IceCreamSndwch the Schnee

These vegan ice-cream sandwiches are surprisingly easy to make and absolutely delightful – creamy (no-churn!) vanilla ice-cream hugged snuggly by two pieces of fudgy vegan brownie…heaven, I tell ya! So much so that Duncan pronounced them one of the best things I’ve made, which is a high praise indeed given I’ve now published close to 800 recipes!! – I think it’s because they are based on a suburban classic and he got all nostalgic.


ICE CREAM (or shop-bought vegan ice-cream)

🍦 160 g / 1¼ cup cashews, soaked
🍦 210 g / 1¼ cup solid coconut cream* (not milk)
🍦 80 ml / 1/3 cup maple syrup (or sugar)
🍦 15 ml / 1 tbsp vanilla extract
🍦 1/8 tsp salt

BROWNIE BASE

🍫 8 g / 4 tsp ground flax + 120 ml / ½ cup soy milk (or 120 ml / ½ cup aquafaba*)
🍫 200 g / 1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
🍫 125 g / 1 cup all purpose flour* (or a GF flour mix)
🍫 8 g / 1 tbsp cornstarch
🍫 50 g / scant ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
🍫 ¼ tsp salt
🍫 ¼ tsp baking soda (GF certified if needed)
🍫 150 g / 5¼ oz vegan 70% cocoa dark chocolate
🍫 100 g / ½ cup vegan butter
🍫 50 g / ¼ cup light muscovado sugar

ICE CREAM

🍦 1. Place all of the ice cream ingredients in a small blender. Blend until silky smooth.

🍦 2. Pour into a square 20 cm / 8″ silicone mould or a similar size container lined with baking paper. Gently stick a piece of baking paper to the surface of the ice-cream mixture and freeze until solid.

BROWNIE BASE

🍫 3. Preheat the oven to 180° C / 355° F. Line two square 20 cm / 8 inch baking tins (or one rectangular tin twice the size) with two long strips of baking paper so that all of the sides are covered.

🍫 4. If using FLAX, place it in a large mixing bowl with 120 ml / ½ cup of soy milk and set aside for 20 minutes. If using aquafaba, skip to the next step.

🍫 5. Combine flour, cornstarch, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda in another bowl – if your cocoa powder is lumpy, sift it into the flour. Mix well with a spoon.

🍫 6. Melt broken up chocolate, brown sugar and vegan butter in a bowl suspended over a pot of barely simmering water. Allow them to melt slowly, switch the heat off when most of the chocolate has melted. Stir gently to combine at the end.

🍫 7. Add sugar to the activated FLAX and whisk with an electric whisk for 2 minutes – until the mixture before pale, bubbly and gelatinous like an egg white (see photos in the post).

🍫 8. If using AQUAFABA, place it in a large bowl and whisk until frothy (about 1 minute), then add sugar gradually while whisking. Whisk until luminous white, bubbly and still runny but thick.

🍫 9. Using a spatula, gently fold warm (not cooled) chocolate mixture into the sugar mixture.

🍫 10. Add dry ingredients in three batches whilst gently folding with a spatula. Keep on folding until there is no dry pockets left but no more than that.

🍫 11. Divide the batter evenly between the two tins, spread to the edges with a spatula and bake for about 15 minutes. Handle very gently after baking.

🍫 12. Cool completely and then place in the fridge for a few hours for the brownies to firm up and become fudgy.

ASSEMBLY

🍦 13. Remove both brownie bases from the fridge. Turn one of the bases upside down, place frozen ice-cream on top and the other brownie base (shiny side up) on to of that.

🍦 14. Cut into 15 (6.5 cm / 2.5″ x 4 cm / 1 .5″) pieces with a sharp knife. For neater cuts, warm up your knife by dipping it in hot water (and drying) between cuts.

🍦 15. Place in an air-tight container and return to the freezer. Allow the ice-cream to thaw a little before consuming. Store in the freezer for up to 1 month.


🍫 COCONUT CREAM: for best texture, use fatty, solid coconut cream – the type that separates from a tin of stabiliser-free full fat coconut milk or coconut cream after prolonged refrigeration. Even if you buy a tin labelled coconut cream, it pays off to chill for a few days prior to using in order to separate the fat from coconut water to make the ice-cream as luxurious as possible. You could also use 240 ml / 1 cup of coconut milk and 120 ml / ½ cup of condensed coconut milk (Biona does a good one) instead of maple syrup/sugar to get the ice-cream nice and creamy.