Brownie Ice-Cream Sandwiches (and what to do with them)

Given my obsessions for all things ice-creamy and biscuitty, I’m surprised that it’s taken me this long to catch on to the whole business about ice-cream sandwiches. Then again, it did take me just about as long to make the transition from cassette tapes to CDs. My first ever CD purchase was Radiohead’s The Bends, but prior to that, I had a little tape collection that was very dear to me (the first tape I ever owned was NKOTB’s Hangin’ Tough, but you really didn’t need to know that, did you!).

So now that I’m firmly entrenched in the ice-cream sandwich fanclub, I’ve been exploring different sandwich materials, such as macarons, shortbread biscuits, and now brownies. From Michael Recchiuti’s book, Chocolate Obsession, I discovered a chocolate brownie sandwich recipe which involved spreading the brownie batter thinly onto baking trays. Once baked, ice-cream (Michael suggests roasted banana ice-cream, which sounds divine) is spread across the thin slabs of brownie and sandwiched. These are frozen until firm then sliced into squares. A delightfully schmaltzy and sweet snack.. which reminds me of the second ever tape I owned, but I don’t think I’ll embarrass myself further by telling you what it was!

As I didn’t have enough ice-cream to make a full slab, I made a half slab and filled the other sheet of brownie with a chocolate salted caramel mixture, sprinkled with Fleur de Sel de Guรฉrande. Once cut (as pictured above), these became a little present for B and his workmates, who by default have become my some-time pastry guinea pigs. ๐Ÿ™‚

(But wait, there’s more..)

I wish I hadn’t eaten so many of those ice-cream sandwiches, because I had only one left to play with by the time I got inspired to try something different. This meant that I didn’t really manage to get a photo of the dish that I was completely happy with, but oh well. I recently saw a recipe for ‘ice powder galaktoboureko’ in the Press Club cookbook and wanted to try it out, but with coconut instead of normal milk. This got me thinking about lamingtons and with my remaining ice-cream sandwich that sort of looks like an inverse lamington, I thought I could make something involving the flavours of lamington : chocolate, coconut, vanilla.

The coconut ice powder, is really a granita of sorts. It has a hint of custardy-ness to it, because the coconut milk is cooked like an anglaise before being frozen and scraped. On this dish, I also included young coconut flesh and chocolate coconut sauce. In hindsight, I could have also rolled the ice-cream sandwiches in dessicated coconut so that they looked more like lamingtons. Maybe next time!

Also, when I next have some free time, I hope to try my hand at smoking some chocolate (hmm.. I wonder if my exhaust fan will be able to handle this..) and cobbling together a dish involving peanut : mousse, milk and powder. See you then!

47 Comments »

  1. Christie @ fig&cherry said,

    July 3, 2008 @ 3:45 pm

    Love the ribbon, not keen on biscuit and ice-cream (I don’t like cookies and cream flavour either – don’t shoot me!). My first cassette was also NKOTB Hangin’ Tough…those were the days!

  2. Y said,

    July 3, 2008 @ 4:50 pm

    I’m not a cookies ‘n’ cream fan either! These are actually cakey, rather than biscuity.

  3. Lorraine E said,

    July 3, 2008 @ 5:41 pm

    I never got into NKOTB-I think it was past my time. I want to buy some Fleur de Sel while in Paris. Is there a better brand of it do you know? I love the styling and photography on this one!

  4. The Caked Crusader said,

    July 3, 2008 @ 6:13 pm

    ice cream sandwich – now there are three words that really go together! Yummy

  5. Y said,

    July 3, 2008 @ 6:16 pm

    Helloo Lorraine ๐Ÿ™‚ I like the salt from Guerande. Check out this post for more info as well:

    http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2006/09/fleur_de_sel_de_1.html

  6. linda said,

    July 3, 2008 @ 6:21 pm

    Wow, they all look so pretty and delicious! I can’t decide which ones I like best. I think taste-wise I’d go for the chocolate caramel and visually I’d go for the coconut one….but if you would let me choose I think I’d won’t a bit of all of them ๐Ÿ˜‰
    I have the book so I’ll check the recipe out…

  7. Lisa said,

    July 3, 2008 @ 7:40 pm

    They look fantastic! I love the idea of the lamington inspired one, I love chocolate and coconut together and I bet it would only be even better with ice cream involved too.

