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Homemade Icecream (Sandwiches)

Berry & Chocolate Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches from www.highwallsblog.com

Ice cream is a serious weakness of mine and finding out how easy it is to make at home is possibly one of the most dangerous things that has ever happened to me! You only need some condensed milk and cream to make the base, and something to flavour the batch! Thank goodness it takes hours to set properly, or else I’d probably make a new flavour (and eat it all) every day!

My mother first made these ice cream sandwiches for us last Christmas. I’ve dabbled with home made ice cream sandwiches before but these are something entirely different. The ice cream is a little less heavy than the store bought stuff. It’s not as creamy or milky, and with the addition of the berries  you get a lovely fresh flavour with the wonderful crunch of the Toblerone chunks. Mmmm… I think I ate about 5 of these the first weekend I made them…. so much for the diet!

Of course you can use any mix in’s you want, if berry and chocolate isn’t really your thing (although trust me, the combination is better than you might think) If you want to eat the ice cream straight, you can always pour the batch into  a deeper container and scoop it into a cone or bowl to serve instead of sandwiches. There really are so many possibilities!

Berry & Chocolate Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches from www.highwallsblog.comBerry & Chocolate Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches from www.highwallsblog.com

What You Need:

2 Cups heavy whipping cream
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 packet of Frozen Mixed Berries, semi thawed
2 Toblerone bars
Wafer biscuits

What You Do:

1. Line the base and the long sides of a rectangular baking pan with baking paper, allowing paper to overhang about 5cm on each end.

2. Whip 2 cups heavy whipping cream until stiff peaks start to form.

3. Take the berries (semi thawed) and mash gently with a fork until about 2/3’s of the packet are mashed but there are still a few whole berries. Chop the Toblerone’s into small chunks and add to the berries.

4. Mix the condensed milk with the berries and chocolate in a large bowl until well combined.

5. Fold whipped cream into sweetened condensed milk mixture, work slowly and carefully, so cream doesn’t collapse. Fold until evenly combined.

6. Pour into the lined tray and smooth flat. Your mixture should be around 3 - 4cm deep. Wrap the whole thing in plastic wrap and then in tin foil and freeze at least 6 hours or until set.

7. Remove from the freezer and using a wafer biscuit as a guide, cut slices from the slab of ice cream.

8. Sandwich between 2 Wafer biscuits to serve. Re-wrap what you do use and return to the freezer for later.

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Recipe: Icecream Sandwiches

Summer and I aren’t on speaking terms right now.

No, ‘Summer’ isn’t my friend named similarly to that of Zooey Deschanel in a certain movie; I’m talking about the actual season. Summer is a bitch. Summer is all “oh Dani, it’s such a hot day! You should make something cold and delicious, it’ll be fun!” and I’m like “Hell yeah, Summer! You’re so smart.” And just when you think you’re a freaking genius and everyone is going to be so impressed with your latest recipe- BAM! Summer comes around and Ruins. Everything.

You may have noticed I’m a little riled up for this weeks’ recipe. I’m probably over reacting. As I said, it was hot and therefore I decided that a recipe including ice cream would be the best idea ever. Who doesn’t love ice cream on a hot day? Summer apparently.

To be fair the cookie part of this recipe turned out brilliantly. They came out of the oven all soft and perfect and I was completely convinced this recipe was going to be the GREATEST thing ever. But the heat had different ideas when it came to adding the title ingredient. The ice cream lasted just long enough for me to snap a couple of quick photos before it turned from ‘melty goodness’ to ‘OMG now it’s just soup!’ Even rushing them to the freezer didn’t save the first batch of ice cream sandwiches. All that succeeded in doing was getting melted ice cream ALL through my freezer. I attempted a second batch the next evening and was a more successful but unfortunately was unable to get any photos. Ahh well. Lesson learnt, kids: buy premade ice cream sandwiches on a really hot day! On all other days, give these a try. They were extra delicious despite my temper tantrum.

What You Need:
185g of softened butter
3/4 cup of caster sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup of corn flour*
1 cup of plain flour
1/4 cup of cocoa powder, sifted

What You Do:
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees (or 160 degrees in a fan-forced oven) Line baking trays with baking paper.
2. Using an electric mixer, beat butter, sugar and vanilla until pale and creamy. Add egg. Beat until combined.
3. Sift the flour and cocoa powder over the butter mixture. Using a wooden spoon, stir to combine.
4. Cover and refrigerate the dough for at least 30 minutes before rolling.
5. Place dough between two sheets of baking paper and roll out to roughly 6mm thick. Using a large round cookie cutter** carefully cut out your cookies and place them evenly spaced on the prepared baking trays.
If dough gets a little soft after rolling, place in fridge until firm enough to handle. Similarly if you think the dough is too soft and it’s going to spread too much while baking, pop the trays in the freezer for 5 minutes before baking
6. Bake for 10-12 minutes until cookies are baked through but still soft.
7. Remove and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. Place the cookies in the freezer 30 minutes before serving.
8. To serve, place 1 – 2 scoops of ice cream on the base cookie and sandwich between the top cookie pressing the two together gently. Sprinkle around the edge any toppings you would like. I used dark chocolate shavings and sprinkles, but you can experiment with a multitude of combinations!

* 2 cups of plain flour will also work if you don’t have corn flour on hand. The corn flour just makes the cookies that little bit extra crumbly!
** I didn’t have a cookie cutter so I used a standard egg ring instead. Works just as well. 

Once your cookies are made you literally can make any combination you like! I had Neapolitan ice cream so I used those flavours with some toppings, but next time I’m definitely going to branch out and try some more exciting concoctions!