Making Summer Even Hotter...The Fireball Float.

   Every now and then something really piques my fancy and I just have to do it. The other day I got an email from The Daily Meal informing me that Thursday is National Root Beer Float Day and challenging me to come up with an over the top Root Beer Float....so I figured why not? I like Root Beer, I like ice cream but what what what is considered over the top enough for me?

   Then I was lazing around on the couch Monday night watching a DVR'd episode of The Real Housewives of Orange County and those crazy ladies had been set loose on poor defenseless Tahiti where they were demanding a very obliging and increasingly desperate waiter bring them Fireballs!! They were banging the table and getting all Henry the Eighth on the poor guy and he never managed to get what the hell they were talking about. Neither did I until I looked up Fireballs on Wiki, uh, make sure you add drink to that description or it can go in all sorts of untoward directions. Anyway I quickly saw that Fireball is a sort of whiskey that's been heated up with cinnamon..there was also some story about Fireball and the EU..but I digress.

Anyway I wanted to make this Root Beer Float  PG13 so instead of adding booze, I made a hot, hot, hot cinnamon/candied ginger ice cream to be bathed in Boylans Root Beer and topped off with a Fireball jawbreaker. So, how's that workin' for us? Wicked good.

 The Fireball Float

Here's what you need:
3 big scoops of hot cinnamon ice cream
1 bottle of Boylans or your root beer of choice
1 Red Hot Jawbreaker

If you'd like to make your own  Hot Cinnamon Candied Ginger Ice Cream 

Here's What You need:
10 cinnamon sticks
2 cups whipping cream
a pinch of salt
1 cup milk
3/4 cups of sugar
3 Tbs ( or however hot you'd like it more or less ) finely chopped candied ginger

Here's What To Do:
Crush the cinnamon sticks in a mortar and pestle or in a plastic bag with a hammer.

In a pot mix together the broken pieces of cinnamon stick, 1 cup of cream, a pinch of salt 1 cup of milk and 3/4 cup of sugar.

Heat the milk cream and cinnamon mixture.

When it's hot and well mixed together take it off the fire and put a lid on the pan. Let it steep for 1 hour.

When it's fragrant and fully infused with cinnamon, add in the other cup of whipping cream, mix it all together well, then strain the cinnamon pieces out and pop everything into the fridge to chill.

When the mixture is cold put it into an ice cream machine for about 20 minutes.

While it's churning, chop the candied ginger into bits.

After about 20 minutes, the ice cream will start to firm up. Add in the ginger pieces - make sure they're well distributed in the ice cream.
Let it churn for another 5 minutes or so, until it's nice and firm then scoop it into a container and stash it in the freezer until needed.

As to making a float...it's ice cream in a glass, pour the root beer over it to get it nice and foamy and plunk a red hot jawbreaker on top of the whole thing. As to adding in a shot of real Fireball Whiskey to the whole thing.... I leave that decision up to you.

    Coming up next  fast, and easy Anaheim chilies as a side dish or snack. You could be eating these peppers in ten minutes...yes, it's that easy! Follow along on Twitter @kathygori