Mint Ice Cream Sandwich Featuring The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen Bake Shop Signature Chocolate Chip Cookies

Mint Ice Cream Sandwich Featuring The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen Bake Shop Signature Chocolate Chip Cookies

A couple of months ago, Mrs. Stuntman came home from the supermarket with some ice cream sandwiches. At first, I couldn't understand the purchase. Why eat frozen food in the dead of winter? I might have even mocked her, suggesting that she could even store them outside overnight as it was colder there than in the freezer. Alas, a couple of nights later, I found myself reaching for one as I was watching television. As I was eating it, I was reminded of my favorite ice cream sandwich, It's-It. For the uninitiated, it's ice cream sandwiched between two oatmeal cookies, then dipped in chocolate. As I was eating the dessert, I thought to myself, I could do this better. Taking inspiration from the It's-It, I really liked the idea of using cookies in the dish instead of a chocolate wafer found in many store bought varieties which made me think of my friend Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen.

You might remember Susan from last summer when she prepared a Peach Slab Pie for my Adding Some Class with... series. If you'll remember, I noted at the time that she had successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign to open a bake shop. Well, I'm happy to announce (if you were unaware previously) that the bake shop is now open for business! The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen Bake Shop features Susan's Signature Chocolate Chip Cookies, Triple Choc-o-lot Cookies, Peanut Butter Cookies, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Cookies, in addition to a Cookie Sampler Package that contains 4 each: Original Chocolate Chip, Triple Choc-olot Cookies and Peanut Butter Cookies plus a Cookie of the Month Club where she highlights cookies with seasonal flavors. Each order arrives in a beautiful gift box that contains cellophane pouches with two cookies in each pouch (or single-packed in the case of her Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich Cookies).

After making my own purchase of Susan's cookies, I can highly recommend you do the same. In my case, I used Susan's Signature Chocolate Chip Cookies in this dish. If you have been reading this website for any length of time, you know I'm not a fan of taking short cuts, so you might be asking yourself why are you taking a short cut here? I would reply with is this a short cut? Had I baked my own, I would have used the same quality of ingredients Susan uses and prepared them with the same care which is a huge contrast to the mechanically prepared confections found at the supermarket. The mint flavored ice cream was made to appease my daughter because it's one of her favorite flavors in addition to it's visual appeal.

The Challenge

Successfully complement cookies from The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen Bake Shop.

The Source

I adapted David Lebovitz's Mint Chip Ice Cream recipe.

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 pinch salt
2 cups packed fresh mint leaves
5 large egg yolks
1 to 2 drops green food coloring (optional)
1 dozen The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen Signature Chocolate Chip Cookies

Method

1. Combine the milk, sugar, remaining heavy cream, salt and mint leaves in a small saucepan and scald over medium-low heat. Once hot, shut off the heat, cover and let the mixture sit for 60 minutes to allow the mint leaves to steep and let the flavors infuse. After the hour has elapsed, strain out the mint leaves, and discard but not before pressing down on them against the strainer with a spatula to extract as much flavor as they can muster.

2. Whisk the egg yolks in a medium bowl and set aside. Rewarm the mint-infused milk, then slowly whisk in a small portion into the bowl with the egg yolks to warm the yolks. Combine the warmed yolks back into the infused milk and cook over medium-low to medium heat until the mixture reaches 170º Fahrenheit, stirring constantly until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Strain the infused milk and eggs into a bowl with the remaining 1 cup heavy cream and green food coloring (if using), then let it cool. Cover, then refrigerate overnight. Churn it in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

3. To serve, place one cookie on a plate, flat side up then top with a scoop of ice cream, then a second cookie, pressing down on the second cookie so the ice cream fills it's circumference.

Successful?

The mint flavor was a little strong but it still complemented the cookies well. Once again, I highly recommend you to patronize Susan's bake shop, but if you're unable to do so, please 'Like' her facebook page, add her on G+, follow her on twitter, Instagram and pinterest.

Adding Some Class with Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen

Peach Slab Pie

I believe I met Susan of The Girl in the Little Red Kitchen two years ago when I joined Food Bloggers Network which is a facebook group founded by Jessica of Oh Cake so I was already familiar with her when I joined #SundaySupper Movement where we connected further. We met in person a couple of weekends ago at Food & Wine Conference where I was able to take a picture with her.

