Root Beer Floats

[Katie Meadow]

I'm sure this is amazing, but it's a lot of work. Might be worth just pouring stout over ice cream first to see what that's like before attempting the following recipe from Alice Medrich. If you omit the ice cream I believe you would have a Stout Egg Cream.

STOUT FLOATS WITH COCOA SYRUP Bon Appétit | February 2011

Slightly bitter beer, ice cream, and bittersweet cocoa syrup make for the perfect adult treat. Any leftover syrup will keep in the fridge for up to one month. Yield: Makes 6 servings

Cocoa syrup:

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)

2/3 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Floats:

1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons Kahlúa or other coffee-flavored liqueur

Chocolate ice cream

3 12-ounce bottles or 2 pints (about) chilled stout

Special equipment: 6 iced-teaspoons, 6 straws

For cocoa syrup:

Whisk sugar, cocoa powder, and pinch of salt in small saucepan. Pour 2/3 cup boiling water into heat-resistant measuring cup. Whisk just enough boiling water from cup into cocoa mixture in saucepan to form smooth paste (about 3 tablespoons), then whisk in remaining water. Bring to simmer over low heat, stirring constantly. Simmer syrup 1 1/2 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 weeks ahead. Cover; chill.

For floats:

Using electric mixer, beat cream and vanilla in medium bowl until peaks form. Cover; chill. Pour 1 tablespoon Kahlúa and 1 tablespoon cocoa syrup into each of six 10-ounce glasses. Place 1 scoop of ice cream in each glass. Add stout, pouring gently down side of tilted glass to prevent too much head from forming. Spoon dollop of whipped cream into each glass. Drizzle with cocoa syrup, place spoon and straw in each, and serve immediately.

[judiu]

I despise Rootbeer! (I had the real deal German measles as a child and one of the meds was a vile rootbeer flavored thing... Can't stand the smell of it, never mind taking a sip!)

But, I love a Coke float! Best made with real Coke (the Mexican stuff, made w/o HFCS) and good chocolate ice cream (Blue Bell is my fave).

Y'all have me craving now... Coke and chocolate ice cream just went on the weekend shop list!

My feelings exactly! Yummy! My grandma thought I was nuts...

[Beebs]

I'm sure this is amazing, but it's a lot of work. Might be worth just pouring stout over ice cream first to see what that's like before attempting the following recipe from Alice Medrich. If you omit the ice cream I believe you would have a Stout Egg Cream.

STOUT FLOATS WITH COCOA SYRUP Bon Appétit | February 2011

Slightly bitter beer, ice cream, and bittersweet cocoa syrup make for the perfect adult treat. Any leftover syrup will keep in the fridge for up to one month. Yield: Makes 6 servings

Cocoa syrup:

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder (spooned into cup to measure, then leveled)

2/3 cup boiling water

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Floats:

1 cup chilled heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

6 tablespoons Kahlúa or other coffee-flavored liqueur

Chocolate ice cream

3 12-ounce bottles or 2 pints (about) chilled stout

Special equipment: 6 iced-teaspoons, 6 straws

For cocoa syrup:

Whisk sugar, cocoa powder, and pinch of salt in small saucepan. Pour 2/3 cup boiling water into heat-resistant measuring cup. Whisk just enough boiling water from cup into cocoa mixture in saucepan to form smooth paste (about 3 tablespoons), then whisk in remaining water. Bring to simmer over low heat, stirring constantly. Simmer syrup 1 1/2 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat; stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature. DO AHEAD: Can be made 3 weeks ahead. Cover; chill.

For floats:

Using electric mixer, beat cream and vanilla in medium bowl until peaks form. Cover; chill. Pour 1 tablespoon Kahlúa and 1 tablespoon cocoa syrup into each of six 10-ounce glasses. Place 1 scoop of ice cream in each glass. Add stout, pouring gently down side of tilted glass to prevent too much head from forming. Spoon dollop of whipped cream into each glass. Drizzle with cocoa syrup, place spoon and straw in each, and serve immediately.

