The key to this ice cream is the swirl. Make sure the ice cream sets up completely before swirling in the molasses; add the molasses too soon and it will essentially melt into the base, yielding more of a coffee flavor. The coffee concoction tastes good, but in order to pull off a good swirl, you will need to create two distinct flavors. Also avoid the urge to use any more than 1 1/2 tablespoon of bourbon per quart of base, as alcohol prevents the base from freezing thoroughly (unless you’re in a professional kitchen and can get your hand on stabilizers). While boiling some spirits to remove most of their alcohol may work in some applications, it’s a no-go with bourbon, which when cooked down just tastes like cardboard.
1 quart vanilla ice cream custard (creme Anglaise) base
1 1/2 Tablespoons bourbon
molasses
Prepare vanilla ice cream base according to your favorite recipe. Once the mixture has reached the desired consistency (nape), remove from heat and stir in bourbon. Cool slowly over an ice bath. Refrigerate for at least one day. Churn ice cream base in an ice cream machine, following the manufacturer’s directions. Freeze ice cream until firm. Using a light hand, carefully fold in drizzles of molasses, making sure not to over mix. Freeze until firm. Serve with pecan and bacon lace cookies.
[...] was, admittedly, popular a few years ago. Although these taste great and are a smart pair with my bourbon-molasses ice cream, I was concerned that most people would find them derivative or more akin to some spectacular state [...]