EPCOT - Cara's B-Day

We went to Disney for Cara's B-day. We spent most of our time at EPCOT, and Cara reccomended that I should mention the incredible food. The annual Food & Wine festival is going on with food and wine from all over the world, but we decided to save that for dinner. We did lunch at Teppan Edo at EPCOT, which is the Japanese restuarant where they cook everything out in front of you. What a delightful meal, the only small dissapointment was we apparently had a rookie chef who wasn't nearly the show-off that most of the other chef's were. I had the New York Strip and Cara had Chicken and Shrimp and we shared some. Amazing taste and quality, and while pricey, definetly an enjoyable experience.

Later for dinner, we walked the world showcase at EPCOT and samled cuisine from around the world. The favorite for both us hands down was Argentina where they had Beef Empanadas and Beef Skewers on Mashed Potatoes covered in Chimichurri sauce. The worst was without question the Chiptotle Chicken Taco at Mexico, although their Pork Tacos were OK. Cara loved the Boston Crab Cakes they had outside the US Section of the Showcase and we both loved the South African meal of Beef Tenderloin with Mango BBQ Sauce and Mashed Sweet Potatoes. Germany had Apple Strudles which Cara enjoyed. My feet were hurting because I walked all day in my Sandals, so I started skipping some spots, but the food in Morocco smelled amazing and in the future I would love to try the Crawfish Gumbo from New Orleans, the Pork Skewers from Brazil and the Lamb Sliders from New Zealand. So much good food to try, but it is not easy on the wallet, so plan ahead accordingly.

Chocolate Coffee Toffee Ice Cream

You'll want to get all your ingredients laid out first, because you have to move fast once you start:

1 1/2 Cups of Whole Milk
1/2 Cup of Coffee Creamer (Hazelnut)
1 3/4 Cups of Heavy Cream
1 Cup of Vanilla Yogurt
1 Cup of Dutch Process Unsweetened Chocolate Powder
2/3 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
3 Tablespoons of Instant Expresso Powder
1 Tablespoon of Vanilla
Pinch of Salt
1 Cup Toffee (Either Toffee for Baking or Crushed Heath Bars)

Mix the Chocolate Powder, Sugars, and Expresso Powder in large bowl. Heat the Milk and Creamer in a pot for a few minutes. Heat, while stirring, until you get the mixture to 125F (you'll need a candy or fryer thermometer to check this). Add the Dry Chocolate, Sugars, and Expresso mix and continue to stir while heating to 155F. Remove from Heat

Add Heavy Cream and Yogurt to hot mixture. Also, add the Vanilla and Salt.

Let the mixture chill in the fridge for a few hours.

Add to Ice Cream Maker and let process. Add the Toffee with about 5 minutes of churning time left.

Because of the light dairy in the recipe, freeze overnight to allow to harden, it should melt at about the same pace of store bought ice cream.