Happiness in the form of ice-cream!

As a kid I used to love eating chocobars. We used to visit our grandparents in Bombay every summer vacation and I used to love going to the shop across the street with my Mama to buy chocobars. My Ammuma (Grandmother) absolutely loves chocobars and even to this day that is the only thing she eats without complaining. It's so much fun to watch Ammuma eat ice-cream because as she tends to look like a 5 year old girl eating her first chocobar. She always has the same look of excitement and happiness as she slowly bites the chocolate bits off first and then heads for the vanilla center. My Amma and Acha's favourite ice-cream also happens to be chocobar. My Amma is not a huge fan of chocolate but when it comes to chocobar she can't resist it. When I was a kid, Amma knew I could not eat ice-creams without dropping it on my clothes she had this sun dress that she'd always make me wear when I go out with Mama to Juhu beach so that I would only mess up that one dress. That became my ice-cream dress, so I knew every time I wore that dress I'd be sure to get ice-cream that day. My Amma would've probably seen this coming but I ended up dropping caramel sauce and ice-cream on my t-shirt today; I guess somethings will never change.

A few days back I was watching the Food Network and I saw this show where famous chefs were talking about their favourite desserts and in the show there was this lady who was talking about an ice-cream bar she had eaten at a fancy restaurant. It was basically a brownie with ice-cream on top and the ice-cream bit covered with melted chocolate. When chocolate hits the ice-cream it tends to solidify and create a shell over the ice-cream like a chocobar. The chocobar on the show though was fancier as it had the brownie component and the caramel sauce in which you dip the chocobar. They did not show the recipe for this dessert because it was just a showcase of just famous desserts but the idea seemed fairly simple and so I decided to make it in my own kitchen. It was slightly messier than the video clip of the chef preparing it in his fancy kitchen. Obviously I don't have a temperature controlled kitchen filled with stainless steel benches and stainless steel fridges and stainless steel freezers the size of an elephant; I barely had room to put my little ice-cream bars into the freezer but I must say that they taste heavenly. Imagine a chocobar with a brownie inside and the whole thing dunked into a pool of caramel sauce. Well, that's just him being extra nice but I really think that these are delicious. Before I head into the recipe I'd like to thank Madhu for giving me company on the phone while baking my last cake and Gita Aunty who shares her thoughts on each post; it really means the world to me! So, here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

For the brownie:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of butter
• 1/4 cup of cocoa powder
• 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour
• 1/4 tsp of baking powder
• 1/4 tsp of salt
• 1/4 cup walnut halves
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For the ice-cream filling:

• 1.5 - 2 liters of vanilla ice-cream
  

For the chocolate mix:

• 3 cups of semi-sweet chocolate
• 2 tsps of orange extract

For caramel dipping sauce:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 6 tbsps of butter
• 1/2 cup of whipping cream

Directions:
Step 1 - Make the brownie:

• Melt the butter and mix all the ingredients in order.
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• Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 175 degrees Celsius for 20-30 minutes in a 9 x 13 inch greased pan.
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Step 2 - Add the ice-cream:

• Cool the brownies for about 20 minutes then melt the ice-cream in a large bowl spread it over the brownie which is still in the pan.
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• Now freeze the two pan for about 2 hours.
  

Step 3 - Make the caramel sauce:

• Put all ingredients into a saucepan and keep whisking till it thickens into a sauce.
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Step 4 - Make the ice-cream bars:

• All you have to do now is carefully cut the ice-cream and brownie with a sharp knife and place the brownies on greased plates. This step might be a little tricky as the ice-cream tends to melt quickly, but just make sure to be quick and pop the plates back into the freezer for about 30 minutes.
• While the bars are sitting in the freezer, melt the chocolate in the microwave for about 40 seconds, take it out, stir it and put it back again. Repeat this step again till all the chocolate has melted and you have a smooth paste.
• Mix in the orange extract into the paste. Set aside till the 30 minutes are up for the brownie bars.
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• Now, pull the ice-cream brownies out from the freezer and dip each of the bars into the melted chocolate and place on greased wax paper and freeze immediately for at least 15-20 minutes before devouring them. If you want you may drizzle caramel sauce over the bars before freezing or you can serve as is with a side of caramel sauce for dunking.
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• Done!