Ice cream sandwiches: A one-way ticket to impressing the mother-in-law

Creamy vanilla ice cream lusciously spread between thick chewy cookies with crushed Oreo biscuits on the outside. Yum!

Saadia Tariq June 05, 2014
48 hours into married life and I spilled a glass of chilled coke on the lunch table which conveniently made its way onto my mother-in-law’s smartly dressed lap. My heavily make-upped mascara filled eyes refused to look up. The rest of the lunch was spent in shame and no coke either.

On the same evening, I decided to make up for the horror and volunteered to put together an ice cream cake for the guests arriving the next day. As you all know, the wedding fanfare continues until the dear bahu gets pregnant.

52 hours into married life, lawfully wedded Mr A took me shopping, looking for ice cream that would freeze well. Soon after, I started assembling the cake, with henna stamped hands and clad in spunky glittery newly wedding type clothes, ruffling and shuffling between crushing biscuits and managing the ice cream.

You must be thinking how difficult can it be to chill a crushed biscuit base in a spring form pan, smother it with some softened ice cream and nuts and then refreeze it until it’s rock hard?

Believe me, very difficult.

After much handling and mishandling, the cake was finally put in the freezer to chill overnight. When it was taken out of the freezer prior to serving, it was a hideous sight; with the vanilla milkshake resembling ice cream, lumpy with the biscuit base underneath, escaping from the gaps in the pan, not a bit frozen.

68 hours into married life, I half froze to death.

15 years later, I am rather chilled and a tad bit confident to handle ice cream (and in-laws). Hence, I bring you these spunky icy creamy sandwiches; creamy vanilla ice cream lusciously spread between thick chewy buttery oat biscuits with a final stamp of crushed Oreo biscuits on the outside, frozen until set and eaten before it melts down your smartly dressed clothes. Initially, they are a bit tedious to assemble but patience will definitely be a winner here. After all, who said impressing in-laws is easy!

Photo: Saadia Tariq

Ingredients for the cookie dough: (makes about 16 cookies)

Butter - 100 grams

Brown sugar - ⅓ cup

White sugar - ⅓ cup

Egg - 1

Flour - ¾ cup

Oats - 1 cup

Salt - ¼ tsp

Vanilla essence - ½ tsp

Ingredients for ice cream:

Favourite store bought ice cream - ½ litre

Oreo cookies - 3 (crushed)

Method:

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan and tip in both the sugars. Stir well until mixed properly.

2. Take off heat and whisk in the egg.

3. Pour in the flour, oats, salt and vanilla essence. Mix well with a wooden spoon or spatula.

4. Refrigerate the cookie dough mixture for about half an hour until it’s malleable and easy to handle.

5. Once the mixture is cold, take golf ball sized pieces of the dough in your slightly floured hand and roll into a ball. Flatten the ball in your hand and transfer to a lined baking sheet. Repeat until all the balls are made and the dough finishes.

6. Bake for 10 to12 minutes in a preheated oven 180C (350F). They will initially be slightly soft to touch but they will harden up as they cool down.

7. Take your ice cream, soften it slightly, and plop two tablespoons on each cookie base. Cover it with another cookie like a sandwich and wrap in cling wrap. Repeat until all your sandwiches are done and then stick them in the freezer for 10 minutes.

8. Put crushed Oreo cookies on a tray, wheel around your cold sandwich cookies in the cookie crumbs so that they are covered by the black powdered goodness and put them back in the freezer.

9. Freeze for a minimum of three hours and then impress and devour.

Photo: Saadia Tariq

96 hours into married life, whilst en-route to the airport for my flight abroad I ripped an outfit given to me by my in-laws. It got caught between emotional goodbyes and the car door.

But alas, such is life!

This blog originally appeared here.
WRITTEN BY:
Saadia Tariq The writer is a food consultant, blogger and food photographer. You can see her work on her website www.capturebyst.com, her Facebook page www.facebook.com/capturebyst or follow her on twitter @capturebyst (https://twitter.com/capturebyst).
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (16)

Miss Syed | 9 years ago | Reply Well, even if a girl kills herself and presents her heart to the mother-in-law she will still NOT like her.Women find it extremely difficult to share the attention of their sons in this part of the world...meanwhile, a woman is supposed to devote all her time and attention to her inlaws while forgetting the family that nurtured her for 20 + years, Obsessive women.
Queen | 9 years ago | Reply I like the way you incorporate songs in your blogs, Missed it in this one though :)
saadia tariq | 9 years ago hey - another one coming up soon
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