Elixir Bonbon Floats

By DreiFromBK

Chef Courtney McBroom makes a fantastic version of homemade root beer for these playful ice-cream floats.

Ingredients

• Elixir
• 2 cups water
• 1 3/4 cups sugar
• Three 2-inch pieces of orange peel
• One 1-inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced
• 1 tablespoon sassafras (see Note)
• 1 tablespoon sarsaparilla (see Note)
• 1/2 cinnamon stick (1 1/2 inches)
• 1 star anise
• 5 cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups cold sparkling water
• bonbons
• 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70%), finely chopped
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1 pint vanilla ice cream

Details

Adapted from foodandwine.com

Preparation

Step 1

Make the elixir In a saucepan, combine everything except the vanilla and sparkling water and bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let cool for 1 hour. Strain through a fine sieve and stir in the vanilla, then refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour.

Make the bonbons In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate with the coconut 
oil on high power in 30-second bursts until nearly melted. Stir until melted and smooth. Let cool completely. 

Using a 1-tablespoon scoop, scoop 30 ice cream balls onto wax-paper-lined plates and freeze until firm, 20 minutes. Using 
2 spoons, dip 1 ice cream ball at a time in the cooled chocolate mixture and return to the plate. Freeze the bonbons until very firm. 

For each drink, pour 1/4 cup of the elixir into a chilled glass. Add 3 bonbons, top with 1/4 cup of sparkling water and serve.