Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches

I was at Costco buying my monthly ration of cheese (don't kid, Costco has an excellent selection of artisinal cheeses, try the Coastal Cheddar and their Parm. Yum!) when this month's issue of Gourmet magazine was staring me in the face. I had to make the cover recipe! I just bought the ice cream attachment for my Kitchen Aid and ice cream sandwiches were a perfect recipe to break in my new toy.

Last week was my friend Chiron's birthday along with my friends Annika, Jed and Caroline. Since I am the resident chef of 56th St, I was in charge of the menu for the big birthday bash. Chiron requested a cherry vanilla cake so I made cherry vanilla ice cream sandwiches inspired by Gourmet's cover recipe.

The brownie recipe from Gourmet magazine is a chewy blondie. Blondies are basically brownies but instead of chocolate or cocoa powder, it uses brown sugar for the main flavor component. For the cherry part, I made a simple cherry compote (similar to making cherry pie filling) which I folded into my homemade vanilla ice cream.

TBC Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream Sandwiches

for the brownie:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar

for the Ice Cream Base:
2 cups milk
3 cups heavy cream
8 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
4 tsp. vanilla

for the Cherry Compote:
4 cups pitted sweet cherries, chopped (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbs. water
2 tsp. cornstarch

Directions

Make the ice cream base and cherry compote first. The ice cream base needs to chill and rest at least 8 hours before churning. The cherry compote must be chilled before adding it to the ice cream

In a saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk and 2 cups of the heavy cream until hot but not boiling. Remove from heat, set aside. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Slowly add hot milk/cream mixture to eggs while stirring. Do this carefully and slowly because you do not want scrambled eggs. Return tempered egg/milk mixture back to saucepan and cook over medium heat stirring constantly with a rubber spatula. Make sure you scrape the bottom and the sides when you are stirring. Cook the mixture until it has thickened enough to leave a streak on the spatula when you swipe your finger across. Transfer mixture to a container, stir in remaining one cup of heavy cream and 4 tsp. vanilla. Cover and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours. After chilling, churn ice cream according to your ice cream maker instructions. After ice cream is churned fold in the cherry compote.

To prepare the compote, combine cherries, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, 2 tablespoons water, and cornstarch in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool.

Preheat oven to 375˚F with rack in middle. Spray two 8 X 8 baking pans and line with foil leaving a 1-inch overhand on each side. Spray foil with baking spray. Whisk together flour, baking powder, soda, and salt in a bowl. Beat butter, brown sugar in with electric mixer until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in egg and vanilla. Add flour mixture in 2 batches, mixing until just combined. Divide batter amongst the two baking pans and spread into a thin, even sheet using a spatula. Bake until golden brown but still tender about 10-12 minutes. Cool completely in pans, about 30 minutes.

To assemble the sandwiches:

Spoon all of the ice cream over 1 sandwich layer (in the baking pan) and spread evenly with a spatula. Invert second sandwich layer over ice cream, pressing gently to form an even sandwich. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until firm, at least three hours. Transfer sandwich to cutting board using foil overhang. Trim edges if desired and cut into 9 pieces.