Butchie and I were totally back on our game! Well, mostly. Let me take a moment to discuss proper high-fiving etiquette.
Perhaps you don't know this, but yes, there is a proper way to high five. If you merely hold up your hand for someone else to hit, this is NOT a high five. That is merely your being hit by another human being. In order for it to qualify as a high five, both hands must be moving towards each other. It is that simple. Butchie has now been well-versed in this etiquette and forced to practice. [FINE I GET IT I HAVE TO MAINTAIN MOMENTUM. --B.]
Why the high-fives? We were on our GAME! A well-oiled machine! We had everything together (including all the ingredients, unlike last week) and had ice cream churned and freezing and gingersnaps made and cleaned up in less than two hours! Okay, well, it sounds kinda weak in writing, but in person it's completely wonderful. [And totally out of character. Don't let these gorgeous photos she puts up every week fool you...we are MESSY. And spill a lot. And sometimes our food looks ugly. Jana, don't delete that last sentence. --B.]
The high-fiving however did turn to hitting when Butchie caught me sneaking cookies. I am NOT sorry. They are good and it was worth it.
We hope you enjoy these lovely ice cream cookies! We love them! [A note on the ice cream: it has a lovely rich texture from the ricotta, but if you are looking for a strong lemon flavor, we recommend substituting a few tablespoons of lemon juice instead of the extract we used here. Lemon extract adds more aroma than taste, which is often our compromise given that J. doesn't like citrus and I adore it. --B.]
Ginger Snap & Ricotta Lemon Cardamom Ice Cream Sandwiches
Gingersnaps
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 ½ eggs **yeah, I mean it too.
½ cup molasses
1 tablespoon white vinegar
3 1/8 cups bread flour
1 tablespoon baking soda
2 teaspoons ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Vanilla sugar or regular sugar
Using the dough hook at low speed, mix the butter and sugar together until well combined. Add in the eggs, molasses, and vinegar.
Sift together the flour, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom. Add to the butter mixture and mix on low speed just until combined.
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Divide the dough into two eighteen inch long logs and wrap in parchment paper. Refrigerate until firm.
Cut each rope into 30 pieces. Form the pieces into round balls and press the balls in the vanilla sugar (or regular sugar) to cover the tops. Place the cookies sugar-side up on sheet pans lined with baking paper or silpats.
Bake until light brown on top but still soft in the center, approximately 10 minutes.
Ricotta Lemon Cardamom Ice Cream
2 cups cream
1 cup milk
¾ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 tsp. cardamom
12 ounces ricotta
In a stand mixer combine the eggs and sugar. Beat for one minute until light and fluffy.
Gently mix in the cream, milk, lemon extract, cardamom and ricotta.
Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker. Allow the ice cream to churn until finished and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
To make the ice cream sandwiches scoop a bit of ice cream onto one gingersnap and sandwich it with another!