I’m a big fan of breakfast. Breakfast for dinner? Even better. But as quick breads and cinnamon rolls have shown us, breakfast desserts are the very best. (Dessert for breakfast is pretty great, too.)
Pastry chef/magician Dana Cree has ushered in a new era, a breakfast dessert to top all breakfast desserts: Donut Ice Cream.
Her first book, Hello, My Name Is Ice Cream, is crammed with creative ice cream flavors and the science behind them, including this double-dessert fusion you’ll want to eat all summer.
“Baked goods do something particular when boiled with milk: they dissolve and become stretchy and elastic,” writes Cree. “Throw the mixture into the blender, and this strange concoction becomes velvety and thick, like pudding.”
Cree first tasted a brioche-infused pudding at famed Alinea, then experimented with every bakery treat under the sun. She found glazed donuts—whether homemade or from your grocery store’s bakery—break down from chewy circles to a rich pudding perfect for ice cream.
Simply boil cream, milk, sugar, and glucose in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking occasionally until it reaches a full rolling boil. Add the donut, breaking it up with the whisk, and simmer for two minutes over reduced heat. After blending vanilla and salt, chill and churn as you would with any other ice cream.
Rest assured, if you aren’t a donut fan (???), Cree writes that you can add any breakfast cake, pastry, bread (or cookie!) your heart desires.
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