Macadamia florentine ice-cream sandwiches

MAKES 10 PREP AND COOK TIME 1 HOUR (+ COOLING AND FREEZING TIME)

75g butter ¾ cup (165g) caster sugar 1/4 teaspoon sea salt flakes

300ml thickened cream ¾ cup (110g) White Wings premium plain flour ½ teaspoon ground ginger

1½ cups (210g) coarsely chopped macadamias ½ cup (70g) glacé cherries, chopped coarsely ½ cup (60g) glacé ginger, chopped coarsely 150g dark chocolate (70% cocoa), chopped finely 150g white chocolate, chopped finely

750ml vanilla bean ice-cream

750ml chocolate ice-cream

1 Preheat oven to 150°C (130°C fan-forced). Line 4 large oven trays with baking paper.

Place another large oven tray on top oven shelf to prevent florentines from over-browning.

2 Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat; add sugar, salt and cream. Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until well combined. Fold in flour and ground ginger; don’t over-mix. Remove from heat. Cool mixture.

3 Working in batches, drop 1 tablespoon of mixture on top of each other onto trays, leaving a 3cm gap between each one.

The mixture should spread to about 10cm round and make 20 rounds in total. Sprinkle the macadamias, cherries and glacé ginger evenly over florentines.

4 Bake florentines for about 30 minutes or until light golden in the centre, rotating trays during cooking so they brown evenly. Cool on trays.

5 Microwave chocolates, separately, in small bowls on HIGH (100%) in 30-second bursts, stirring well, until melted. Cool slightly.

6 Scoop chocolate and vanilla ice-creams each into 5 large balls. Sandwich 1 scoop between 2 florentines, placing florentines topping-side up. Gently press florentines together to form even sandwiches. Dip each sandwich a third of the way down into melted chocolate. Place on a baking paper-covered trays; freeze until the chocolate sets.

7 Serve ice-cream sandwiches straight from freezer.

Suitable to freeze. Chocolate suitable to microwave.