Having said that let’s start at the end; dessert. Today we have a delightful gingerbread-ice-cream-sandwich with rum sauce.

1/3 cup butter 1/2 cup beer *

1/4 cup sugar 1/2 cup molasses

1 egg, beaten 1 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. ginger powder + 1 tsp. grated fresh ginger **

Put beer into sauce pan over medium heat and bring it up to a simmer. Add butter and stir until melted. Add sugar, molasses and egg. Combine well. In a separate bowl combine flour, soda and ginger; then combine with liquid ingredients. Pour into loaf pan and bake at 375F for 20-30 minutes.

* Now you can use your favourite beer at this point or look for something a bit more exotic, the last time I made it I used a strawberry beer; or you could just use water instead.

** You can use 2 tsp. of either the ginger powder or the fresh ginger; whichever you prefer.

Chill the gingerbread in the freezer for approximately half an hour. Then slice to your preferred thickness; one-half inch is probably best. Take your favourite ice-cream and cut a slice of it the same size as the gingerbread. Put ice-cream on one slice of gingerbread then top with a second slice. Store in freezer, then remove 15-20 minutes before serving.

The rum sauce is optional and you could substitute any sort of a sauce that you think would go well with it, i.e. pineapple sauce, chocolate sauce, etc.

RUM SAUCE
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 pinch salt
2 tablespoons dark rum

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar until completely melted stir in cream, salt then rum. Lower heat and let simmer while stirring for approximately 3-4 minutes. Enjoy