Variations Mochi is a great canvas, making this recipe very flexible. As variations, consider these combinations: • Blood orange sorbet + candied ginger • Banana + toasted sesame seeds • Mango sorbet + crushed macadamia nuts • + chocolate chips • Peanut butter ice cream + grape jelly • Peach ice cream + slivered almonds Red Velvet Waffle Ice Cream

Iron: Belgian or standard time: 2 hours (includes 1 hour for yield: Makes 8 (see Tip on page 172 regarding allowing sandwiches to freeze) sandwiches preparation in Belgian-style iron)

Testing this recipe was brutal: I can’t tell you how many “failures” I had to eat.

ou’re not going to have to try very hard to make these look and taste amazing. Y I would pat myself on the back for all the iterations I tried to perfect this recipe except that—let’s be honest—what we’re really talking about is me eating ice cream sandwiches. It’s not exactly digging ditches.

Desserts 169

With a typical ice cream , the part is fragile enough INGREDIENTS that it pays to assemble them carefully by cutting sandwich-size slices 1¾ cups all-purpose flour from a sheet of ice cream that has been softened and then refrozen ¼ in the perfect shape. With waffling, we can forget all that. The waffle cup unsweetened cocoa are sturdy enough to withstand a little spatula action. Just 1 teaspoon baking soda spread the softened ice cream right on there. 1 teaspoon salt The classic vanilla ice cream on red velvet waffle cookies is a win- 1 cup canola oil ner. But you can try other flavors, too. See page 172 for suggestions. 1 cup granulated sugar 1 Preheat the waffle iron on 5 Coat both sides of the 1 large egg medium. waffle iron grid with nonstick 3 tablespoons red food spray. Pour enough batter into 2 In a medium-size bowl, whisk coloring the waffle iron to cover the together the flour, cocoa, baking 1 teaspoon pure vanilla grid, close the lid, and cook until soda, and salt. Set aside. extract the waffles are firm enough to 1½ teaspoons distilled 3 In the bowl of a stand mixer, remove from the waffle iron, white vinegar or with an electric hand mixer 4 minutes. in a large bowl, beat the oil and ½ cup buttermilk 6 Allow the waffles to cool sugar at medium speed until well Nonstick cooking spray slightly on a wire rack. Use blended. Beat in the egg. Turn kitchen shears or a sharp knife 1½ quarts vanilla ice cream down the mixer to low, and slowly to separate the waffles into 2 cups semisweet mini add the food coloring and vanilla. sections (probably rectangles, chocolate chips 4 Mix the vinegar and the wedges, or hearts, depending buttermilk together. Add half on your waffle iron). Repeat to Note: One difference of this buttermilk mixture to make a total of 16 sections. between premium ice the large bowl with the oil, creams and less expensive 7 While the waffle sections are sugar, and egg. Stir to combine, versions is the amount of cooling, set the ice cream on the and then add half of the flour air incorporated into the counter to soften for 10 minutes. ice cream. This makes mixture. Scrape down the bowl a difference when it and stir only enough to make 8 After the ice cream has comes to making these sure there is no unmixed flour. softened, set out half of the sandwiches: The cheaper Add the rest of the buttermilk waffle sections and use a spatula ice cream will tend to be mixture, stir to combine, and to spread ice cream about 1 inch fluffier, will soften more then add the last of the flour thick on each of them. Top with quickly, and will be easier to spread. mixture. Stir again, just enough the remaining sections to make to make sure there is no 8 sandwiches. Scrape off any unmixed flour. ice cream overflow with a rubber

Desserts 171 spatula to neaten the edges. bag, and place the bag in the Tips Then dunk the edges of the ice freezer for at least 1 hour to • If you’re using a Belgian- cream into a bowl or shallow dish allow the ice cream to harden. style iron that yields filled with mini chocolate chips. Remove a sandwich a few minutes before serving to allow sufficiently large waffles, 9 Wrap each sandwich tightly it to soften slightly. you may wish to let the in plastic wrap, place in a zip-top waffles cool and then split them in half to create the top and bottom of the Variations sandwich. • Use cookies-and-cream ice • Use and • The Waffled Oatmeal cream for a filling, with the dunk the edges in crushed Chocolate Chip Cookies edges dunked in crushed peanuts instead of mini (page 163) also work chocolate sandwich cookies. chocolate chips. fantastically well with ice cream sandwiched between them. Waffled Banana Bread

Iron: Belgian or standard time: 45 minutes yield: Makes 10 to 15 waffled banana bread slices Use bananas as ripe as you’d want to eat—save the mushy ones for conventional banana bread.

he first time I made this, we were having guests for brunch. They texted before they came over. “Should we bring any- T thing? Croissants? Fruit?” I looked at the mess on my counter. Was it fair to subject them to my waffling experiments?

172 Will It Waffle? waffled banana bread ▶