almond chocolate ice cream macaronwiches

For the past couple of years, I (being of sound mind) have considered driving to New York City to take part in Macaron Day, or le Jour du Macaron if you are le French. That’s eight hours and 460 miles of driving (one way), just to snag a macaron here and there in the city’s bakeries. I don’t even like macarons that much.

I’m now 615 miles away, so my previously silly and idyllic dedication to baked goods has become ludicrous – I’m not going anywhere.

But I can still celebrate, and heck, I don’t even have to wait until the 20th. I can celebrate right now! That’s no ganache or buttercream between my macarons pictured above: for this fête, I have paired my almond macarons with an almond chocolate custard ice cream to make ice cream sandwiches – or as I like to call them, Almond and Chocolate Ice Cream Macaronwiches !

  

These may look like one-off macarons to you, and yes, they don’t have the ‘feet’ typical of well-made macarons. “They look more like cookies,” you might say. They look like failures, you might think.

My rationale here was that I prefer my ice cream sandwich cookies to be thin, wide, and large, but not tall, easily breakable, or hard to handle. I adopted the idea for these macaronwiches, and the result was a cakey ‘cookie’ that accentuates the ice cream in a simple, delicate way.

I added a small amount of almond extract to the boiling sugar-water mixture – this kept the mixture from reaching the soft ball candy stage, which in turn prevented the whipped meringue from becoming truly shiny. Hence macarons with no feet. To make regular pretty macarons, add no almond extract, or add it at the end stage of whipping.

Given my recent lamentations on the prevalence of snow and slush in the vicinity, ice cream sandwiches may come as an unexpected choice.

But despite the lingering snow and stormy skies, it reached nearly 60 degrees F outside yesterday, when I took the pictures below. I opened my window, allowing spring to percolate into the house. I sloshed about in my rain boots. And I devoured plenty of almond chocolate ice cream.

Despite their flatness, the macarons were still fluffy, and with time in the freezer they took on a bit of the hardening ice cream’s moisture. Due to this, it is best not to stack them in the freezer. Don’t worry though, I’m lazy and didn’t follow my own advice.

Almond Chocolate Ice Cream Macaronwiches

{original concept; basic macaron recipe from Mélanger}

Makes 10-14 sandwiches

Almond Macarons

++Ingredients:++

125g almond meal
125g powdered sugar
100g egg whites, aged
3g meringue (egg white) powder
150g granulated sugar and 50ml water
1/4 tsp almond extract
Chocolate sprinkles/jimmies

++Directions:++

Process the almond meal, let sit to dry. Pulse with powdered sugar.  In a mixer, whip half of the egg whites to soft peaks.  At the same time, bring water and granulated sugar to 242F (117C) in a saucepan. For flat cookie-style macarons, add in almond extract – this will keep temperature from creeping much past 230F, some of the mixture will evaporate. Slowly add the boiling syrup to the egg whites and continue to whip on medium speed until they thick and shiny and are completely cooled (about 10 minutes).  If making regular pretty macaron shells, add almond extract when meringue starts to turn shiny.  Mix the remaining egg whites to the sifted almond mixture and fold into the meringue in four parts.

Pipe macarons on lined baking sheets. I made these shells larger than normal, to be tasty ice cream sammy size. Double up baking sheets if you do not have professional grade quality.  Let macarons sit at room temperature for 30-60 minutes. Sprinkle some of the shells with chocolate sprinkles. Bake 280F (140C) for 15-18 minutes.  Remove from parchment, and refrigerate.

Almond Chocolate Custard Ice Cream

{Original recipe}

++Ingredients:++

1 c. heavy cream
1 c. whole milk
55 g unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp almond extract
55 g dark chocolate, chopped finely
Heaping 1/2 c. almonds, chopped in half and toasted
4 egg yolks (save the yolks when separating eggs for the above macarons)
1/2 c. (100 g) granulated sugar

++Directions:++

Mix cream, milk and cocoa powder together in a saucepan, and bring to a near-boil to scald the milk. Remove from heat, add chopped chocolate, and let sit for a minute or two before mixing to incorporate chocolate.

Whisk egg yolks and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add almonds. Whisking constantly, add a bit of the hot milk mixture to the yolk-sugar mixture. Continue to add and whisk until completely combined.

Return all to a saucepan and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens into a custard. At this point the mixture will coat a spoon, or will be approximately 170F.

Remove from heat and stir in extracts. Pour into a long shallow pan, and place in the freezer. Stir the mixture every twenty to thirty minutes for the next 60-120 minutes, until thick, but soft enough to make ice cream sandwiches with.

Set up your macaronwich-making station: lay out pairs of macaron shells. Using two spoons, place a generous dollop of ice cream on one of the shells. Press second shell onto ice gently, using your palm to press the shell down slowly. Place on a plate or tray, and freeze until hardened.

When I was young, I hated cake. This story is sad but true. And so, cake-hater that I was, my birthday always found me enjoying an ice cream cake. These sandwiches are, to me, reminiscent of ice cream cake. Dense and chewy and sweet and good.

I am submitting these to Mactweets’ Mac Attack #27 – Macaron Day. There is no better way for me to celebrate the ‘birthday’ of the macaron than with ice cream sandwiches, err, macaronwiches. Un bon jour du macaron à tous !