Oh mama, it’s hot! Philly is sitting smack in the middle of a heat wave - the kind of suppressive heat that wraps you up like a blanket and pushes you back onto your couch. If you’re outside training for a half marathon (obviously, it’s me, and it’s stupid and I’m stupid) you’re trying to figure out if it’s even possible to drink enough water to make that an un-crampable venture. I’m writing this on the summer solstice. Welcome to the season, kids. We’re gonna get out the other side.
In the middle of all this heat, I have a couple of balls in the air. I’m juggling pins, I’m flinging flame-throwers, I’m…. not a circus clown, so they’re all clinking down around me in what I imagine to be rain, if I close my eyes. Ah, a summer shower! The earth will open up, a whiff of petrichor will surround me and I’ll let it fill my lungs and heart and bloodstream and I’ll never have to look my to-do list in the eye again.
I’m a highly list-oriented person. I write lists to organize lists, I buy specific pens to write these lists, and I write things I’ve already done for the satisfaction of starting with a swipe of completion. And hey - I’ll be the first one to say it - I think there’s a few too many lists stacking up in the legal pad that I’m currently making ANOTHER list on as we speak. Prominently featured? Cook beans. Vacuum kitchen. Make steel cut oats for breakfast. Lest I forget!
Planning a cross-country move with two cats and one U-Haul is exacerbating the lists. In an honest effort to not stress you out about it (it will) I’m not going to talk much further about that for now (it’s fine) and you’re going to sleep well tonight (ah, sweet slumber).
Oooooooof! I made it all the way down here without mentioning once that I almost had a foolproof plan to pull you right out of this heat wave. Alas, even my lists couldn’t save me. Not enough time to troubleshoot, I’m afraid, but since you’re here I’ll list out everything I did wrong.
We’re were making a bombe. A bombe is a dome-shaped, frozen dessert - minus an ice-cream machine, plus the ability to slice it like cake. My plan? A barely-sweet bombe base riddled with a maple-y, black tahini swirl (highly reminiscent of peanut butter), dusted with toasted sesame, and drizzled with a warm and salty tahini caramel. I’m working on it, I swear. My problem? My bombe was SO icy - and here’s why, I think. First - I’m cheating the ice cream game and not churning it. Churning creates multiple chances to break up the ice crystals that are forming constantly as it freezes. Secondly, I have a horrible 20-year old freezer. It’s slow - which gives ice crystals even more chance to form. I’m walking you through my science to conclude with this - it could just be my mix or human error - and in that case, I could never lead you down the wrong path. SO - all of that is the say that I have nothing to give you but a sauce. A good sauce, but a sauce nonetheless.
Regardless, I have a bombe-ass (lol) recipe for tahini rum caramel. It’s delicious on ice cream (and it happens to be vegan). Let’s be real - you weren’t going to make ice cream during a heat wave anyway. Make this instead, invite yourself to whoever’s house has the best AC, and bring this as a treat.
tahini rum caramel
1 cup sugar (200g), divided
2/3 cup tahini (160g)
Kosher salt, to taste
1 tablespoon rum, preferably dark or Jamaican, plus more to taste depending on how boozy you’re getting (can also be omitted. still good)
directions
For the tahini caramel, put half of the sugar (1/2 cup, 100g) in a medium saucepan (it’s going to bubble up, give it room) over medium-low heat. Stirring frequently, allow the sugar to melt until lightly golden. Sprinkle the remaining half of the sugar (1/2 cup, 100g) over the top and continue to cook until fully dissolved and a deep amber (like maple syrup).
SLOWLY add 2/3 cup of water (150g) - it’s going to bubble up, so be careful! Don’t add too fast or it’ll seize, but just keep stirring over low heat if it does. Remove from heat. Add the tahini and keep stirring until all well combined. Season generously with salt to taste and add the rum.
Warm before serving for a truly mind-blowing experience.
side notes:
Here’s a list of things I like. I’m making it to procrastinate my other lists. It doesn’t make anything on this list less lovely. Maybe more! In no particular order.
Michelango’s Bacchus - sinful, tipsy, perfect
Stacks of pancakes with lacy edges, pat of butter between each one, drenched in syrup
My estranged dead grandfather’s vintage Seiko time zone watch (looks mostly like this one).
Smelling any or all of the following: lilac bushes, the stems of tomato plants, freshly cut lemon verbena, the first ice melt into mud during spring, my cat’s sun-drenched fur, new notebooks and coconut sunscreen.
You all - for reading, cooking, and otherwise vibing while I tell you about my lists.