I am so naughty! I am sitting here writing this whilst sipping on a delicious long black topped with some Brandy Honey Cream! And it is only 9am!
But this cream is just so delicious … and so simple to do.
Back in the early 1970’s when I was still a teenager (can’t believe it), it was around this time that the Australian Women’s Weekly first sold their soft cover cookbooks … the first one (I am sure I am right in saying this) was their Dinner Party Cookbook and I bought it! I fell in love with the recipes, format, ease of descriptions, and pictures of recipes, so after that I bought every issue they sold.
This recipe comes from an adaptation of one appearing in this first book called Atholl Brose Cream using whisky and honey and served with orange segments. You can see from the picture in this post that it was a very well used page!
For Christmas this year I wanted a cream to serve with our pudding and wanted to offer two options … a brandy custard (see here) and a brandy cream (this recipe) … and since then I have fallen in love with this cream. It goes with just about everything … a slice of toasted banana bread (see pic), on top of coffee (see pic), with apple baked cakes or pies (which is why I made it again this week … we had an apple pie!), pancakes with sauteed apples, and so on, and so on.
Whilst I could have made this in the Thermomix I chose to use my hand held electric beater as I wanted to keep on top of what was happening with my cream and not to overwhip it … hand held electric beaters are so handy, very reasonably priced, and great to have for little jobs like this.
The cream is best made a few hours before serving so is great for entertaining, but if held overnight it may separate a little in the fridge (it all depends on how much you beat it). If that happens just stir the mix together again, and if you feel it needs it just very lightly whisk it together again. It will keep like this in the fridge for about 3 days, but I can assure you it will be consumed by then.
It is important to use whipping cream/full fat cream (i.e. at least 35% fat) for this recipe as the fat helps to hold the mix together. In the first stage you are looking to whip the cream until it has almost doubled in size but still a little loose, then you add the honey and brandy which has been stirred together until completely emulsified, and then beat again until firm peaks (but take care not to overheat otherwise it may look grainy). If you feel you have taken it a little too far all is not lost … simply pour a little more liquid cream into the mix and gently stir together … this will help to loosen the mix making it look more “soft”.
Whilst I could have made this in the Thermomix I chose to use my hand held electric beater as I wanted to keep on top of what was happening with my cream and not to overwhip it ... hand held electric beaters are so handy, very reasonably priced, and great to have for little jobs like this.
The cream is best made a few hours before serving so is great for entertaining, but if held overnight it may separate a little in the fridge (it all depends on how much you beat it). If that happens just stir the mix together again, and if you feel it needs it just very lightly whisk it together again. It will keep like this in the fridge for about 3 days, but I can assure you it will be consumed by then.
It is important to use whipping cream/full fat cream (i.e. at least 35% fat) for this recipe as the fat helps to hold the mix together. In the first stage you are looking to whip the cream until it has almost doubled in size but still a little loose, then you add the honey and brandy which has been stirred together until completely emulsified, and then beat again until firm peaks (but take care not to overheat otherwise it may look grainy). If you feel you have taken it a little too far all is not lost ... simply pour a little more liquid cream into the mix and gently stir together ... this will help to loosen the mix making it look more "soft".
- 3 tbls honey
- 3 tbls Brandy
- 1-1/2 cups 35% full fat cream
- Place the cream in the mixing bowl and chill for 15 minutes in the freezer (you can also put the beater prongs in too ... I do this but it is optional ... particularly good in very hot weather)
- Mix the honey and Brandy together in a jug until completely emulsified
- Blend the cream on medium speed until you see soft peaks starting to form (it will have thickened up to almost double and will still be fairly loose)
- Add the honey and Brandy mix and continue beating until firm peaks (take care as it is very easy to overbeat cream ... the minute you think you are almost there spot beating, use your spatula to turn cream over to see how the whole mix is, then continue for a few more seconds until it holds its peak)
- Store in the fridge until ready to use
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