In high school, I went through this phase where I spelled my name Kaytea instead of the usual Katie. I thought I was so clever…you know, in only the way a creative, rebellious teenage girl can be. All of my friends and family adapted to it pretty quickly and honored my wishes by spelling my name in this new way. Except for one friend, who was even more clever than I, and spelled my name Kaycoffee instead of Kaytea.
You see, my love affair with coffee is nothing new. It’s been my biggest obsession and vice for more years than I am willing to admit. So when I was approached to work with Starbucks, you know I said yes quicker then I could finish off a cup!
Over the next few weeks, I’ll be doing some fun stuff with Starbucks Ice Cream and sharing all about it right here. For this first post, I’m excited to share a simple sundae recipe that I created. I spent a lot of time brainstorming different recipe ideas to spotlight Starbucks Ice Cream, but in the end, I decided that the ice cream itself was the star. So I started from there and pushed the limits of decadency and caffeine with a homemade mocha syrup and some homemade caramelized almonds. YUM!
Starbucks Mocha Caramel Sundae
Ingredients
- 1 1 pint Starbucks Caramel Macchiato Ice Cream
For the Homemade Mocha Syrup:
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1/2 cup corn syrup
- 1 cup freshly brewed black coffee
For the Caramelized Almonds:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cup whole almonds
Instructions
- Combine the cocoa powder, sugar and cornstarch in a medium-sized saucepan and mix well. Slowly pour in the corn syrup and coffee. Whisk the mixture together as you bring it to a boil over medium-low heat. Let slowly boil for 1 minute (reduce the heat if it is boiling too quickly), whisking frequently. Remove from heat, cool to room temperature and refrigerate until serving. The sauce will thicken as it cools.
For the Caramelized Almonds:
- Combine the sugar, sea salt, water and vanilla in a large skillet. Bring to a boil over medium while whisking frequently and let boil for 1 minute.
- Add the almonds and stir constantly. Continue cooking and stirring the almonds until most of the liquid is evaporated. Remove from heat and keep stirring until the almonds are completely coated and the liquid transforms into a powdery, dusty substance, about 2 minutes. Return pan to heat and stir almonds until the coating begins to caramelize, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool completely. Store in an airtight container.
To prepare the sundaes:
- Scoop out a heaping helping of Starbucks Caramel Macchiato Ice Cream for each serving. Warm the mocha syrup in 30 second intervals in the microwave, until pourable. Meanwhile, crush half of the caramelized almonds. Drizzle syrup on top of ice cream, sprinkle on crushed almonds and garnish with remaining whole almonds, as desired.
Notes
Now for a word of warning – this is fully-leaded sundae. Eric and I joked that it should be called the Not-After-8-PM Sundae because the caffeine is definitely not in short supply here. However, dish it up at 7:30 and enjoy. The coffee in the syrup and the caramel flavor of the almonds meld perfectly with the coffee and caramel flavors in the ice cream. Every spoonful is pure, heavenly bliss!!
