hand mixer (or by hand) whisk up the egg whites until foamy. While whisking gradually add in 25g of sugar. Continue whisking until you form stiff peaks, set aside.
Remove the bowl of heavy cream from the refrigerator and with clean beaters of your hand mixer – or a new clean whisk if doing by hand – whisk until thick and begin to gently add in 25g of sugar. Once the sugar is incorporated into the cream whisk until stiff peaks form. Be VERY careful, heavy cream can go from stiff peaks to sweet butter in a second if you are not careful.
By now your egg yolk caramel mixture should be fairly thick and cool. Stir in 1/3 of the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk caramel mixture to lighten it. You don’t have to be too gentle to fold in the first bit. Then fold in half of the remaining whites gently until incorporated. Fold in the remaining whipped whites until completely incorporated.
Into the mixture gently fold in 1/3 of the whipped heavy cream, once incorporated fold in half of the remaining whipped heavy cream. After the second portion of whipped cream has been incorporated, remove the bag of crushed candied pecans and sprinkle into the mixture and add the remaining whipped heavy cream on top of the candied pecans. Begin to gently fold in the cream and candied pecans until completely incorporated. One it is completely incorporated pour into the prepared loaf pan, and freeze 8 hours or overnight.