Maria Nasir“My therapist told me the way to achieve true inner peace is to finish what I start. So far today, I have finished 2 bags of M&M’s and a chocolate cake. I feel better already.”
― Dave Barry
This recipe for Chocolate Brownie-Ice cream Sandwiches is my ultimate romance with chocolate. I can cut calories on everything else in the world but when it comes to chocolate, it has to be a complete surrender of will power to pure indulgence. I am a chocoholic and taking chocolate recipes to their extreme is my most favourite pastime in the kitchen. A chocolate brownie with chewy crust and gooey inside…not just one, two of them and sandwiched between them a scoop of ice cream and some tart, juicy fruit. No, we are not done yet ! A dribble of chocolate ganache on top to complete the chocolate experience. Now that sounds perfect !
Add any of your favourite seasonal fruit to make it juicier which adds another dimension of flavour, like pitted cherries, strawberries or pineapple slices. Heaven is in your hand…indulge :))
For Chocolate Brownie-Ice cream Sandwich :
2 cups unsalted butter cubes
1 cup granulated sugar
1+1/4 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
4 eggs
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups sliced strawberries or any fruit of your choice
9 scoops or slices of vanilla or your favourite flavour of ice cream
For Chocolate Ganache :
Heat slowly in a double boiler, 1 cup heavy cream, 1 cup milk chocolate and 1 teaspoon instant coffee, stir till chocolate melts and everything mixes up to make a sauce.
This Is What You Do :
Preheat oven to 170 degrees C. Line an 8×8 inch square baking pan with aluminium foil. Leave some foil hanging over the edges to make it easier to pull out the brownies. Lightly grease the foil.
Mix butter, both sugars, salt and cocoa powder in a microwave safe bowl. Melt at 30 seconds intervals, stirring every time till butter melts. Or if you are not lazy you can do it on stove top.
Let the mixture cool down a little bit before you start adding eggs. Add one egg at a time and mix thoroughly.
Add vanilla essence and stir in flour. Don’t over mix, it’s fine even if the mixture is lumpy.
This mixture will make two batches of brownies. Bake for 25 minutes or till a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean. Let the brownies cool a little bit. Lift them out of the pan, repeat with the other half of the mixture.
When the pans cool down cut 9 pieces out of each pan, total 18 brownies. The brownies can be made ahead and stored in the fridge till you need to make the sandwiches.
To make the sandwiches, place a brownie in a dessert plate. Wet an ice cream scoop spoon to make a clean scoop of ice cream or cut a thick slice of ice cream. Place some sliced strawberries over one brownie, top it with a scoop or slice of ice cream , then cover with the other brownie. Dribble some chocolate ganache over. Enjoy !
Makes 9 chocolate sandwiches