try this! pat & stick's ice cream sandwiches: part 2

This is the second time I’ve raved about Pat & Stick’s delectable ice cream sandwiches, but just try and stop me.

These guys make great ice cream. The flavours are real and intense and the cookies are moreish and chewy.

Yeah, the sandwiches are on the pricey side, retailing around $4.50 each, but if they’re good enough to get my husband to choose an ice cream over a packet of chips then they’re doing something right.

All the way back in 2006, I had fussed and fawned over their Double Chocolate and Amaretti Espresso sandwiches (now renamed Espresso Lace) and, after the guys (and Ben) generously offered me some free samples to try some other flavours, I am now ready to profess my love some more.

My sisters Shamu and Stinky accompanied me on this ice cream quest to Eveleigh markets, where we parked ourselves on a bench and happily shoved ice cream into our mouths (hoping Kylie Kwong didn’t notice our gluttony as she sat next to us in her car).

Caramel Pecan
Caramel ice cream with a nutty pecan cookie

I’ve recently discovered that pecans are my favourite nuts and that I actually like caramel. It came as a shock to me, as neither had particularly enticed me in the past, and yet these days I’m finding the burnt sugar flavour a warm, adult indulgence and the pecans just bloody great.

Not surprising that I loved this sandwich of light and elegant caramel ice cream sandwiched between a buttery cookie studded with toasted pecan pieces.

Strawberry Choc Chip
Yummy strawberry ice cream and choc-chip cookie

Next we sunk our teeth into a wholesome choc-chip cookie covering a slab of pastel pink strawberry ice cream. At first the faint colour of the ice cream had me concerned that there wouldn’t be much fruit flavour, but we were not disappointed. The ice cream had an intense and pure strawberry flavour and as the sandwich melted a little, the colour grew a rosier hue of pink.

I enjoyed the bursts of the dark choc-chips, and this was Shamu’s favourite flavour because it is so rare to find a good strawberry ice cream.

Christmas Cookie
Soft gingerbread cookie paired with delicious cassata ice cream

Our last sandwich to taste test was the limited edition flavour to celebrate the festive season, and aptly named Christmas Cookie. The spicy, chewy gingerbread cookie encased a beautiful cassata ice cream flavoured with aromatic almond, glace fruit and spices that tasted like a perfect mince pie and luscious cream.

I really enjoyed this one because it’s perfect way to indulge in traditional Christmas flavours while still celebrating the southern hemisphere summer. I even took one home for Jonas, kept cool with dry ice (yay, dry ice! I dropped it into a full sink and watched the “smoke” like a kiddie).

There are plenty more ice cream sandwich flavours to try, and I’ve got my eye on the Peppermint Choc-Chip.

..... something to look forward to in 2011.