Haagen-Dazs Guilty of Delicious Accidental Racism in India

When opening the first outlet of your chain of ice cream stores in India here is a hint: Do not use a catch-phrase in advertisements which specifically bars Indians from entering the store. Haagen-Dazs did, and they are in trouble.

According to AdAge, Haagen Dazs hung unfortunate posters in a Delhi mall outside of the company's first Indian outlet. The posters tried to strike a cosmopolitan note with a reference to the French Riviera and the words "Exclusive Preview for International Travellers. Access restricted only to holders of international passports."

Whoops! No Indians allowed! After an angry blogger picked up the story, complete with an anecdote of a friend being turned away from the store, Haagen-Dazs was forced to issue an apology: The message was intended to suggest that you can enjoy, for instance, a taste of the French Riviera without traveling to France — by enjoying Haagen-Dazs.

Unfortunately, the reference to the international-passport holder on the poster may have led to a significant miscommunication." To be fair, Haagen-Dazs is in the ice cream business—not the not-being-accidental-racists-business. Ice cream. Delicious, delicious ice cream.

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The best scoop

I don’t know about a storm in a tea-cup, but there is one brewing in your ice cream cone, particularly if the cone is from Häagen-Dazs, thanks to their disastrous advertising campaign.

But I am not here to discuss the controversy surrounding the ice cream major’s store launch in India. We are here to tell you whether ice cream heaven is within your reach or not.

Nothing can beat the headiness of the mix of ice cream, coffee and freshly baked waffles, which envelops you a few feet outside the store in South Delhi, which is packed on a weekday afternoon.

We start with our old favourites (vanilla for one and Belgian chocolate for the other). Häagen-Dazs’s claim to fame is that they source the finest ingredients from across the world. So the vanilla comes from Madagascar, the chocolate from Belgium and, hey, India plays its part, too. It sends Alphonso mangoes.

The rich creamy taste of vanilla explodes on your taste buds and, remember, this is just vanilla we are talking about. The Belgian chocolate, their best-seller worldwide, makes its presence felt on your tongue ten times more. Slightly bitter, slightly sweet, the creamy texture rolls itself on your tongue and makes you want to fight for the next bite.

The flavours vary from coffee to cookies and cream to mango to cappuccino truffle to sorbets to limited edition flavours like cherries and cream. However, more than the scoops it is the sundaes—Brownie Explosion and Flower Petal—and the thick shakes which are a big draw. And the must-try is the fondue.

A bowl of the richest, thickest chocolate sauce accompanied by 16 mini-scoops of ice cream along with seasonal fruits, cookies, brownies and waffle bits… this is ice cream heaven. Miss out on this only at your peril. A piece of advice: please try this only on an empty stomach and a full pocket, priced as this is at Rs 1,500. Häagen-Dazs Ice Cream outlet is at Select Citywalk in Saket, New Delhi. One scoop is priced at Rs 165.

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Vanilla ice cream, baby!

If nature’s bounty inspires an artist to create beautiful works of art, then the finest ingredients arouse a chef’s creativity to whip up the most exquisite of dishes. Well, in chef Ariel Manuel’s case to come up with an ice cream flavor that’s sure to change the world of ice cream lovers one pint at a time.

For this award-winning chef, nothing is more challenging than creating his own version of an ice cream flavor that Filipinos are so familiar with vanilla almond. In fact, when Selecta asked him to come up with his signature blend for its Gold Series, chef Ariel knew that he was in for a difficult challenge.

“How can you go wrong with that combination? Vanilla is such a versatile ingredient. You can pair it with almost anything. The hardest part was how to make the taste stand out from what’s already available on the market. What I did was focus on the flavor and texture. And when I say flavor, one should not scrimp on the ingredients,” explains Manuel.

Needless to say, chef Ariel’s version doesn’t disappoint. This new indulgence, Selecta Gold Series Vanilla Almond, is hale and hearty with generous amounts of almonds, lavished with swirls of golden caramel fudge against a backdrop of extra creamy and velvety vanilla ice cream. It’s perfect for foodies who appreciate big, bold flavors and larger-than-life textures.

