I just love Thai tea. It’s fragrant, refreshing, definitely artificially colored, but when made into an ice cream, it is delicious. Now I didn’t want to copy Milk in Los Angeles and make a macaron ice cream sandwich, but I still wanted to make an ice cream sandwich nonetheless. So that’s where the idea to create a coconut chiffon cake to act as the bread came along. Even when frozen, a thin layer of super fluffy chiffon cake will still be chew-able and soft, meaning that it makes a really ideal vehicle for the ice cream to sit in.

For the ice cream itself, I made it from a creme anglaise base, prepared from coconut milk, egg yolks, sugar, and Thai tea powder. For the chiffon cake, I used the same coconut chiffon cake recipe from a previous post. This recipe makes about 8 ice cream sandwiches, each stuffed with a generous scoop of Thai tea ice cream.

For the cake:
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cups granulated sugar
3 egg yolks
6 egg whites
2 tablespoons coconut milk (NOT CREAM, COCONUT CREAM IS SOMETHING ELSE ENTIRELY)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
coconut flakes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a bowl, whip the egg whites with baking powder and 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar into stiff peaks. In another bowl, whip the egg yolks with sugar, and slowly stream in the coconut oil, then the coconut milk. Sift the flour. Fold together all three ingredients and pour into a lined sheet tray. Sprinkle with coconut flakes. Bake for 35 minutes. Leave in the oven, turned off, for an additional 5, before turning the cake out onto a cutting board to finish resting. Cut into 4 inch circles, using a ring mold.

For the ice cream:
1 1/4 cups coconut milk
3 egg yolks
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 packets of Thai tea
a pinch of salt

Steep the Thai tea into the warm coconut milk for 10 minutes. Strain out the tea. Whip egg yolks and sugar with salt and stream in the coconut milk. Temper. Whip over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Strain. Churn in an ice cream machine. Alternatively, freeze solid on a sheet tray and blend in a food processor. Allow to refreeze again to set.

Assembly:
Line the ring mold with plastic wrap. Place one circle at the bottom of the mold. Add in a scoop of ice cream and press in another circle. Tie up the plastic wrap into a bundle and place the sandwich into the freezer. Repeat until you’re done assembling the sandwiches.