  8. Cakelaw said,

    July 3, 2008 @ 7:58 pm

    Delicious and oh so cute! My favourite is the litle heart filled with salted caramel.

  9. brilynn said,

    July 3, 2008 @ 8:51 pm

    Awesome ideas here, looks amazing!

  10. Aran said,

    July 3, 2008 @ 9:19 pm

    beautiful, i love it…. this is no joke… I have similar ice cream sandwiches in my freezer waiting to photograph! and I also have a recipe on the works inspired by Chocolate Obsession!

  11. Vida said,

    July 3, 2008 @ 9:50 pm

    Yummy!!!! I love cake/biscuit and ice cream combo – this looks good enough to serve in any restaurant!!! Vida x

  12. Christy said,

    July 4, 2008 @ 12:34 am

    Those desserts look so beautiful!! I love how you plated and presented them!! Can’t wait to hear how the chocolate smoking goes, would be interesting!! And I’ll be looking forward to see the peanut dessert on your blog!

    PS. Did you use fresh coconut for the garnish or dried?

  13. prettytastycakes said,

    July 4, 2008 @ 1:12 am

    Thanks for stopping by my blog. All your creations are just stunning!!

  14. grace said,

    July 4, 2008 @ 2:47 am

    i’m trying to think of something clever to write, but the only thing popping up in my head is “perfect.” and they are. absolutely perfect. what would it take to become one of your pastry guinea pigs? ๐Ÿ™‚

  15. Kristen said,

    July 4, 2008 @ 5:36 am

    What lovely little ice cream creations!

  16. Clumbsy Cookie said,

    July 4, 2008 @ 6:06 am

    I wonder how many of these I could eat in one sitting?

  17. Stephanie said,

    July 4, 2008 @ 7:33 am

    Was the second tape Milli Vanilli or Fine Young Cannibals??? Those were my first three tapes….Shameful bowing of head…Your Ice Cream Sandwiches look amazing!

  18. PaniniKathy said,

    July 4, 2008 @ 9:41 am

    What perfect little “presents”! And undoubtedly way more satisfying than the skinny cows I have in my freezer ๐Ÿ™‚

  19. courtney said,

    July 4, 2008 @ 10:02 am

    You made these! Incerdible. They look gorgeous. Much better than the store bought natuarally.A more upscale version.

  20. Vera said,

    July 4, 2008 @ 3:06 pm

    These are the sandwiches I’m ready to eat everyday for my lunch!

  21. Nilmandra said,

    July 4, 2008 @ 6:35 pm

    So many different variations! And all look beautiful and delicious *Steals one to cool down on a summer’s day*

  22. chriesi said,

    July 5, 2008 @ 1:19 am

    That is fantastic! Amazing photos!

  23. Y said,

    July 5, 2008 @ 9:22 am

    Thanks again for the comments, guys!

    Christie, I used both fresh and dried coconut to garnish. The photos aren’t very good because you don’t really get to see the dish as a whole, but there are circles of young coconut flesh around the coconut ice powder.

    Stephanie : Neither, but I must confess to having liked Milli Vanilli as well. Also am kinda glad to hear that there are other people out there who had NKOTB as their first tape!

  24. Monkee said,

    July 5, 2008 @ 10:06 am

    I love how you styled + photographed the ice cream sandwiches. They’re really quite remarkable. Very pro. ๐Ÿ™‚

    Note: NKOTB brings back soooo much memories.

  25. Sophie said,

    July 5, 2008 @ 1:45 pm

    Who needs culinary/pastry school when I have your blog to read ;)! You’re quite the expert on so many ‘foodie’ things…I wish I could be one of your guinea pigs :D, this looks beautifully photographed and dreamy in a very delicious way.