For its Gold Series, Selecta uses only the finest ingredients. The almond is imported from the land of nuts — Great Valley, California.
“They definitely mastered the art of roasting nuts. The vanilla base, on the other hand, melts in the mouth because it has a higher cream content,” adds the amiable chef.

It took chef Ariel and a team from Selecta almost six months to come up with the perfect ice cream blend. They conducted meetings almost every day to be sure that even the tiniest detail was taken care of.

Simply Delectable

Selecta’s humble beginnings can be traced to the Arce family’s ice cream parlor in A. Bonifacio, Manila in 1948. Well known for its creaminess and its unusual and exciting flavors, Selecta also became famous for its unique gold can packaging, qualities which remained throughout the years.

Did you know that the name Selecta is a misnomer? The Arce family originally commissioned an artist to design the logo of their company named “Delecta.” However, the artist crafted the logo with such passion that the letter “D” looked like an “S.” Soon, people started calling the ice cream brand Selecta.

In 1999, to complement its frozen novelty category and strengthen itself for competition, RFM teamed up with Unilever, the largest ice cream company in the world, to form Selecta Walls Incorporated. The joint venture proved to be a success and by the year 2000, Selecta had become “the national ice cream leader.”

With its passion to satisfy sophisticated urbanites’ deepest dessert cravings, Selecta gives its clients another reason to indulge with the new Vanilla Almond ice cream. Chef Ariel’s delectable creation is a perfect complement to the other premium flavors meticulously co-created by Manila’s finest chefs: Berry Strawberry by chef J. Gamboa; Chocolate Truffles by chef Rolando Laudico; and Hazelnut Brownie by chef Sau del Rosario.

Meet The Chef-Of-Staff

Chef Ariel is undoubtedly one of the most respected figures in foodlandia, having worked at the finest hotels in the country such as The Peninsula, Makati Shangri-La, Heritage Hotel, Mandarin Oriental Manila, and The Westin Philippine Plaza.

His fine-dining resto, Lolo Dad’s Café which he runs with wife Mia, is touted as one of the most expensive and exquisite food establishments in the metro. Surprisingly, his regular clients and food critics aren’t complaining because, as they say, “there’s a great reason for and value behind such exorbitance.” Predominantly French, the menu changes depending on what’s in season and what the diners like. In fact, a group of foodies dined recently at Lolo Dad’s. Since it was their first time, they wanted to try the resto’s best sellers. To their surprise, the chef treated them to a six-course meal — using Selecta’s Vanilla Almond from appetizer to dessert — which isn’t part of the resto’s regular menu. “I don’t endorse a product that I don’t believe in. Vanilla ice cream is such a versatile product. You can actually incorporate it in any food item,” enthuses chef Ariel.

For appetizer, chef Ariel whipped up a terrine of foie gras with Selecta’s Vanilla Almond ice cream, which he used as a garnish. It was followed by scallops and a scoop of ice cream for the hot appetizer. “Again, scallops and vanilla ice cream is a match made in culinary heaven,” he enthuses.

Chef Ariel served sea bass with Vanilla Almond ice cream as the cream base, and rack of lamb for the main course to the delight of the diners. “I incorporated the ice cream in a bread pudding which goes well with the lamb,” he explains. The hearty meal was capped with scoops of the luscious and velvety Vanilla Almond Ice Cream.

Selecta Gold Series Vanilla Almond is now part of the menu of Lolo Dad’s Café and Lolo Dad’s Brasserie at 6750 Makati City. When asked if that was part of his contract with Selecta, the chef hastily replied: “No, it’s not. I just believe in the product. It has so much potential. This ice cream flavor is so versatile that you can use it to enhance the flavor of any dish.”

Every Friday to Sunday until Dec. 20, moviegoers at Greenbelt, Glorietta, Shangri-La Cineplex, Alabang Town Center, Theater Mall and MovieWorld Galleria can indulge in a free scoop of Selecta Gold Series Vanilla Almond. Just present your movie tickets at the Selecta booth.

