Ice Cream Sundays - {brownie sundaes}

Brownie sundaes are the ultimate treat, aren't they?  If I found myself stranded on a desert island, this is the one food I'd want with me (or at least, the one food I would daydream about most).  Tropical location and brownie sundaes?  I think I'd be pretty content to stay there.

For the ice cream, I made the Philadelphia-style vanilla from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop - oh, I love that ice cream!  It's a perfect compliment for sundaes or milkshakes, any recipe where the ice cream needs to share the stage.  I also had some leftover praline sauce, also from the same book, sitting in the fridge, just in case anyone else wanted praline sauce (I did share my brownie sundaes, although it was difficult).  I didn't use the praline sauce on my sundae however, because brownie sundaes are only proper brownie sundaes (in my humble opinion) when generously drizzled with hot fudge sauce.  Alas, I tried a new recipe for hot fudge that wasn't up to par, so I won't share it here.  I'm still on the lookout for the best hot fudge sauce ever, so please let me know if you have a great recipe you'd be willing to share!

I topped the sundaes with a big plop of homemade whipped cream (beat heavy cream in a bowl - when it's close to being done, add some powdered sugar and a little vanilla extract.  Beat some more & taste, adding more sugar or vanilla if necessary).  And, in a nod to Peanut Buster Parfaits from Dairy Queen (love those), I added Spanish peanuts.

Oh, the brownies, I can't forget about them......I love the fudgy chocolate brownies from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook & have made them many times (often for the purpose of brownie sundaes).  This time, I used half semisweet and half bittersweet chocolate, as opposed to all bittersweet as the recipe calls for.  The brownies were much sweeter and still heavenly.

Pile it all together, and you have a sundae that is the stuff of daydreams, no matter where you are.

   
-Cheryl