Michelle Darmody: How to make the classic ice-cream sandwich — and the mistakes to avoid

Homemade classic ice cream sandwiches.

Who doesn't love an ice cream sandwich? 

When I visited Australia a few years ago, there was a bakery near where I was staying which served about 15 different varieties, all delicious. 

They made the sandwiches with their own churned ice cream and homemade biscuits. 

It was a real treat to visit in the heat of the day. The same place also specialised in ice-cream cakes, which were a wonder.

Layers of different-colour ice creams moulded, and piled high. I know I would have been very excited if one arrived at the birthday table when I was a child.

The recipe here is a little simpler, but hopefully equally as tasty and refreshing. 

The biscuits do not get overly crisp so are nice to bite into alongside the soft centre. 

I find if the biscuit or cookie is too crisp, it makes the ice cream squelch out as you are eating it. 

A soft and chewy American style chocolate chip cookie works very well for example, while a snappy ginger nut biscuit not so well.

There are many Irish-made ice creams you can choose from to fill your sandwich, plenty of delicious locally made versions that celebrate our rich and wonderful dairy history.

Ice Cream Sandwich

recipe by:Michelle Darmody

There are many Irish-made ice creams you can choose from to fill your sandwich, plenty of delicious locally made versions that celebrate our rich and wonderful dairy history.

Servings

12

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 12 mins

Total Time

 32 mins

Course

 Dessert

Ingredients

• 120g butter, soft

• 115g golden caster sugar

• 1 tsp baking powder

• 50g cocoa powder

• 240g flour

• 1 egg, lightly beaten

• 2 tbsp Golden Syrup

• 540g vanilla ice cream, soft

Method

1. Beat the butter and sugar until pale in colour.

2. Sieve the baking powder, cocoa powder and flour together.

3. Add the egg and |Golden Syrup to the butter mixture and combine.

4. Stir in the flour mixture until it is also combined.

5. Bring the dough together with your hands until smooth.

6. Wrap in parchment and place into the fridge to firm up for an hour.

7. Line two large flat baking trays with parchment.

8. Preheat your oven to 180 ºC/gas mark 4.

9. Roll the dough to about 2 mm in thickness and cut it into rectangles about 8cm x 4.5cm in size. You should get about 24 biscuits.

10. Place the biscuits onto the prepared trays.

11. Bake in the center of your oven for 12 minutes.

Baker's Tips:

• You can use a hot spoon to measure out the Golden Syrup; it is so viscous it can be difficult to weigh or measure otherwise.
• You can put the dough into the freezer or fridge if it gets too soft during rolling. Rolling it while soft will be very messy. Adding a little sprinkling of flour onto your rolling pin with help with the rolling.
• Leave some space between each biscuit on tray as they will expand as they heat up during baking.
• It may not need saying, but the biscuits will have to cool completely before making the sandwiches. Leave the biscuits to cool on the baking tray a little longer than you would other biscuits because they are soft when they are still warm. Once cooled place them onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• You can shape the ice cream around the edge of your biscuit for the neatest result, going around the biscuit with a warm knife can help with this.
• You can place the ice cream sandwiches on a baking tray and pop them back in the freezer to harden up before serving. This is advisable if it has taken a while to make them and the ice cream has got very soft.
• If the sandwiches are for an outdoor party or to be served later, you can wrap each one in a square of baking parchment for ease of transporting. This can also be helpful because once wrapped in parchment the sandwiches can be placed into the freezer for storage. They will last a few weeks in the freezer. If you are popping them into a zip-loc bag, squeeze out as much of the air as possible to prevent freezer burn or a build-up of excess ice.
• The biscuits will keep for a week in an airtight container before you make the sandwiches.

Three delicious variations

Mint chocolate chip

Mint chocolate chip ice cream is a delicious addition instead of the vanilla ice cream. 

To be extra-decadent you can pour some melted (but slightly cooled) chocolate over the top of the sandwiches. 

Keep the prepared sandwiches on a tray in the freezer as the chocolate is cooling down, it will still need to be somewhat hot to be pouring texture. 

Remove the mint choc chip sandwiches from the freezer and drizzle the chocolate on top. 

Place the tray back into the freezer quite quickly and allow the chocolate to firm up before serving.

Raspberry sorbet

Raspberry and chocolate work very well together and you can make these sandwiches with a rich raspberry sorbet. 

I particularly like the version made by Murphy’s Ice Cream; it works great for this recipe. 

You can sprinkle a few chopped raspberries on top of the sorbet before adding the top biscuit if you like.

Neapolitan ice cream sandwich

Neapolitan is a classic paring of colours and flavours. 

While ice cream sandwiches are said to have first been invented on the streets on New York for hurried workers on-the-go, to me they are synonymous with Italy, and this is a combination invented by Italian immigrants to the United States. 

You will need three different ice creams chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. 

Freeze these in rectangle shapes so you can cut the ice cream blocks to fit the biscuits. Add three layers into each sandwich.