    …smoking chocolate? sounds exciting!

    And, yes, I’m very much a fan of both the Sundays and Iron and Wine ๐Ÿ˜€

  26. pea and pear said,

    July 5, 2008 @ 9:00 pm

    Y, I used to have a milli vanilli t shirt (which I wish I still had as I would wear it every day, it would bring a smile to so many peoples faces) Just like your icecream sandwiches!!!

  27. cyn said,

    July 5, 2008 @ 11:09 pm

    oh wow, with my love of coconut, i can so see these heading straight to my thighs! thank goodness your pics are calorie free! lol

  28. Jacelyn said,

    July 6, 2008 @ 6:52 pm

    Hi, this brownie sandwich look yummylicious. Great blog here too. I’ve added you under my favourite links. =)

  29. maybelles mom (feeding maybelle) said,

    July 7, 2008 @ 5:05 am

    my gosh, could these be any cuter?

  30. barbara said,

    July 7, 2008 @ 10:46 am

    Lovely looking sammies.

  31. sabra said,

    July 7, 2008 @ 1:39 pm

    what lovely presentation! I love the first photo in particular with the paper bows, lovely!

  32. arfi said,

    July 7, 2008 @ 3:41 pm

    Y, that is fantastic! I feel like Summer. Is it still sun-shining up there?

  33. Tartelette said,

    July 9, 2008 @ 3:20 pm

    I think we are all cyclical and I love that…made ice cream too..gobbled it up before sandwiching it…oops! Crazy beautiful!

  34. Alice said,

    July 10, 2008 @ 2:01 pm

    Excellent. What a great combination..brownies and icecream..and homemade too!! Mmmmm. ๐Ÿ™‚

  35. Miri said,

    July 10, 2008 @ 8:30 pm

    I’m a great fan of biscuits and ice cream, and yours look just superb! They are so perfectly shaped, I can’t take my eyes off of them..

  36. noble pig said,

    July 11, 2008 @ 5:09 pm

    Okay, these are just adorable! Love them! Beautiful….

  37. matt wright said,

    July 17, 2008 @ 9:05 am

    From looking at these sites, you are a pro pastry chef right?

    Awesome, awesome food, great presentation of food, and really nice photography. I am glad I found your blog ๐Ÿ˜€

  38. Maya said,

    July 18, 2008 @ 11:01 pm

    Salted caramel sounds wonderful!

  39. Zoรซ Franรงois said,

    July 18, 2008 @ 11:55 pm

    They are so dainty and lovely. Such a sophisticated take on such a ubiquitous summer tradition!

  40. Becky said,

    July 19, 2008 @ 12:29 am

    wow. i’m shocked at how hungry these delectable photos made me right after eating breakfast. nice job!

  41. sharon said,

    July 19, 2008 @ 1:11 am

    Wow, those are works of art! I wish one of my coworkers would ask me to be their pastry/ice cream sandwich guinea pig!

  42. pastrystudio said,

    July 19, 2008 @ 2:48 am

    Beautiful sandwiches. All your flavor combinations sound wonderful. Thank you for such great inspiration!

  43. Graeme said,

    July 19, 2008 @ 5:05 am

    Oh, very pretty. Very clever too!

  44. leslie said,

    July 20, 2008 @ 4:57 am

    Beautiflu and yummo!

  45. kalva said,

    July 26, 2008 @ 7:44 am

    Ahhh. so lovely brownies… love them…

  46. W said,

    August 6, 2008 @ 12:31 pm

    I was teased terribly as a child, but at least I can say I was one of those who teased people in junior high for being NKOTB fans. heh. Did you pick up their new album? At any rate, I liked Donnie Wahlberg in Boomtown

  47. Y said,

    August 8, 2008 @ 9:20 am

    NO, I didn’t pick up their new album! Can I just clarify that I *used* to be a fan ;P

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