We Should Cocoa Meets Masterchef Australia (Who do I think I'm kidding!!) ~ The Caramel Challenge

I have a small admission to make.  When I set this month's We Should Cocoa challenge I had an ulterior motive.  Shameful, I know!  I wanted to make Chocolate Caramel Pots from a great book that I have been drooling over for a bout a year now, called Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey: Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth.  I had it all planned, I was just waiting for the right weekend to come along so I could make them.

Then one night (OK - I watch it every night ... except Saturday night but even then that's only because it isn't on TV on a Saturday night!!!) I sat down to watch Masterchef Australia, it was the Friday night when Gary and George do the master class with the contestants.  That week their mystery box challenge had been to recreate their own version of a Chiko Roll (this used to be a real treat when we were allowed Fish and Chips for dinner!)  The Chiko Roll had been chosen as the challenge over and above the classic Aussie ice cream a Golden Gaytime, think vanilla and caramel ice cream with chocolate and honeycomb (can't rightly remember if their are peanuts or not)!  I've forgotten what the third option was ... obviously not an Australian icon that is too close to my heart ;0)

As Hubby and I watched, we became more and more absorbed by the TV screen, Hubby looked at me with an expression similar to a puppy dog and I knew I was going to have to rethink my contribution to this months challenge!  I've included the recipe below as it appeared on the show, I didn't do all of the elements as its just the two of us and we are trying to not end up like the side of a house!

Gary's 9and Chele's!!!!) Masterclass Homage to Golden Gaytime
Bitter Chocolate Ganache (I wish I had only made a half batch of this!)
500g double thick cream
50g glucose
450g dark bitter chocolate
175g unsalted butter, chopped
Caramel and Peanut Ice Cream
150g caster sugar
1/2 cup peanuts
300ml thickened cream
300ml milk
6 egg yolks
100g peanut butter
Honeycomb (I only made a half batch of the Honeycomb)
365g caster sugar
140g glucose
110ml water
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
300g white chocolate, chopped or couverture buds
2 cups salted roasted peanuts, lightly crushed
Micro parsley, to garnish

To make the bitter chocolate ganache, place the cream and glucose in a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to the boil.

In a large heatproof bowl, place chocolate, butter and 2g salt. Pour the hot cream over the chocolate and stir well with a spatula until melted and combined. Don't use a whisk as it will create unwanted air bubbles. Cover with cling wrap and place in the fridge to chill. Transfer the ganache to a piping bag.

To make the caramel and peanut ice cream, place a saucepan over high heat and let the pan get hot. Have a bowl of ice ready. Sprinkle 50g sugar evenly over the base of the pan until it starts to melt and brown at the edges. Add the peanuts and a pinch of salt and stir briefly until the caramel is red-brown and aromatic. Immediately place the base of the pan into the ice to halt the cooking process for a few seconds. Return the pan to the heat, add cream and milk to the pan of peanut toffee and stir well to combine, dissolving the caramel into the milk.

Whisk egg yolks with remaining caster sugar until combined. Whisk half of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks, then return to the hot pan with the rest of the liquid. Whisk over the heat until the mixture reaches 75-80C - you want to cook the eggs and thicken the custard, until the foam dissipates and the mixture coats the back of the spoon. Whisk over ice until mixture cools.

Stir in peanut butter, then keep whisking over ice until the mixture is cold.

Place in ice cream machine (you may need to do this in 2 batches) and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions until set.  (I don't have an ice cream machine so instead I poured mine into a large plastic container and popped it in the freezer, I took it out ever two hours or so and gave it a good mix in the kitchen aid to break up the ice crystals before putting back int he freezer.  I did this three times before leaving it to set over night which produced a lovely creamy and silky ice cream).

To make the honeycomb, place sugar in a saucepan with glucose (use damp fingers to scoop it into the pan) and the water, then place the pan over high heat until the sugar dissolves. Brush down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent sugar crystals forming. Swirl pan to dissolve sugar. Once sugar has dissolved, wait for the bubbles to slow down and for the mixture to take on a faint golden tinge.

Line a large bowl with baking paper and have a whisk ready. Add the bicarb and quickly whisk vigorously, then immediately pour into the lined bowl. Set aside to set for 45 minutes.

Bring a small saucepan with 3-4cm of water to the boil, then reduce heat to low and place a heatproof bowl over the saucepan (don't let the bowl touch the water). Place chocolate in the bowl and allow to melt gently until smooth.

Remove the honeycomb from the bowl, peel off the baking paper, then break honeycomb into large chunks. With a pastry brush, liberally brush honeycomb chunks with melted chocolate, then sprinkle immediately with peanuts. Leave to set for 10 minutes.

To serve, pipe peaked dollops of ganache onto the base of serving bowls in a circle. Gently break up honeycomb with a rolling pin or a large knife. Top some of the ganache peaks with honeycomb, then place crushed honeycomb in the centre of the circle and top with a scoop of ice cream. Garnish with baby parsley leaves.
Serves 4-6
Masterchef Australia

For my interpretation I decided not to pipe the chocolate ganache, instead I waited for it to set to a sauce like consistency and then drizzled it over the top of scoops of ice cream.  For the honeycomb, I omitted the white chocolate and the extra peanuts and instead bashed it into rubble and then used it to sprinkle over the top of the sauce and ice cream.  While my presentation lacks the finesse of that displayed by Gary and George the taste of it was exactly the same as a Golden Gaytime.  Hubby loved it and had seconds!  I loved the texture of the smooth ice cream with the crunchy peanuts scattered through it that was also echoed with the silky sauce and the nuggets of honeycomb ... me oh my it was out of this world. 

I'll be following Gary's method for making ice cream in future too, so quick and easy and not to mention fearless!  I've decided that half the battle in preventing eggs from curdling in the custard base is to show it no mercy and just plow on through.  I may need to make this again from Christmas / New Year!