[2] An ice cream sandwich sundae (photo courtesy Tony Roma’s).

[3] Ice cream sandwich on a donut (photo courtesy Elegant Affairs Caterers).

[4] Ice cream sandwich on French palmier cookies (photo courtesy Sugar Bowl Bakery).

[5] Go Mexican: Ice cream sandwich on churros, with dulce de ledche, from Boqueria | Brooklyn.

Time to celebrate: August 2nd is National Ice Cream Sandwich Day.
 
 
ICE CREAM SANDWICH HISTORY

According to an article in the July 1900 issue of The New York Herald Tribune, the ice cream sandwich was created in 1899 by a pushcart peddler in the Bowery area of the Lower East Side.

The first ice cream sandwiches were a slice of vanilla ice cream pressed between two thin graham wafers. The slice was cut from a larger slab.

In July 1900, The New York Tribune published an article about the pushcart vendor who was selling the sandwiches.

 
 
MODERN ICE CREAM SANDWICHES

The modern version with the rectangular chocolate wafers was allegedly created in 1945 by Jerry Newberg, an ice cream vendor at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh; although Wikipedia gives credit to partners Jack Delaney, Tim Jones, John Defilippis, and Sam West whom it says originally created and patented the chocolate wafer sandwich in 1963. The thin wafers gain moisture in the freezer, which gives them a cake-like quality.

In actuality, versions of that iconic sandwich can be seen in photos from Atlantic City in the early 1900s.

The next step, the Chipwich, was ice cream sandwiched between chocolate chip cookies. It was created in 1981 by Richard LaMotta of New York City and sold from a pushcart like the Bowery originals (the brand was subsequently bought by Dreyer’s, and is now owned by Retrobrands USA).

Today the ice cream sandwich is enjoyed worldwide, in forms that include the Vietnamese bánh mì kep kem, a baguette stuffed with scoops of ice cream topped with crushed peanuts, instead of conventional sandwich fixings; to Iranian “bread ice cream” which sandwiches rosewater, saffron, or vanilla ice cream between thin, round, crunchy wafers.

In Scotland, vanilla ice cream sandwiched is between one wafer and one block of chocolate-covered nougat (a “single nougat”) or between two blocks of nougat (a “double nougat”).

We’ve seen macaron ice cream sandwiches and churro ice cream sandwiches. What would you like for your perfect ice cream sandwich?
 
 
MODERN ICE CREAM SANDWICH RECIPES

Since the Chipwich, making ice cream sandwiches other cookies and bars (blondies, brownies, oatmeal, etc.) have come to the fore. But creativity doesn’t stop there. Here are other delicious variations of ice cream sandwiches:

 
We celebrated today with ice cream sandwiches on black and white cookies!

But alas, so many options, so few excuses for eating them all.