Restaurant Wars 2013 - Dairy Queen

I've been slacking on my 2013 challenge.  It's funny really.  Since I've been unemployed I have had more time to complete the challenges, but I haven't finished one since May!  Today marks me getting back on the horse and starting the second half of the year with a delicious bang.

Today's challenge is perfectly timed with this hot weather that has been blanketing the country.  It's ice cream related.  My challenge restaurant this week is Dairy Queen!

The vast menu of DQ gave me lots of options to choose from for my challenge.  From Blizzards to Peanut Buster parfaits, waffle bowl sundaes to Dilly bars, most of treats are made from soft serve ice cream and different inclusions.  What I usually order when I head to DQ is a vanilla cone, dipped in cherry red shell.  Simple, delicious.  Love it.

There are lots of recipes out there for chocolate magic shell.  Simple combine chocolate chips with some coconut oil and you've made yourself magic shell.  Cherry magic shell is a little bit more tricky.  I had to make a few batches to get this one right.  I started out with white chocolate and coconut oil, with cherry extract.  That batch tasted like coconut magic shell.  Not quite what I was going for.

Batch two I swapped out the coconut oil for grape seed oil.  Grape seed oil is perfect for this because it lends no flavor to the magic shell.  It wasn't there yet, because the cherry flavor wasn't strong enough.  That red stuff from Dairy Queen really tastes like cherries.  Well, fake cherry flavoring actually.  I decided to swap out the cherry extract for cherry candy oil.  It's a much more potent flavoring and matched with a little vanilla extract, made for just the right combination.  I threw in a big dash of red food coloring and I finally came out with magic in a jar.

Now I don't need to drive halfway across New Jersey to get myself a DQ vanilla cone.



One Year Ago: Strawberry-Lemon Preserves & Ginger-Peach Jam
Two Years Ago: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Three Years Ago: Indian Chicken Curry

Cherry Magic Shell

A Wilde Original

4 ounces White chocolate
3 tablespoons grape seed oil
1/4 teaspoon cherry candy oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Red food coloring

Place white chocolate in a microwave safe bowl.  Heat on half power for 1 minute.  Stir.  Heat for another minute, stir.  If the chocolate isn't fully melted, heat for another minute.

Once chocolate is completely melted, add grape seed oil and whisk until smooth.  Add cherry candy oil, vanilla extract and red food coloring.  Whisk until the color is even.  Store at room temperature and use within a month.