Ice Cream Sandwiches

My sisters are coming to visit!!!  First time either of them will get to see our house here in Southern California, and I'm so excited.  Besides the two days we got to see each other over spring break for Goong Goong's funeral, we haven't seen each other since Christmas, 2011.  That is sad.  So in honor of sisterly love, we all thought it was high time for a sister get-together vacation!  Thank you Mom for helping us all get together - we'll miss you :)

Both Carina and Jamie have their birthday in late July.  Carina's was just last Sunday, and Jamie's is this coming Saturday.  It will be so fun to get to celebrate together!  We'll have all the friends over, so everyone can meet - I love watching my different worlds collide :)  And I thought for a treat at the party, it would be fun to have little ice cream sandwiches!  Why little?  Well I guess I've kinda just in the mindset of small finger food, and it sounded like fun.

I found a recipe for the "classic" ice cream sandwich on one of my favorite food blogs: smitten kitchen.

Ingredients
2 2/3 cup  all-purpose flour
2/3 cup plus 1/4 cup extra dark or Dutch-processed unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3/4 tsp salt
2 large egg yolks
1 Tbs vanilla extract (I ran out, so I used a tsp of ground vanilla bean)
1/2 gallon of your favorite ice cream (I used vanilla bean and coffee)

Procedure
Preheat oven to 350°F degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Sift together the flour and cocoa and set aside. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, sugar, and salt together until light and fluffy. Add the yolks and vanilla and mix until combined, then scrape down sides and mix briefly again.
 

Add the flour mixture a little at a time then mix until combined.

 
Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and divide into two equal pieces. If the dough is too soft to handle, wrap and chill it until firm enough to roll out (I didn't have this problem, but if you do, smitten kitchen recommend 30 minutes only; any longer and it becomes crumbly to roll out). Roll each batch into a 1/4-inch thick rectangle, about 10 by 8 inches. Cut into rectangles.  You can make them whatever size you desire, just try and make them uniform!  Go ahead and re-roll the scraps.

 
Use an offset spatula to transfer the rectangles to the prepared baking sheets; you’ll only need an inch space between them. Poke the cookies with holes using the blunt end of a skewer, or at smitten kitchen advised, "use the tip of a thermometer (totally brilliant tip from Amy, by the way; it made far better indentations than skewers that I usually use for docking) to poke the cookies with holes (Amy recommends 14 holes but I used this as my guide and made more)."

Bake the cookies for about 18 minutes, or until they stay relatively firm when tapped in the center. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with remaining cookie dough, rerolling scraps as needed.

Meanwhile, line the bottom of a jellyroll pan with parchment paper, allowing it to overhang on two sides (it will act as a sling for the ice cream). Spread the softened ice cream into the pan, smooth the top and freeze until firm, about one hour.

Run a knife along the exposed sides of the pan to loosen the ice cream. Holding onto the parchment paper, lift ice cream out of the pan and onto the work surface. Using one of the cookies as a template, cut ice cream into rectangles.  I used a spatula to transfer the ice cream onto the cookies.  Alternatively, you can use kitchen shears to go right through the ice cream and the paper underneath, then flipped each piece of ice cream onto a cookie, peeled off the paper, and finished sandwiching the rectangle of ice cream with a second cookie.

When the ice cream begins to get too soft to handle, simply pop it back in the freezer until firm.  I had a try sitting in the freezer, and immediately transfered the sandwiches to the tray as soon as each one was assembled.   Wrap each ice cream sanwich in plastic wrap.  If your ice cream is too soft, they will continue to lose their shape unless you wrap them in plastic wrap right away. I however, didn't want to individually wrap so many mini ice cream sandwiches, so I just made to to work quickly, and refreeze the ice cream when necessary, so as not to deal with soft soupy ice cream.  Either way, when you're finished, wrap everything up well, so it doesn't take on the freezer flavors and smells.  Freeze until just before serving.

