Ice Cream Sandwiches - Gemma's Bigger Bolder Baking Ep 182

Hi Bold Bakers! When I was a kid, I used to love those ice cream sandwiches that they sell in the shop. They've got vanilla ice cream in the middle and they're nice and cakey. Well today, in true Bigger Bolder Baking fashion, I am going to show you how you can recreate the exact same sandwiches at home. So let's get baking! Before we get started, the recipe for these can be found on BiggerBolderBaking.com and as always, do not forget to tap that subscribe button so you don't miss out on any of my fun upcoming videos for the summer. Okay, now let's talk ice cream sandwiches. We are going to start out in a large bowl, we're going to make the brownie layer. This is such a nice chocolatey, decadent layer and it's really, really easy to make. So into our bowl, we're going to add some butter and chocolate. Then all you want to do is pop these into the microwave or put it over a bain-marie and just let the two ingredients melt gently together. Okay so our chocolate has melted, now be careful, you always want to keep a close eye on chocolate if it's in the microwave because you don't want it to burn. I've burned many a bar of chocolate, so just keep a close eye on it. So now into our chocolate to cool it down, we're going to add in some sugar. And then all you want to do is just whisk it in. Now the reason we add in the sugar now is because we want the sugar to cool down the chocolate before we add in the eggs. So next we're going to crack in some eggs, and then add a little bit of salt, and of course some vanilla extract because you know I love vanilla extract. In you go. And then just swiftly give it a whisk all together. So when I was a kid on a Sunday we used to go to the shop with our pocket money and everybody used to get an ice cream and my dad's favorite one was an ice burger, which is actually very very similar to this one and it had kind of like chocolatey on the outside, soft and cakey and then vanilla ice cream in the middle. It was so good. Unlike today though when I was growing up, ice creams were like 50p so they were very very cheap. Okay lovely, our eggs are all mixed in, set this aside and we're going to mix together our dry ingredients. So in a large bowl lined with a sieve, I'm going to add in my flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda. And then all you want to do is sift all these together. The reason I always sift cocoa powder is because it's notorious for having big lumps in it and it's hard to work them out if you don't sift them. So I'm going to bring back in my wet ingredients, my lovely chocolatey mix, and then I'm going to add in my dry ingredients to that. And then all you want to do is just whisk it until it all comes together. Now one thing about baking with chocolate that I'll always tell you is use good quality chocolate. Somebody asked me the other day about cocoa percentages, and what you want to do is make sure the chocolate that you're baking with has a cocoa solid percentage, be it 50, 70, 72, that will make all the difference to your dessert, believe me. You see how thick this is? It's going to be delicious brownie! Right, that's it, all mixed up, now it's time to go into our tin. So here I have a nice big tray lined with parchment paper. Now it is roughly around 12 inches by 14 inches. If yours is a little bit smaller or bigger, that's totally fine. Now I'm just going to take my brownie mix, and then I'm just going to spread it into my tray. Spread it as evenly as you can, I know it's kind of hard. Now this should spread out with a spatula, but if you can't get it to move around so easily, get in there with your hands and push it into all the corners. That'll work perfectly fine too. Now that it's the summer, take that time that you have, a little bit extra, to do some baking, get into the kitchen, get creative, I have so many recipes on my website and videos, so make sure you go and check them out, there's lots there for you. Okay lovely, he's all spread out, looking fantastic, now it's time to bake him off. Bake your brownie off at 350ºF or 180ºC for roughly 12-15 minutes. Our brownies are done, and they look gorgeous. And you can tell when they're perfectly cooked, because if you press in the middle, it's nice and firm. Now I did bake these for like an extra 5 minutes, because I just wanted them to firm up a little bit more, so they probably will take roughly around 20 minutes. Okay, now we're just going to set this aside and let it cool down completely. So once your brownie is nice and cold, we're going to cut it in half, because we're going to sandwich the two layers together. So smack down the middle, just give it a nice big cut, lovely. So we're going to pick up our one piece of brownie, and then flop him over into the tray. Now the fresher he is, the more he might crumble, don't worry if he crumbles, we can just mush it back together. And then when he's in the tray, just push him over into the edge, because we're going to want to get those flushed sides to make our sandwich. Okay great, now for the ice cream. So here I have some of my two ingredient no machine ice cream, now you can also use store bought vanilla ice cream, and you don't even have to use vanilla, you can use peanut butter, raspberry swirl, whatever you like, something that goes well with chocolate. So all you want to do now is be really generous here, and we're going to put huge big scoops on top of our brownie layer. You want to make sure it's nice and thick, because you want a nice big sandwich. Okay lovely, and then when all your ice cream is there, it's handy if you leave it out on room temperature for around 10 minutes, let it get a little bit soft, and then go in with your clean hand, and then just pat down your ice cream, and get a nice thick layer, until it's nice and even. As even as it can be. Okay great, I think that's enough ice cream, now we're going to go on with our last layer. So to top it off, we're going to take our other layer of brownie, and then very carefully slide it on top of the ice cream. Now take your time, you don't want it to break. And if it does break, mush it back together like I said. Now just pat the top down nice and firm, you want to sandwich it well together, and then bring over your cling wrap, and just make him nice and snug in there. Okay, perfect. Now I'm going to pop this guy into the freezer for around 2 hours and let him freeze totally solid. So as they say in television, here is one I prepared earlier, now this ice cream sandwich is really rock hard, so now I'm going to cut it up into its portions. So I have a nice serrated knife here, and all I'm going to do is just trim the sides, and just get them nice and even. Just to make it look pretty, now don't worry, this bit will get eaten as well. Now I'm going to go ahead and cut this guy right down the middle. If you need to use a hot knife to get through that ice cream, that's a good idea. Lovely. Now you can make your sandwiches any size that you want, obviously the bigger and bolder the better. So I'm going to cut nice big rectangles, around 2 inches in width, all the way down. These sandwiches are great for parties, sleepovers, really fun to make, easy, and they taste delicious. Oh my gosh. I think I was pretty generous because I cut them really big. Check that out. Now to give it a big bite. Mmm. Oh man. Cakey, brownie, sandwichy stuff with vanilla ice cream in the middle, you really can't go wrong. It actually tastes just like the ones I had growing up, oh it's so good. I really hope you try this, put it on your baking list for this summer, and I will see you back here really soon for more Bigger Bolder Baking.