Jun 26, 2015 So a couple of months later, with temperatures soaring, here we are – and sure enough, they make to-die-for ice cream treats. The cakes or cookies or whatever you want to call them (they’re really a cross between the two) are tender and moist and deeply fudgey. Frozen, they take on an addictive chewy-brownie quality, that is so incredible with melty ice cream. Man-oh-man did I have a hard time getting photos to share with you, but I was determined to get photos during toddler nap-time. You see, I took the ice cream out of the freezer to soften for ten minutes or so… and totally forgot about it. It was about a half-hour later when I remembered, and sure enough it was soft! Very, very soft. I should have just popped it back in the freezer for 15 minutes, but I was impulsive and went for it. The photos you see here were taken in 2 minutes, after that, there was ice cream everywhere and it was a melty mess. Still delicious, but not very photogenic. Food styling/photography tip when working with frozen goodies!!!! Set everything up perfectly using a stand-in for the ice cream/popsicle/whatever it is – choose something that’s about the same size, or just an empty bowl. Plan your composition, style the scene perfectly, take test shots, adjust your camera settings to what they need to be – all of this before the star subject gets removed from the freezer. As an extra precaution, chill whatever dishes or surfaces you’re using – the beat-up old baking sheet you see here? It was in the freezer for an hour beforehand. A marble pastry slab (this is the one I have) is great for frozen subjects, because you can freeze the whole thing in advance and it really holds the cold – your entire photography surface will be chilled, buying you a lot more time. What you don’t see, due to my race against the clock, is that I rolled the edges in mini chocolate chips. It was really yummy. I used mint chocolate chunk ice cream, but you can use any flavour. Next time, you know what? I’m going to take them to the next level and add a layer of this hot fudge sauce, which gets super chewy when frozen. If you want to beat me to it, just let the fudge sauce cool until thick enough to stay put on a cookie, spread it over, then freeze until firm before you add ice cream.
