Stripes of peppermint and vanilla ice cream separated by crisp chunks of chocolate- coated cookie crumbs make a dessert that has holiday season written all over it. The crunch is made by coating crumbs of Chock-Full of Chocolate Chip Cookies with melted bittersweet chocolate chips. When baking a batch of the cookies, cool, wrap, and freeze 8 of the cookies to have ready for this loaf.
Makes 10 servings
Mixing time: 15 minutes
Crunch
- 8 Chock-Full of Chocolate Chip Cookies (page 000)
- 2/3 cup (about 4 ounces) bittersweet chocolate chips
- 1 tablespoon corn or canola oil
- 2 pints peppermint ice cream, softened just until spreadable
- 1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened just until spreadable
- 1 1/2 cups Fudge Sauce (page 000), warmed just until pourable
Line a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan with a piece of parchment paper that is long enough to extend over the two long sides of the pan.
Make the cookie crunch. Break each cookie into about 5 pieces. In a food processor, using on/off bursts, process the cookies to crumbs. You should have about 2 cups of cookie crumbs. Put the cookies in a large bowl and set aside.
Put the bittersweet chocolate chips and oil in a heatproof bowl or the top of a double boiler and place it over a saucepan of barely simmering water (or the bottom of the double boiler); the water should not touch the bowl. Stir until the chocolate is melted and smooth.
Pour the chocolate coating over the cookie crumbs, stirring until the crumbs are coated evenly with chocolate. The mixture will look shiny and form pieces of crunch that vary in size from about 1/4 to 1/2 inch. The crunch will go from shiny to dull and become crisp as it cools.
Assemble the loaf. Put 1 cup of the crunch in a container, cover it tightly, and reserve it to garnish the top of the ice cream loaf. Use an ice cream spade or the back of a spoon to spread 1 pint of the peppermint ice cream in an even layer over the bottom of the loaf pan, spreading it carefully to the edges. Spoon 1 cup of the crunch over the ice cream. Spread the vanilla ice cream over the crunch and spoon the remaining crunch over the ice cream. Spread the remaining peppermint ice cream over the crunch. Fold the edges of he parchment over the top of the loaf and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Freeze for at least 5 hours, or up to 1 week.
To serve, chill a serving plate for about 15 minutes. Remove the loaf from the freezer and unwrap it. Use a thin sharp knife to loosen the ice cream from the unlined ends of the pan. Dip a dish towel in hot water, wring it out, and press the hot towel against the sides of the pan for about 25 seconds. Fold back the edges of the parchment, place the chilled serving plate on top of the loaf, and, pulling on the edges of the parchment paper, invert the loaf onto the plate. Remove and discard the paper liner. Press the reserved 1 cup of crunch onto the top of the loaf.
Use a large sharp knife to cut the ice cream loaf into slices a scant 1 inch thick. Pass warm fudge sauce to pour over each serving.
Choices Substitute mint chocolate chip ice cream for the peppermint ice cream. Or, try a pint each of peppermint, chocolate, and vanilla. Chocolate and coffee ice cream is another good combination.