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Strawberry Balsamic Ice Cream

There is an ice cream place here in Redlands that is, hands down, my favorite ice cream place ever.  Better than Prince Pückler's in Eugene, and better than any gelato I had while living in Europe. Situated right in the heart of downtown Redlands, à la minute, (translates "made to order") is a bit of a novelty, but the quality and taste of their ice cream keeps it far from cliché.  Each order of ice cream is made right in front of you, with fresh local ingredients and liquid nitrogen!  My favorite flavor?  Strawberry Balsamic.  They make this amazingly delicious strawberry ice cream, and top it with a sweet balsamic reduction.  I've been craving a small scoop of this goodness for about a week now, and decided to try make it myself.

I made quite a few stupid mistakes as I went along... but hopefully I've learned my lessons for the next time.

Lesson one: Make your ice cream the day before you want to serve it!  I knew this already, of course, but somehow I never got around to starting it on Thursday... maybe because it was the 4th of July

Lesson two: I use the ice cream maker Kitchenaid attachment, which says it should be frozen for at least 15 hours prior to churning ice cream.  So that was my second mistake... forgot to put that in the freezer the day before.  I thought if it were frozen solid, that would be enough.  And it probably would have been, but I filled it with ice to help it freeze faster, which was a big mistake.  The ice cubes half melted, and I couldn't remove them from the bowl without melting them out with hot water!!  So.... the bowl was no longer frozen.  In short, prepare ahead of time, and read the instructions on your ice cream maker!

Lesson three: If you decide to make up your own ice cream recipe, because you aren't completely satisfied with any of the recipes you are reading, make sure to fully read the parts that you do like!  I ended up combing three or four recipes that looked like that had some pros and cons.  I liked the idea of marinating the strawberries in the balsamic vinegar, and I liked the idea of using brown sugar instead of normal.  However, while in a rush to get the ice cream done, I poured the marinated strawberries and all the juices into the custard.  If I would have read that one particular recipe more carefully, I would have noticed that it's all those juices I should have used to make the balsamic reduction.... oops.  So the sauce went out the window.

Lesson four:  If you aren't satisfied with how your ice cream freezes, get your ice cream maker ready again, and let your ice cream partially thaw in the refrigerator.  Then re-churn it!

Alright, I think that's about it. Overall, it turned out pretty well, unfortunately, not in time for the company we had over Friday night :/  But that's where a quick batch of homemade brownies comes in handy!!  Thanks to Carsten for being able to think on his feet.  Me, I just get flustered and angry at the ice cream machine.  So this is the recipe that I came up with - including the changes I will make next time I make this ice cream.  Which I will do again!

Ingredients

1 pint fresh strawberries, washed, dried, and chopped

1 cup brown sugar

3 Tbs balsamic vinegar

 2 cups heavy cream

1 cup half and half

1 vanilla bean pod

6 egg yolks

1 Tbs vodka (optional)

Procedure

In a small bowl, mix chopped strawberries, brown sugar, and balsamic vinegar.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight.

  

In a medium sauce pan, combine heavy cream, half and half, and the vanilla beans scraped from the pod.  Throw the pod in there too!  Bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Once it starts to simmer, turn off heat and let cool steep for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk 6 egg yolks until slightly frothy.  Temper the yolks, by adding about a cup of the warm cream mixture while whisking.  Then add the eggs to the rest of the cream and return to medium heat.  Cook until custard is thick and coats the back of a spoon.  Pour through a fine mesh strainer, and refrigerate until very cold.

Drain the strawberries, saving the vinegar liquid.  Mash half of the berries, then combine the strawberries with the custard, and mix until combined.  Freeze according to your ice cream freezer’s directions.  At the very end of the churning, you may add the vodka to help prevent ice cream from becoming too icy.

Heat the vinegar liquid in a small sauce pan over medium heat until it thickens to a syrup-like consistency.  Store in an airtight container until ready to serve.  When ready to serve, drizzle the balsamic reduction over a generous scoop of the strawberry ice cream!

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