Sandwiches grow up
There are some things that are hard to outgrow. Ice cream sandwiches recall childhood summers, hot nights, and the ice cream truck. As the filling dripped out the sides of the cookies, you could savor every sticky, creamy drop. The cookies always stuck to your fingers, and you got to lick them, too.
Everybody has a method for eating an Oreo, and there are as many techniques for consuming ice cream sandwiches. Some people gradually unravel the wrapper to reveal bits of cookie and frozen cream. Others squeeze the two wafers together, allowing the ice cream to drip out the sides. Then there are those who just tear into them, unceremoniously taking bite after bite until the little rectangle is gone.
While there will always be a place for the gummy, paperbound treats, the cold sandwiches have become quite sophisticated -- especially on restaurant menus.
At the South End's Union Bar and Grille, pastry chef Kathleen O'Donnell is currently featuring a whoopie pie with vanilla semifreddo, a creamy, soft Italian mixture, sandwiched between two slices of domed chocolate cake. She adds fresh berries, champagne gelee, and strawberry ice cream. ''I like to do things that are a little nostalgic," she says.
O'Donnell, a recent graduate of Johnson & Wales, was a co-op student at the restaurant last summer, when a vanilla and chocolate malted ice cream sandwich was featured. The whoopie pie is one of her first desserts, and it started selling out right away. O'Donnell calls it ''an evolving dessert," because the flavors of both the semifreddo and ice cream change.
After the early June heat wave, keeping cool was the motivation behind chef Andrew Coleman's latest ice cream creation at Lucy's in Brookline. His honey-lime ice cream sandwiches are made with honey-crisp cookies surrounding vanilla ice cream sprinkled with grated lime rind. The sandwiches are drizzled with Lyle's Golden Syrup, a British sweetener.
One ice cream sandwich is not enough for chef and co-owner Todd Ciampolillo at Indigo in Needham. He offers a trio of the frozen treats: brownies with cappuccino ice cream, hazelnut and white chocolate chip cookies with mango ice cream, and chocolate chip cookies with peanut butter ice cream and chocolate-covered peanuts. ''Growing up, everyone was eating ice cream sandwiches," says the chef, who owns the restaurant with his twin brother, Timm. ''Instead of a fancy dessert, I wanted a dessert you could have with a glass of milk," Ciampolillo says. He may change ice cream flavors during the summer, but the current choices have been so popular that they'll stay the same for now.
Making ice cream sandwiches at home is a real treat for guests. ''No one expects you to bring out a platter of those for dessert. That's what's so great," says Bruce Weinstein, whose latest book, with coauthor Mark Scarbrough, is ''The Ultimate Frozen Dessert Book" (William Morrow). The two always keep ice cream sandwiches on hand in the freezer.
Their recipe yields thick, beautiful treats that are well worth the effort. The cookies, which call for butter and solid vegetable shortening, are ''the perfect texture to stand up to the freezer," Weinstein says. You can use homemade gelato, as Weinstein and Scarbrough do, or store-bought ice cream, frozen yogurt, or sorbet.
The authors also include a tip for making easy ''no-cook" sandwiches, using store-bought cookies. To make them, buy 24 large, 4-inch round cookies and three pints of premium ice cream. Freeze the ice cream for about 4 hours or until it is very hard. Set one of the pints on its side. Using a serrated knife, slice through the container to make four equally thick rounds of ice cream. Peel off the carton and place one round on a cookie, then top with a second cookie. This method works with homemade cookies, too.
Experiment with cookie and ice cream flavors. Sandwiches at home let you exercise your creativity with relatively little work. And the freezer will be stocked with treats for all the children you know, including the ones who are your age.
