The Ice Cream Sandwich Grows Up

Ever wonder about the genius who decided to stick some ice cream between two cookies and call it a sandwich? Most sources agree that this frozen portable dessert can be traced back to a pushcart ice cream vendor in New York’s Bowery district in 1899. Within a few years, the concept began to spread across the country and entrepreneurial vendors added new twists to suit their venues, from the beach to the ballpark to corner ice cream shops.

The original ice cream sandwich consisted of vanilla ice cream between two graham wafers. The famed chocolate slabs were patented in 1963, and it wasn’t long before another gastronomic wizard married a pair of chocolate chip cookies with a smush of ice cream.

Americans cannot lay sole claim to this ethereal treat, and each country naturally has its own take. Australians call theirs a “cream between,” and Iranians savor saffron, rose water or vanilla ice cream amidst thin golden wafers. Israel opts for a thick biscuit and in the Philippines, people snack on a loaded pandesal, a salted roll akin to a burger bun. Singaporeans enjoy red bean, yam, sweet corn and honeydew ice creams, while the Vietnamese stuff a scoop in their bánh mì and top it with crushed peanuts.

Mark your calendars: National Ice Cream Sandwich Day is August 2. That gives you just enough time to perfect your own recipe or try a new technique. Brioche, donuts, croissants, waffles, meringues, macarons—the door’s wide open now so have some fun.

We invited two high-end executive chefs, both of whom recently opened snack shacks offering fresh, local incarnations of classics, to share their mouthwatering versions of the ice cream sandwich. Charlie Menard of the Inn at Round Barn Farm opened Canteen Creemee Company in Waitsfield, and Wesley Genovart, who owns SoLo Farm & Table with his wife, Chloe, also runs Honeypie in Rawsonville. The truly motivated road-tripper could visit both in one day, two hours apart from each other on Route 100. Which gives you just enough time to digest one snack before indulging in the next.