I’m here for the ice cream sandwiches

August 1, 2019 4:29 AM

Birth of the cool: The story behind the ice cream sandwich, an icon at 120 : "Aug. 2 is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day, surely a holiday worth celebrating. And this year marks the ice cream sandwich’s 120th birthday. Or maybe it doesn’t."
posted by carolr (20 comments total)

If you’re looking for a quick and easy, no-bake dessert for a potluck or other large crowd, an ice cream sandwich cake is a sure-fire crowd pleaser. You can find tons of recipes online, but they’re all pretty similar...

In a 9”x13” glass pan, line the bottom with a layer of ice cream sandwiches (about twelve), cutting to fit as needed. Top with a layer of whipped cream. Repeat with another layer of ice cream sandwiches, and whipped cream. Finally, top with caramel, chocolate syrup and any other topping you like (M&Ms, sprinkles, crumbled Oreos, etc.). Put in freezer to firm up before serving.

Serve by cutting out portions with a knife. Really easy to prep, and very popular!
posted by darkstar at 5:30 AM on August 1, 2019 [3 favorites]

He believes he invented the ice cream sandwich, so, Matt tells me, “as an ode to my grandfather, I cited him as one of the inventors in Wikipedia.” This then made its way into plenty of articles and a couple of books as fact. “We’re not sure he’s actually the inventor,” Matt says, “but we call him that because we love him.”)

This is great.

Also,

“What I know is that initially they were sold on the Bowery in New York by street vendors,” says author Jeri Quinzio [...] Written mentions of the treat start cropping up around the turn of the century. “It was written about a lot in newspapers,” Quinzio says. “This was quite the innovation. It sold for a penny, and you had to have a penny because they were making them so fast they didn’t have time to make change.”

Were people still using half-cent coins that long after they'd been discontinued?

Anyway this article made me google ice cream tacos. Kind of disappointed by the dearth of chocolate cake-y soft-shell versions.
posted by trig at 5:33 AM on August 1, 2019

the corndog of desserts
posted by thelonius at 5:47 AM on August 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

Were people still using half-cent coins that long after they'd been discontinued?

I think they meant, e.g., if you showed up with a nickel they didn't have time to give you four cents back. But I was confused for long enough to look up the timeline of half-cents too.
posted by penduluum at 5:56 AM on August 1, 2019 [6 favorites]

120 years and Its It still explodes out of the back when you bite in to them.
posted by Space Coyote at 6:05 AM on August 1, 2019 [8 favorites]

I am just here to say that those fancy made-fresh ice cream sandwiches, like the ones in that photo array with Frozen Hoagies appear to be, are NOT GOOD ICE CREAM SANDWICHES because THE ICE CREAM HAS NOT ADEQUATELY SOFTENED THE COOKIE AND MERGED WITH THE ICE CREAM AND MADE THE SANDWICH BITE-ABLE. Premade or GTFO.

I have been let down by so many sandwiches at otherwise awesome, delicious places over the last few summers.
posted by mosst at 6:19 AM on August 1, 2019 [8 favorites]

I think they meant, e.g., if you showed up with a nickel they didn't have time to give you four cents back

Hah, yes, that makes a lot more sense! clearly my brain needs some sugar
posted by trig at 6:35 AM on August 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

Stella Parks ice cream sandwiches will change your life or gtfo.
posted by waving at 6:37 AM on August 1, 2019 [4 favorites]

120 years and Its It still explodes out of the back when you bite in to them.

Not if you spend the first few minutes licking around every edge like a nine-year-old until the ice cream is too small to reach that way.
posted by Countess Elena at 7:08 AM on August 1, 2019 [6 favorites]

the corndog of desserts

No, that'd be fried ice cream.
posted by dlugoczaj at 7:19 AM on August 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

George Whitney invented the only ice cream sandwich i care about, personally.

Although I kind of think of It's-Its as a stand alone category, and would not say no to one of those stella parks style ones.
posted by Exceptional_Hubris at 7:44 AM on August 1, 2019 [4 favorites]

I agree - It's-Its are perfect. I have missed them dearly since I left Berkeley in 1987...
posted by tangosnail at 7:59 AM on August 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

We went to a place in San Diego that let you customize your own ice cream sandwich - pick the cookie, the ice cream flavor, and any kind of topping. I could see that becoming the next big chain.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:58 AM on August 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

The classic ice cream sandwich, which has a touch of bitterness in the dark brown "sandwich" layers, is the only thing I'll be eating tomorrow. I had one of those new-fangled ice-cream-between-two-cookies things from a food truck this summer, and not only was it impossible to eat easily, but it contained a month's worth of sugar. And it cost eight dollars plus a half-penny tip
posted by kozad at 9:13 AM on August 1, 2019 [2 favorites]

I still remember my profound disappointment probably close to 55 years ago when, at a lunch counter with with my mom, I was allowed to order dessert and there was ice cream sandwich on the menu. My favorite! And what I actually got was a slice of Neapolitan ice cream. What kind of a monster does that to a kid?
posted by maurice at 9:25 AM on August 1, 2019

It's-It has been teasing fans with rumors of a new flavor recently.

I'm dubious about it. My personal It's-It flavor ranking:

1) Cappucino
2) Mint
3) Vanilla
...
x) everything else

posted by Lexica at 11:32 AM on August 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

I'm a relatively new resident of Pittsburgh PA, and Leona's Ice Cream Sandwiches are some of the best local treats here. They rotate interesting flavors while keeping the reliable standbys, and all of the ones I've tried are tasty as heck. And the cookies and ice cream are the perfect consistency. They're not extra-soft like the ubiquitous brown rectangle style, nor extra-hard like the Toll House kind, but right in-between. They're immediately edible, but not in danger of melting too quickly. And through some kind of sorcery, they're real dairy but also lactose-free for folks with sensitive tum tums.
posted by D.Billy at 12:42 PM on August 1, 2019 [1 favorite]

As cookbook author Chrissy Teigen once tweeted, “Ice cream sandwiches made with cookies are garbage. The only ice cream sandwich should be the rectangular blocks with chocolate cakey bread with holes. This is not an opinion, it is a fact.”

I feel like Chrissy Teigen is personally attacking me. The Chipwich is delicious.
posted by cazoo at 1:24 PM on August 1, 2019

Chrysostom, what was the name of the place in SD? (We're working on an ice cream social meet-up.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 5:01 PM on August 1, 2019

It was The Baked Bear. Looks like they're already on the franchise train.
posted by Chrysostom at 7:32 PM on August 1, 2019 [1 favorite]