This month’s cocktail has a bit of an identity crisis as it could be classified as both a drink and a dessert. Regardless of how you categorize it, it’s a great way to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Guinness is a traditional Irish stout beer with a deep dark color. The caramelized flavor comes from its main ingredient – barley– being roasted, not malted. This also gives it a bit of a coffee flavor. We prefer Guinness in the pint sized cans with a widget or ball in the can to help preserve the head when pouring. I love it when they have the historic advertising designs on the cans.
Did you know that there’s only about 160 calories in a pint of original Guinness? This is deceiving as I’ve always found it to be a filling beer and is often referred to a “meal in a cup.” My taste for Guinness has developed over time – sadly I wasn’t much of a fan when I had one in Ireland on our honeymoon many years ago. I could barely finish it as I thought it was too heavy. Don’t worry – Ed helped me out. Over the years, I’ve learned to enjoy it.
Think of this as a more complex root beer float. In this case, adding a scoop of ice cream or gelato to Guinness makes an already creamy beer even more so. Topping it off with a drizzle of homemade Irish whiskey caramel pushes it over the top. This sauce is easy to prepare and makes the drink a bit more Irish. You’ll have plenty of sauce remaining which you can serve drizzled over your favorite ice cream or cake. It also freezes well so you can save some for a future dessert. I also added a dash of Scrappy’s chocolate bitters on top.
I hope there’s a pint of Guinness in your future and even better if it has some ice cream in it. If you don’t have time to make the sauce, I think you’ll still be pleased with Guinness and ice cream.
Gluten-Free/Wheat-Free Note: Guinness is wheat-free but not gluten-free as it’s made from barley. While the ingredients used to make whiskey contain gluten many believe that the distillation process removes the gluten. As a result, some with gluten sensitivities are okay with whiskey while others are not. If you have a high sensitivity, it’s worth testing or avoiding it all together.
| Guinness Ice Cream Float with Irish Whiskey Caramel | Print |
- 1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup water
- 1-1/4 cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla
- 4 tablespoons Irish whiskey
- 4 scoops vanilla ice cream or gelato
- 2 16 ounce cans of Guinness Stout
- 2 to 4 teaspoons Irish whiskey caramel sauce
- Optional: 2 dashes of chocolate bitters
- In 1-quart pan over medium-high heat, cook sugar and water until bubbles form and mixture is simmering. Do no stir. Occasionally lift saucepan from heat and gently swirl mixture while sugar is heating. After doing so wipe down the sides with a pastry brush and some water (this prevents crystals from forming on the side of the pan).
- In about 10 minutes, sugar will start to caramelize. Simmer until mixture is a rich, dark amber color watching it carefully as it can burn very easily. The whole process takes about 12 minutes.
- Remove from heat and slowly stir in heavy cream with whisk until mixture is blended and smooth. Be careful not to let mixture boil over.
- Pour sauce into heat proof bowl. Stir in vanilla and Irish whiskey. Refrigerate until ready to serve – sauce will thicken as it cools. Sauce will keep about 1 month in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. Makes about 2 cups of sauce.
- Place pint sized glasses in the freezer for about a half hour.
- Remove glasses from freezer and add two scoops of ice cream or gelato to each glass.
- Carefully pour Guinness into each glass. If you have extra, serve alongside the floats.
- Drizzle each float with 1 to 2 teaspoons of Irish whiskey caramel sauce and a few dashes of chocolate bitters (optional).
- Serve each glass with a spoon and a straw (preferably reusable).
Your great grandfather would be very happy.🍻
Dad – That is lovely to hear!