Banoffee Ice Cream Sandwiches By Izy Hossack

Well before the dishes were put away following Izy Hossack's book launch in the studio last month, we had already started planning the next event to get her back to cook for us. 

Izy will be hosting a supperclub on 6 September, cooking all vegan recipes from her new cookbook, The Savvy Cook, including crispy broccoli tacos, 'chorizo' dip and chocolate cake with sweet potato ganache. To wash it down there'll be plenty of Beavertown beer + homemade seasonal fruit shrub (with/without gin) and as if you need another reason to book your ticket like yesterday, a plate by KCHossack pottery will be included in the goodie bag.

Find the menu and tickets for the supperclub here.

To tide us over until the supperclub, here's Izy with exactly what we didn't even know we were craving! But we'll let her tell you all about it.

Even though England’s weather has decided that summer is not here anymore (where has that perfect 20-degree warmth gone!?) I still find myself searching for ice cream as dessert most evenings at the moment. I’m blaming my recent trip to Italy during which a post-lunch gelato was essential. It can get a bit same-y though so ice cream desserts are my solution!

Here we’ve got the classic banoffee pie flavours all grown-up – a tangy banana ‘ice cream’ made of just blitzed banana and yogurt (not for ‘health’ reasons but for simplicity’s sake as I couldn’t bring myself to pull out the ice cream maker), bitter chocolate & brown butter cookies and a salty tahini caramel. They are simply blissful.

- Izy

Banoffee Ice Cream Sandwiches

Makes 10 ice cream sandwiches

Ingredients:

Cookies:
140g unsalted butter
100g granulated sugar
140g light brown sugar
125g plain wholemeal flour
85g plain white flour
½ tsp flaky salt, plus more for sprinkling
¾ tsp baking powder
¾ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 large egg
200g dark chocolate (I like 70% cocoa solids), roughly chopped

Banana Ice Cream:
2 overripe bananas, peeled
4 tbsp full fat yogurt

Tahini Caramel:
75g light brown sugar
1 tbsp honey
50g water
2 tbsp tahini
pinch of salt
½ tsp vanilla
2 tbsp plain milk (or almond milk)

For the cookies:
Place the butter into a small pot over a medium-low heat. Let the butter melt then keep cooking it until it foams up, gets golden brown bits in it, and smells nutty. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool for about 15 minutes. In a large bowl combine the sugars, flours, salt, baking powder and bicarbonate of soda. Add the cooled butter and the egg and stir in to get a moist dough. Stir in the chopped chocolate. Scoop the dough into about 20 balls – using about 2 heaped tablespoons of dough per ball – and place on a baking tray. Chill for at least an hour or (for the tastiest cookies) for 72 hours.

Once you’re ready to bake, preheat the oven to 200 C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Place balls of cookie dough onto the lined tray, spacing them about 5cm apart, sprinkle with a bit of flaky salt. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown and the edges are set. Remove from the oven, leave to cool on the tray for a few minutes then move to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat with the remaining cookies.

For the ice cream:
Cut the peeled bananas into coins about 1cm thick. Place onto a baking tray in a single layer and freeze until solid (about 4 hours). Blend the frozen bananas with the yogurt in a food processor, scraping down the sides occasionally, until smooth and creamy. Pour into a container and place back into the freezer for at least an hour to firm up.

For the caramel:
Heat the sugar, honey and water in a small pot over a medium heat – don’t stir, just gently tilt the pot to encourage the sugar to dissolve. Once the sugar mixture starts to boil let it boil for 30 seconds, turn the heat down and add the tahini, salt, vanilla and milk and stir in. Scoop a little of the caramel out of the pot and dot onto a plate, let it cool and run your finger through the mixture. If it seems too thin (you want a pourable texture) keep cooking it until thickened. If it’s too thick, add a splash more milk to the caramel to thin it out. Once you’ve got the right texture, remove from the heat and leave to cool.

To assemble:
Take the ice cream out of the freezer a 10 minutes before assembly (these are best assembled and them eaten right away rather than re-freezing them to eat later). Use an ice cream scoop to scoop up about 2 tbsp of softened ice cream and place it onto the underside of one cookie. Drizzle with some of the tahini caramel and top with a second cookie, pushing down to squish the ice cream to the edges. Repeat with however many cookies you want to use and eat immediately!