In all honesty, I'm a little envious because she and her husband live in New York City and has access to some of the best foods available, such as lamb brisket and ramps. She even has a breakfast recipe category which I find impressive because I'm not awake enough in the morning to produce blog-worthy breakfast dishes.

I also admire Susan because she successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign earlier this year to open a bakery to sell cookies. Susan told me that she should be able to start accepting orders by the end of August. To keep yourself updated on her progress with her bakery, please ensure you 'Like' her on facebook, add her on G+, in addition to following her on twitter, Instagram and pinterest.

And now, I present Susan:

Hi there Crazy Foodie Stunts readers! I’m Susan from The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen and it’s an absolute pleasure to be here today as part of DB’s Adding Some Class series. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing DB virtually for quite some time now and finally had the chance to meet him and his beautiful family in person just a few weekends ago at the Food and Wine Conference in Orlando, FL.

It was a wonderful weekend full of informative sessions on how to become a better blogger, SEO tech babble that went over most of our heads, food, wine and most importantly meeting your online friends in person for the first time. I don’t think words can describe what a pleasure it was to sit and talk with DB and all our #SundaySupper friends throughout the two and a half days we had together. My only complaint is that the time was just too short, especially when we are on opposite coasts and only have these once a year opportunities to see each other.

When DB invited me to post for him today he basically gave me free reign to do as I wished. Since peaches are about to come into their prime and I know for a fact that he can get some really tasty ones in his part of the country, some Peach Slab Pie was in order.

Plus we all know DB is your go-to guy for the savory food but baking is not his favorite area.
Right?

So this pie is the pie for crust lovers. It’s also the pie for people who do not like making pies because it’s rustic, it’s not round and if your dough tears while you’re putting it together you can just patch it right back up. I kept things simple too, just simply peaches, a little sugar and a little cornstarch to thicken things up. You can even leave the peach skins on if you really want to ease into – but I personally don’t care for the texture once they are baked.

Ingredients:
For the crust -
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon granulated white sugar
pinch of salt
1 and 1/2 sticks (12 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cold
4 tablespoons cream cheese, cold
3-5 tablespoons ice water
For the filling -
5 ripe peaches
2 tablespoons granulated white sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
pinch of salt
1 large egg + 1 teaspoon water for egg wash
cinnamon sugar to top (optional)

Directions:
In a medium bowl mix together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter mix in the butter until it resembles small pebbles. Add in the cream cheese and continue to mix with the pastry cutter until it’s broken up.

Add the cold water 1 tablespoon at a time and mix the dough with a wooden spoon until it forms into a ball. You want to make sure the dough doesn’t become too wet. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and set up an ice bath. Score an X at the bottom of the peaches with a sharp knife. Drop in the boiling water for 30 seconds and remove with a slotted spoon into the ice bath. Let sit for 15-20 seconds and the skins should peel off without a problem.

Very carefully with a sharp knife, quarter the peaches and remove the pit. Slice into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices, place in a medium bowl. Mix in the sugar, cornstarch and salt and set aside.

Heat your oven to 350 degrees and have a rimmed quarter sheet pan read (9×13 inches).

Lightly flour your work surface and roll out 2/3 of the dough into a rectangle large enough to fit the pan. Transfer the dough to the pan and let the edges hang out (if you rolled it just shy that’s fine).

Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the peach filling leaving the juices behind and spread evenly across the dough leaving a 1/2 inch boarder.

Roll out the remaining dough to cover the peaches and fold the bottom crust over the top to seal. Use the tines of a fork to seal the edges. Brush the top with an egg wash and if using sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the crust is crisp and golden brown. Let cool for 30 minutes to an hour before slicing.

Serve with a scoop of ice cream. Store any remaining pie in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days.

I'd like to thank Susan for being my guest today. One of the reasons is because I absolutely love this dessert because it's baked dish but is forgiving enough for a the beginner baker such as myself. She passed along more pictures of the dish.

Before I leave you, I wanted to give you an update on the ribs dish I published two Sundays ago. Well, I competed using that sauce but only received two votes for best rib. For me, this year was different because Mrs. Stuntman, my daughter, my sister and one of her friends joined me so despite the loss, a good time was had by all.