Natasha Case and Freya Estreller have come a long way since their very first amateur stint selling ice cream sandwiches out of a revamped postal truck at the 2009 Coachella festival. Coolhaus trucks can now be found in Los Angeles, Austin, Dallas and New York, and the decadent ice cream sandwiches can also be purchased at Whole Foods across the country.
The name Coolhaus is a tribute to Case and Estreller’s passion for architecture, referencing the Bauhaus movement and architect Rem Koolhaas. A “cool house” is a deconstructed ice cream sandwich with a cookie roof and floor slab. In this cookbook, Case and Estreller share their recipes for ice creams, gelatos, sorbets, cookies and toppings. Alongside the recipes, they also introduce architects such as I.M. Pei, Louis Kahn and Tadao Ando. Like the Coolhaus menu, the book encourages you to mix and match your way to unique, indulgent creations. The recipes are over the top. Take, for example, the bananas foster ice cream with double chocolate sea salt cookies, the fried chicken and waffle ice cream on a maple flapjack and the gin and tonic sorbet. I chose the hot chocolate mezcal ice cream with snickerdoodle cookies as a sample pairing, a perfect celebration of Mexican flavors. Check out the recipes in the box to the right.
