homemade "snickers" ice cream bars

and an EPIC ice cream sandwich cake

Jul 13, 2024

∙ Paid

are you too melting under these incessant heat waves? Here’s a few (really awesome - I bet you can’t put ‘em down) goodies to help cool us down…

new on bbs

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

Two soft chocolatey and fudgy cake layers sandwiching a thick layer of vanilla ice cream. These cake layers are easy and quick (you need a bowl and a whisk, they bake up in less than 15 minutes) and the vanilla filling can be made with a store-bought or no churn vanilla ice cream.

frozen dough

Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cake

An ice cream cake made of cookie dough dreams: two layers of edible chocolate chip cookie dough and in between.

cold, messy & so yummy

Brownie Ice Cream Sandos with Lemon & Vanilla Ice Cream

Lemon curd ice cream with bits of chopped chocolate sits between two chewy brownie cookies for the ultimate ice cream sandwich.

the ultimate

Brownie Baked Alaska

Fudgy brownie bottom, a mountain of vanilla ice cream swirled with homemade lemon curd surrounded by a toasted vanilla meringue.

reader review

“We’ve tried several recipes and this one has the perfect ratio all around. It’s not too sweet, just the right creaminess and amount of raspberries. This one is a MUST try!” Melissa on Raspberry Ice Cream

weekly reads & notes

“In the grains of semolina carried in her basket on her head, she nestled bullets and guns – all tools of her trade in the covert operations. Hidden within the folds of her dress, she concealed secret communications – handwritten letters detailing information about the French military, or messages for FLN members in the mountains….While weathering the violence inflicted by the French army, people found a way to keep producing olive oil, a source of pride for families in Beni-Mazouz. When not on FLN missions, Kamira crafted large clay pots and produced olive oil; the painstaking process involved carefully selecting each olive and crushing it using stone mills to extract the rich, bold fruit flavours.” Fighting for her land: My great-aunt Kamira, the Algerian revolutionary, Aljazeera. [This is a lovely read about a woman finding her great aunt, and woven through it a short history of Algeria under colonial French rule]
“In my humble traveler's opinion, touring a local grocery store when you're traveling abroad can be so much more insightful and culturally relevant than, say, visiting the country's top-rated attractions.” Grocery Store Tourism Is Taking Off, Thrillist. [When I did this in every city I went to in the south of Spain & Marrakech eight years ago, I was told I was ‘lame’ but now it’s trending - thank you tiktok, heh. I couldn’t agree more: grocery stores are where it’s at ;p]
“The once famous Jadu’I watermelon has disappeared and been replaced by hybrid varieties bought from Israeli seed companies. According to Vivien Sansour, a Palestinian agriculturalist, “Known for its disease resistance and adaptation to the microclimate, Jadu’I watermelon fields were symbolic of Palestinian farmers’ lived experiences: Palestinian women gave birth in the melon fields; many sought refuge in the fields during the war; and many more remember the times when the watermelons were stored under beds to eat during the winter. This watermelon has stayed carved in peoples’ memories until this day. There is no one from Jenin who would not have a story to share from their parents or their own experience of a once loved and enjoyed melon that shaped much of the culture at some point.” Jadu’l: The Lost Watermelon of Jenin, Oakland Institute. [this is an older article but with it currently being watermelon season, and my children’s obsession with having it every day, I have been thinking about the Jadu’l lately and wanted to share]
I enjoyed reading this essay by Alicia Kennedy on the legacy of Anthony Bourdain’s Parts Unknown, the uniqueness of his lens on food & culture, and why we probably don’t need to try to replicate the show (though the networks have tried): the lens is already accessible everywhere, if we look.
I mentioned awhile back we are moving and the big date is now fast approaching. I packed up my ice cream machine earlier this week and felt bit sad as it will be quite awhile before I’m able to use it again. I have a couple of ice cream recipes coming your way soon (pistachio! lemon!), which I’m excited to share. In the meantime, the no churn varieties which can be made with just a whisk, will have to do for us.
This publication crossed over 5k subscribers this week (!!!). Tbh in my head there are exactly three subscribers (& one is my best friend so they don’t count, lol). When left to ponder the growth of the blog and this substack over the years though, I am so deeply grateful that I’ve found and made a space to connect with fellow bakers who love creating, eating cookies and, well, baking with lots of lemon ;-)

and for members