Maple Syrup Ice Cream on Sable Rafts
Submitted by Herbal-Bunny
Homemade maple syrup ice cream served in crisp sablé pastry barquettes with a maple custard sauce. A French-style plated dessert made from real vanilla beans and pure maple syrup.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
1 hrsCOOK
1 hrsREADY
11 hrsThis is a showstopper dessert with three components that come together into something genuinely impressive. Homemade maple syrup ice cream, buttery sablé pastry shells shaped like little boats (barquettes), and a maple custard sauce for the plate. It takes time and planning, but every element can be made ahead.
The ice cream starts by cooking pure maple syrup with split vanilla beans to concentrate its flavor. That syrup gets tempered into a custard base made from 16 egg yolks and milk, then churned and frozen. Setting aside 1½ cups of the custard before churning gives you a ready-made sauce. Smart technique: one batch, two uses.
The sablé rafts are a classic French cookie dough: butter, sugar, egg yolk, cream, and flour. It’s rich and crumbly, pressed into oval barquette molds and blind-baked with weights until golden and crisp. The shells need to be sturdy enough to hold a scoop of ice cream without going soft, which is why you bake them twice: first with weights, then without to crisp the bottom.
Chef Tips
- Use a candy thermometer for the syrup stages. The maple needs to reach exactly 220°F (104°C) and the finishing syrup to 215°F (102°C). Guessing leads to either too-thin or burnt syrup.
- Temper the egg yolks carefully. Add the hot milk in a thin stream while whisking constantly. Dumping it in scrambles the yolks instantly.
- The custard is done when it coats the back of a spoon and holds a clear line when you draw your finger through it.
- Freeze the ice cream 4-6 hours before serving to let the flavors mellow. Straight from the machine, it’s too soft and the maple is harsh.
Variations
- Simplified version: Skip the barquettes and serve the maple ice cream in bowls with the custard sauce and a drizzle of the reduced syrup.
- Brown butter sablés: Brown the butter before creaming for a nuttier, more complex cookie shell.
Ingredients
Directions
ICE CREAM:
Combine 1½ cups maple syrup with vanilla beans in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat and cook until candy thermometer registers 220 degrees F.
Let mixture cool 15 minutes.
Heat milk in saucepan. Whisk yolks to blend in bowl. Whisk in milk in thin stream.
Whisk into maple syrup mixture.
Set over low heat and stir with wooden spoon until syrup is thick enough to leave path when finger is drawn across spoon. Strain into bowl and cool.
Set aside 1½ cups custard for sauce.
Transfer remaining custard to ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Freeze in container four to six hours to mellow. (Can be prepared one day ahead. If frozen solid, let soften 30 minutes in refrigerator.)
Boil remaining 1 cup syrup to 215F. Add butter. Cool to room temperature.
SABLE RAFTS:
Cream butter and sugar in bowl.
Beat in yolk and cream. Stir in flour.
Shape dough into ball.
Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least two hours. (Can be prepared up to two weeks ahead and frozen. Let stand in refrigerator overnight before continuing.)
Butter eighteen 3½ x 2-inch barquettes (oval molds).
Roll dough out on lightly floured surface to thickness of ⅛ inch.
Roll up on rolling pin and unroll over barquettes. Gently press into molds.
Run rolling pin over dough to trim edges. Refrigerate until firm.
Preheat oven to 350℉ (180℃). Line dough with parchment or foil; fill with pie weights or dried beans.
Bake until golden brown around edges, about 20 minutes. Remove paper and weights.
Bake until bottom is crisp, several minutes. Cool slightly in molds.
Unmold and cool completely on rack.
Spoon some of reserved custard onto each plate. Fill rafts with ice cream.
Arrange three rafts on each plate. Drop ½ teaspoon syrup in three places on each plate. Draw knife through to swirl.
Drizzle remaining syrup over ice cream.
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