Root Beer Float Ice Cream in Chocolate Cups

I couldn't decide on a name for these even with the suggestions I got from twitter which included chocolate floats, root beer crunch, cups of brown joy, root beer cupiscles and brown cow cups. Leave a comment to help me decide and I'll change the title!

Cindy and Michael had a small potluck at their place to celebrate 5 years of blogging! My dish was obviously inspired by the trip to the US particuarly root beer floats and peanut butter cups. So I decided to combine the two things. First I made this root beer ice cream from bittersweet :

Root Beer Ice Cream

1 Cup Vanilla Soymilk
1 Cup Root Beer Soda (I used A&W which is gf)
1/2 Cups Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Arrow Root
1/4 Teaspoon Salt
1 Tablespoon Root Beer Extract (I left this out)

Whisk together all the ingredients, except for the root beer extract, in a medium sauce pan. Beat vigorously to ensure that there are no lumps whatsoever before turning on the heat to medium. Cook, whisking every few minutes, until the mixture comes to a rapid boil, and immediately remove from the stove. Whisk in the root beer extract, and then chill thoroughly before churning according to your ice cream manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer the churned ice cream into an air-tight container, and stash in the freezer for at least 4 – 6 hours before scooping, or until frozen solid.

It is suprisingly refreshing by itself, but I had to take it to the next step. So I melted some dark chocolate with a tiny bit of coconut oil and lined foiled cups with the chocolate about half way up, added in the ice cream and then covered the top with more chocolate and placed them back in the freezer.

I really enjoyed the combination of flavours, the chocolate makes the root beer a little more mellow but because the root beer has such as strong flavour it works. Be warned though, not everyone likes root beer so it worth trying before making it. Root beer tastes a lot like sarsaparilla which I guess is an aquired taste as a few people at the potluck complained that root beer tastes like medicine. If that is the case then I think I missed out on some yummy medicine growing up!

Please note that you can find root beer in some asian supermarkets in Melbourne, I found it at the asian supermarket at Barkly Square in Brunswick.