BOOZY ICE CREAM WHOOPIE PIES
MAKES ABOUT 9
On a hot afternoon these are a delicious replacement for traditional heavy slabs of Christmas cake. They’re still nostalgically spicy but fabulously cooling at the same time and won’t weigh you down. Replace the whisky with a little cranberry juice if you want to make these non-alcoholic. These can be made two days ahead.
INGREDIENTS 2 cups fruit mince
¼ cup whisky or rum
1 litre good-quality vanilla bean ice cream 125g butter, softened
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup golden syrup
2 free-range eggs
2 cups plain flour
1 tsp baking soda
½ tsp baking powder
1 Tbsp ground ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch ground cloves
½ cup buttermilk
Icing sugar, for dusting
The day before cooking, place fruit mince in a ceramic bowl, pour whisky over it and cover. Let stand overnight.
The next day, leave ice cream on bench for 30 minutes to soften. Stir through soaked fruit and return to freezer.
Preheat oven to 160°C fanbake.
Using a stand mixer, cream together the butter, sugar and golden syrup until light and fluffy. Add eggs singly, beating well after each addition.
5
Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, ginger, cinnamon and cloves into a bowl.
6
Add half the flour mixture to butter mixture with half the buttermilk and stir to only just combine. Repeat with the remaining flour mixture and buttermilk and stir gently. Try not to over-mix but ensure that you have no floury lumps.
Line a large baking tray (or two regular trays) with baking paper. Spoon even amounts of mixture onto tray, allowing room for spreading (I used an ice cream scoop and made 18). Bake for about 10 minutes or until puffed and golden.
When cooled, they can be used immediately or stored for up to 2 days in an airtight container. To serve, sandwich a ball of boozy ice cream between two whoopie sponges. Dust with icing sugar.