The ice cream sandwich grows up.

The idea of the ice cream sandwich isn’t new – back in the 1980’s (yes ok I am very old!) I remember unwrapping small parcels of Walls vanilla and strawberry ice cream to sandwich between two thin wafers – an alternative treat to a cone. Apparently the counterpart in Scotland and Ireland was known as an ice-cream slider and in Australia a ‘cream between’. The idea was to get the ice cream to the point of perfection before eating. For me this perfection was that the ice cream should be ‘warm’, just on the point of melting, without dripping or liquefying. Quite an art, but  to my mind there is nothing worse than biting into something freezing cold.

Recently the Ice cream sandwich, ‘slider’, or ‘cream between’, appears to have made something of a comeback. But as with most comebacks they are not quite what they used to be, they have in fact transformed themselves into something appealingly  ‘sexy’, they have grown up, and are now chic, trendy and quite the smart thing to serve at a summer party. Adults, teenagers and children all love them.  

This recipe is not only delicious it is also easy to make. What’s more it doesn’t require you to own an ice cream machine, in fact the quantities here would be too vast for a home ice cream machine to cope with. For me the best thing about this ice cream is that the consistency is already ‘warm’. The simple ingredients ensure a good fat content meaning that few water ice crystals will develop on freezing giving the end product a warm, soft consistency.

Don’t be overwhelmed by the quantity in the recipe. I give you these amounts because you will not be left with a part used tin of condensed milk or tub of mascarpone. Meaning that if you are like me, partial to either of these ingredients, then I am saving you from yourself! If these delicious items do not tempt you to head straight for the teaspoon draw then do feel free to halve the amount. The ice cream once made will keep for a couple of weeks in the deepfreeze and you can cut blocks off for the sandwiches as and when you like as it’s easy to slice with a warm knife. You can of course use it as a scoop ice cream too.

The Mascarpone ice cream recipe could also be used as a base recipe for different flavour ice creams. Use different fruit or fruit coulis for the ripple or add a few tablespoons of  good quality chocolate powder for a chocolate ice cream. If you have any other ideas then do please share them with use here.

Gooseberry ripple ice cream sandwiches

Makes 24 sandwiches minimum

Gooseberry ripple

300g fresh dessert (mauve coloured) gooseberries, topped and tailed

2 tablespoons elderflower cordial

100g sugar – you may need more sugar to taste.

Make the fruit ripple first as it needs to cool before mixing into the ice cream.

Put the ingredients into a pan with a lid. Cook gently over a low to moderate heat to allow the gooseberries to swell, burst and release their juice. Remove the lid and taste the juice for sweetness, adding additional sugar a spoonful at a time until you are happy. Err on the side of slightly tart, as the ice cream itself is quite sweet, the contrast of the sweetly creamy ice-cream and tart fruit ripple is very refreshing. Gently bubble the gooseberries until they are pulped and the juice is syrupy. Set aside to cool completely. If you need this to happen quickly then tip the cooked gooseberries out on to a clean tray or Clingfilm lined baking tray, spread thinly and refrigerate.

Alternative suggestion: If you don’t like the idea of gooseberries then substitute raspberries or skinned and chopped fresh nectarine or peach for the fruit ripple.

 Mascarpone Ice cream

450ml double cream

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

345g tin condensed milk

250g mascarpone cheese

A good pinch of flaked sea salt

To serve you will need:

24 Nice biscuits, or other biscuit of your choice for the sandwiches.

24 pieces of parchment measuring 18.5 x 4cm (folded in half lengthways) and 24 pieces of string or thin ribbon 26cm in length

Method:

Line a roasting tin or very large baking tray, minimum measurement 24cmx33cm, with baking parchment or cling film. Make sure you use a tin/tray that will fit in your deepfreeze, you may need to use two slightly small ones.

To make the ice cream I use a very large mixing bowl and whisk it with an electric hand held whisk. You could equally well use a food mixer with the whisk attachment. Or, if you have the elbow grease by all means whisk it by hand if you prefer.

Put the double cream into a very large mixing bowl along with the vanilla essence. Whisk until the cream is doubled in volume and beginning to get thick, but is not quite holding its shape.

Add the condensed milk, the mascarpone and the salt. Beat, or gently whisk on a lower setting, to mix until smooth. Increase the whisk speed and continue whisking until the cream reaches the soft peak stage. Be careful not to over whisk though, or the mascarpone will begin to separate.

Pour the cooled gooseberry ripple over the thickened cream. Using a mixing spoon or spatula fold the gooseberry ripple into the ice cream so that it looks streaked and remains not too mixed. Pour the cream into the prepared tin/s and put them on a flat surface in your freezer, uncovered for at least three hours, put preferably overnight.

When the ice cream is firm remove it from the tin onto a chopping board. Remove the paper or cling film, and using your chosen biscuits as a template cut the ice-cream into biscuit sized blocks.

Sandwich each ice-cream block between two biscuits. Wrap each with a piece of the folded parchment and tie with the string or ribbon. Put the ice cream sandwiches into a freezer container with a lid and the freezer until required. Once prepared the ice cream sandwiches are best used within 24 hours but they will keep for up to a week.

To serve

Remove the sandwiches from the freezer half an hour before you want to serve them to allow the ice cream to begin to soften and ‘warm’.