Bailey`s & Guinness Ice Cream Sandwiches

Hello all of my leprechaun friends!

These ice-cream sandwiches are for you — they’re not green (thank God) — but they do contain 2 different (and highly celebrated) alcohols from the country at the centre of all the attention today.

Japan aside — I know more minds are nuclear reactors than the luck of the Irish today — but maybe if we all had an ice cream sandwich filled with the goodness of Guinness and Bailey’s,, some of that luck might spread out to where the world needs it most.   

The cookies are adapted from here — I omitted the ground ginger and replaced the molasses with some Guinness syrup, described below.  They’re amazing on their own with a glass of milk (or coffee with Bailey’s).

The ice cream is high maintenance — and if you don`t like that, then simply use your favourite recipe/storebought in its place – but if you’re intrigued by gelato-like creaminess, and don’t mind messing around with some Italian Meringue (which can be a bit finicky and messy the first time), then try it.  It uses four whole eggs, rather than the 12 yolks my culinary school ice cream recipe calls for, and the mixutre of half & half and whole milk makes it rich without making it heavy.

The recipe below makes a huge batch (over 1 quart/litre) — if  you’re going to the effort of extra work, always make sure it’s worth it — you’ll have more ice cream than you’ll need for the sandwiches, but I’m sure you’ll put it to good use.  Or, just cut the recipe in half.

Guiness-Chocolate Spice Cookies
printable recipe here.
Yield:  18 big cookies

It is important to underbake the cookies (they won’t look done when you take them out of the oven) and then let them firm up as they cool on the baking sheet. If you overbake the cookies, they will become dry and crisp.

1 can Guinness Draft
2 tble brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 ½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
¼ tsp ground allspice
¾ cup unsalted butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar, packed
½ cup granulated sugar, plus 1/3 cup for rolling cookies
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Adjust racks to upper- and lower-middle position and pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Pour the Guinness into a med. saucepan and add the 2 tablespoons brown sugar.  Reduce over med-high heat to 1/3 cup.  Set the syrup aside to cool.

Whisk flour, baking soda, salt, and spices together in medium bowl.

Cream butter, brown sugar, and 1/2 cup granulated sugar with an electric mixer on med. speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg, vanilla extract, and molasses. Beat until combined, about 30 seconds.

Add dry ingredients and beat at low speed until just combined, about 30 seconds.

Place remaining 1/3 cup granulated sugar in a shallow bowl. Roll ¼ cup of dough into a ball, then roll in sugar and place on ungreased baking sheet.  Repeat with the remaining dough, spacing the balls 2” apart.

Bake, reversing position of cookie sheets (from top to bottom and front to back) halfway through baking, until outer edges begin to set and centers are soft and puffy, 11 to 13 minutes. Cool cookies on sheets for 2 to 3 minutes before transferring to cooling racks with wide spatula.  Once completely cool, store in a covered container for up to 3 days.

Back to the ice cream.  My idea to use Italian Meringue here is not original.  Julia Child uses it with plain whipped cream to make a creamy frozen dessert free of ice crystals — no ice cream maker required!

But me, Howard and our lactose intolerance try to avoid full-on whipping cream in large amounts, so I made the leap to combine the meringue with the custard base similar to the one from my culinary school recipe.

Why Italian Meringue?  Well, pouring boiling hot sugar syrup into whipped egg whites achieves a couple of things:

1. It stabilizes the meringue.  No weeping or seperating here…
2. It cooks the egg whites.  No food safety issues here either!

Just be careful with the hot sugar syrup, OK?

Bailey’s Irish Cream Gelato
printable recipe here.
500 ml half & half
500 ml milk
4 eggs, separated
¼ cup sugar
2 vanilla beans
1/2 cup Bailey’s Irish Cream
¾ cup sugar
2 tble water
¼ cup sugar

Heat the half & half, milk and vanilla to just boiling over medium heat.  Remove from the heat and whisk together the yolks and sugar.

To temper the yolks, pour approx ¼ cup of the hot cream mixture into the yolks and stir well.  Pour the remaining cream into the yolks and stir.  Return the mixture to a clean pan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon – do not allow it to boil.  The mixture is ready when it coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Strain into a clean bowl set over ice to stop the cooking process.  Stir in the Bailey’s Irish Cream.  Partially cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled.

Bring the ¾ cup sugar and water to a boil over high heat.  While the sugar comes to a boil, beat the egg whites on high speed in an electric mixer fitted with the whisk.  When the whites form soft peaks, add the remaining ¼ cup sugar.  Lower the speed to medium and continue whipping the whites.

When the sugar reaches 238°F, pour it in a steady stream into the whites, between the side of the bowl and the whisk.  Continue whipping the whites on medium until they are cool.

Once the meringue is cool, add the cooled cream and yolk mixture to the bowl and whip until combined.  Chill well.

Pour half of the chilled mixture into an ice-cream maker and proceed as per manufacturer’s instructions.  Remove ice cream to a container and freeze until firm. Clean the ice-cream maker, refreeze, and repeat with the remainder of the ice-cream base.

Scoop some ice cream onto the bottom of one cookie, top with another cookie, pressing down firmly and evenly to distribute the ice cream.  Wrap in waxed paper and freeze until ready to serve.