An interesting thing about having a child has been the way my own childhood memories have crept back into my consciousness. When my mother was finished frosting a cake, she would use the leftover icing to make graham cracker sandwich cookies, wrapping them in wax paper and putting them in the freezer to be rationed out over time. I think I enjoyed them at least as much as the cake.
Last week in Southampton we were baking a birthday cake for one of our Labor Day guests and wound up with nearly a pint of leftover chocolate icing. I remembered my mother’s solution to this “problem,” ran to the market for graham crackers and made a batch of these cookies. They were even more delicious than I remembered — both the deep chocolate and graham flour flavors are rich, a little earthy and not overly sweet, and they balance each other perfectly.
I’d avoid store-bought icing if you can. Aside from the weird chemical aftertaste and oily texture, it’s almost sickeningly sweet, probably to mask the lack of good chocolate flavor. As for the crackers, I’m a Nabisco fan, and I’ve been disappointed with flat-tasting store brand imitations. Do freeze them. It helps with the rationing, of course, but I think they also taste better with the icing cold and firm.
Recipe
Ingredients
2 14 oz boxes of graham crackers
Chocolate Icing
(recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook)
12 ounces best-quality semisweet chocolate, finely chopped
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
Pinch of salt
Directions
Place chocolate in a heatproof bowl set over (but not touching) simmering water. Turn off the heat; stir occasionally until chocolate has melted completely, about 15 minutes. Set the bowl on the countertop, and let chocolate cool to room temperature, 25 to 30 minutes. Meanwhile, combine the cocoa powder and the boiling water in a small bowl; stir until the cocoa is dissolved.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, confectioners’ sugar, and salt on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the melted and cooled chocolate; beat on low speed until combined, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Beat in cocoa mixture.
Spread on half of the graham crackers, topping with the other half. (It’s nice to align the perforations in the crackers so the sandwich cookies can be broken cleanly.) Wrap stacks of the cookies in wax paper (for old times’ sake), place in freezer bags and freeze.