This sounds freakin' delicious!!

Shoot...I have neither vanilla ice cream nor stout, and I want one right. this. minute.

[kathryn]

My favorite root beer is Sprecher's: caramel vanilla richness that goes quite well with vanilla ice cream (especially if it's University of Wisconsin Babcock ice cream).

Second Sprecher, rated #1 in a tasting of 25 root beers by the New York Times a few years ago.

I like my root beer float with Sprecher and some local ice cream (last time I used Blue Marble out of Brooklyn). Frosty mug, of course.

[Kim Shook]

I love RB and Coke floats, but when I was a kid, I was in love with purple cows - grape soda and vanilla ice cream! I haven't had one in years, but I still like grape soda, so I'd probably still like them.

[judiu]

I love RB and Coke floats, but when I was a kid, I was in love with purple cows - grape soda and vanilla ice cream! I haven't had one in years, but I still like grape soda, so I'd probably still like them.

Channelling Radar O'Reiley?

[Wholemeal Crank]

When I worked in an ice cream shop, the official way to make a float was to start with a small quantity of ice cream in the bottom of the glass, stir in a bit of rootbeer to dissolve it, then add a full scoop of ice cream and pour rootbeer over all to fill the glass. So the rootbeer in the float was sort of tempered with the ice cream--the flavor softened a bit--before the big scoop of ice cream was added.

And that's how I prefer my root beer floats now too. I rarely have the makings of them at home, and if I order one while I'm out, I stir it a bit to dissolve some of the ice cream before starting to alternate drinking the rootbeer with a straw and spooning up the ice cream. And sometimes I have been known to simply drink some root beer with a little milk stirred into it.

When I used to drink a lot of these, the local rootbeer selection was very limited, Mug or A&W or Shasta, and I preferred the Mug.

[YetiChocolates]

I'm with the ice crystal crowd, I love scraping those off the ice cream with a spoon...Yum!

I've actually been fiddling with re-creating that taste of the root beer float we all know and love into a chocolate. I've got the "ice cream" layer down, but been having trouble getting enough "root beer" in the root beer layer. Thinking of using flat root beer in replace of the cream and seeing how that turns out.

[Jaymes]

I've actually been fiddling with re-creating that taste of the root beer float we all know and love into a chocolate. I've got the "ice cream" layer down, but been having trouble getting enough "root beer" in the root beer layer. Thinking of using flat root beer in replace of the cream and seeing how that turns out.

They must use some sort of more intensely-flavored "root beer extract" to make root beer candy, such as these Root Beer Barrels. You might try tracking down a supplier. Or maybe consider doing something with a layer of crushed root beer candy.

[andiesenji]

I'm with the ice crystal crowd, I love scraping those off the ice cream with a spoon...Yum!

I've actually been fiddling with re-creating that taste of the root beer float we all know and love into a chocolate. I've got the "ice cream" layer down, but been having trouble getting enough "root beer" in the root beer layer. Thinking of using flat root beer in replace of the cream and seeing how that turns out.

Zatarain's: Root Beer Extract, 4 Oz is available at many Walmart stores.

You can buy the extract at Williams-Sonoma

And also at Amazon.

I've ordered this and other extracts from Cooks.

If you live near a Smart & Final, call and seen if they have the fountain syrup in stock. It's in larger containers but cheaper than W-S by far.

[YetiChocolates]

Thanks for the ideas Jaymes and andiesenji, I'll have to look into both of those!

[threestars]

A&W rootbeer, vanilla ice cream. Pour the root beer into an A&W mug and top with the ice cream - damn I could go for one of those now.

I think this is the perfect float. Or maybe just a simple coke will do if rootbeer is not available. I like to try sprite but not sure what flavor of ice cream to use.

[Jaymes]

I like to try sprite but not sure what flavor of ice cream to use.

Well, the classic is a citrus sherbert: lemon, lime, orange, etc. Really tasty. Cool and refreshing. Not so heavy and rich as the cola & ice cream floats.