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Spiced Orange Ice Cream

This ice cream flavor is an ode to sticking cloves in oranges around Christmastime. They turn out looking a little funny, and it feels a little bit voodoo doll-like doing it.

But it’s one of those wholesome childhood traditions, and it makes the room smell good. Like orange and spice, and everything nice. This tastes good, too.

My boyfriend tells me that I’m going to have to take my ice cream-making to new levels after a trip to his home state of Wisconsin for Christmas.

There, I’ll get to try Kopp’s Frozen Custard, the fabled foodie destination that I have never visited. Heck, I’ve never been to Wisconsin, or anywhere in the Midwest, either (except for a wee little wedding excursion way back, in Cincinnati. Remember that?). Apparently, in Wisconsin more eggs is more when it comes to making ice cream — I mean, custard. The dairy state? The stuff might have more yolks than cream.

So until then, I’m churning out a few batches with my favorite formula. After so many different recipes, so many trials and tribulations, I’ve pinned down my own recipe for an ice cream base. I use it for every flavor, with some adaptation (if it seems necessary, for instance, to amp up the egg or cream if carrots are steeped in it, which will lend liquid, or to lessen these if something like peanut butter is going in). I’m not sure when it all came together, there was no Eureka moment or stroke of lightning, just lots and lots of experimentation (and saturated fat grams). A milestone was made, I think, with an anise and chocolate flavor, and from then on I’ve always used more yolks than previously. Which is to say that my current recipe is egg-heavy to begin with:

It’s five egg yolks, and one egg white. So that’s one whole egg, and four yolks. And only good eggs, cage-free eggs that are fresh, fresh, fresh from the Greenmarket, so the yolks are plump and deep orange like a tangerine. One cup of cream, one and a half cups of whole milk, and likewise, this is the best organic milk you can find. Then, two-thirds to three-quarters of a cup of sugar, depending on how sweet you want it, or if there’s something else sweet going in. That’s it. What’s your way?

The next part of this recipe is for a little garnish or optional add-in to your ice cream, if you don’t mind a chunky texture. It’s candied orange peel, and it’s simply delightful — like an orange Fruit-Roll-Up. It’s also a great way to use up orange peel instead of tossing it in the can or compost (if you haven’t stabbed it with a million cloves, that is). Free candy! Well, almost. Now, making candied orange peel is tedious, but it isn’t hard. It involves changing boiling water five times, peeling pith away carefully, and getting stickiness on your surfaces. If you’d like to bow out now, I accept. But it’s a fun project and well worth the effort once in a while.

I actually meant to finely slice the candied orange peel when it was finished and sprinkle it into the ice cream as it was churning in the machine. But I forgot to when that was happening. So here it’s used as a garnish, and you can use these shreds as garnish in many other things: toss them in salads for a chewy-sweet touch, or put them in homemade granola or trail mixes. I’ll probably be doing many of these things in the aftermath, thanks to my oversight. That, and eating lots of egg whites (reserved from the yolk-separating task). I’ve been dropping them into hot soup a lot lately.

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Gelato for the whole family

There's ice cream and then there's gelato. While there are franchised gelato parlors, there is also Papa's Gelato, an Indonesian gelato parlor opened this November at Ancol Beach.

Papa's Gelato, located near the bayside-view seafood restaurant Bandar Djakarta, offers various flavors, including Rum Raisin, Malaga, Kopyor, Strawberry, Bubble Gum, Blue Cura*ao, Coffee Crunch, Vanilla Oreo, Mocha, Durian and Double Chocolate.

Served in a cup, cone, with brownies, waffle, pancake or none, the premium-quality gelato's rich taste and texture is great for family occasions.

Family is definitely the gelato bar's target market, as the logo of Papa's Gelato is a mustached smiling father holding an ice-cream cone topped with melting goodness.

Operational manager Caroline Bumiarti points out that as the logo shows, Papa's Gelato aims to serve customers with warmth and friendly smiles.

