If we were abiding by our regularly scheduled programming, this week would have been another entry in our series “All the Fixin’s.” So Zelda dutifully pulled out her Paul Prudhomme, in search of a recipe we could make and they all just sounded so…hot.

The swelter is real, y’all, and as we looked at the dirty rices and gumbos and etouffées, the thought of standing over a stove made us want to dissolve into a puddle of sweat. So we decided to throw the cookbook out the window and instead turn to a Southern summer treat to soothe our perspiring brows: frozen milk punch.

Traditionally, milk punch is a cold drink consisting of the eponymous milk, sugar, vanilla extract, and brandy or bourbon, with nutmeg sprinkled on top. It’s a delicious and relatively refreshing treat, to be sure, but with the mercury climbing way up into the 90s we decided to up the ante — and by ante, we mean ice cream content.

This version of the Southern classic, adapted from Wide Open Eats, is basically what would happen if milk punch and a milkshake had a baby. The original recipe called for simple syrup, which we forewent because we thought it would be sweet enough already: Our instincts were correct. The results were delicious (and surprisingly potent…), if a little more liquid than we were expecting. If we were to make it again (which we most definitely will because, like we said, so delicious but dangerous), we would cut back on the milk and keep the ice cream in the freezer until blending, in hopes of achieving a more shake-like consistently. But even mostly liquid, they were still damn good.

Frozen Bourbon Milk Punch

Ingredients

3.5 cups milk (We used a mix of skim and 2%, because that is what Zelda had. We imagine this would work just fine with a non-dairy option, too!)

1 cup bourbon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 pint vanilla ice cream

Nutmeg for garnish

Directions

It really doesn’t get much simpler than this: Put the ingredients in a blender. Blend until creamy. Garnish and enjoy!

While we did this all in one batch, we would recommend that you split it into two to avoid blender explosions and spillage. Do as we say, not as we very messily did, kids.