"Since Papa's Gelato targets families as customers, we decided to open our first outlet at Ancol Beach, a holiday destination for families in Jakarta," she says.

"We plan to open other outlets in shopping malls, but we're still searching for the right malls that also have the family concept."

Caroline adds her gelato parlor sells only homemade ice cream - fresh, natural and with no additives. She says the milk for the gelato is pasteurized (heated to 85 degrees Celsius) to kill any bacteria.

After pasteurization, it's stored in a refrigerated room at between 1 and 5 degree to prevent the milk curdling. Under this process, the milk can last around two weeks.

The difference between gelato and ice cream, Caroline explains, lies in the content, as gelato uses pure milk and has a lower fat percentage (around 3-4 percent) compared to ice cream (10-18 percent), which uses cream.

"However, customers shouldn't worry about consuming either, because both contain milk, which is good for the health," she adds.

"Besides tasting good and being healthy, we also give our gelato an authentic Italian look to make it look yummy and attract customers."

Apart from gelato, the parlor also sells specialty products such as Frozen Hot Chocolate, made from chocolate ice cream; Papa's Booster Drink, consisting of Oreos and ice cream; Honey Peach Blend; Omelet Ice Cream; Coconut Blend and Papa's Coconut, a mix of coconut ice cream and coconut milk.

Prices range from Rp 16,500 to Rp 44,000 (US$1.70 to $4.50). Papa's Gelato also offers an all-you-can-eat promotion for the month of December. For only Rp 50,000, customers can have all the gelato they can handle; add Rp 25,000, and it's all-you-can-eat gelato and food; add another Rp 25,000, and there's also free-flow drinks.

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Recipe - Ruby Blackburn Lambert's persimmon pudding

Ruby Blackburn Lambert's persimmon pudding

Total time: About 1 hour

Servings: Makes 3 puddings, with 6 to 8 servings each

Note: Cornelia Lambert called the "Hidden Kitchens" hotline to share how her grandmother, Ruby, turned her legendary cooking into a local fundraiser for Habitat for Humanity.

Ruby grew up in the early 1900s at the foot of the mountain in Carroll County in southern Virginia, where her parents had a huge vegetable garden and grew everything they ate.

During the Depression, Ruby's family moved to the town of Mt. Airy, N.C., where they settled on the land where the family still lives. Mt. Airy was the inspiration for the town of Mayberry in "The Andy Griffith Show." Ruby later married Fred Lambert, who was, in fact, a very distant cousin of Andy Griffith's.

1 cup butter or shortening or butter-flavored Crisco

2 scant cups sugar

4 eggs

1 quart ripe Hachiya persimmons (about 6 fruits), hulled and put through a food mill or ricer to remove seeds to make about 2 cups purée

1 cup whole milk

2 cups (8.5 ounces) flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups fine breadcrumbs

3 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Whipped cream, chopped pecans, ice cream or other toppings, for garnish

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease 3 standard loaf pans or pie dishes.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, then the persimmons and milk. Beat in the flour, baking powder, salt, breadcrumbs and cinnamon. Divide the mixture evenly between the prepared dishes.

3. Bake the puddings until each has puffed, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 40 to 45 minutes; rotate each pudding halfway through baking for even coloring. (Pudding baked in a pie plate will take less time to bake because of the increased surface area.) The puddings will settle as they cool.

4. Serve hot from the oven topped with whipped cream, chopped pecans or -- better yet -- butter pecan ice cream.

Each of 24 servings: 208 calories; 3 grams protein; 30 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram fiber; 9 grams fat; 5 grams saturated fat; 57 mg. cholesterol; 18 grams sugar; 200 mg. sodium.

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Vanilla ice-cream puffs with berry coulis

IngredientsFor the choux buns:

60g (2oz) butter
75g (2½oz) plain flour
2 medium eggs
For the filling:

500ml carton vanilla ice cream
For the coulis:

380g packet/carton summer berry frozen fruitsFinely zested rind of 1 orange
50g (1¾oz) caster sugar

Large piping bag, fitted with 1cm (½in)-diameter piping tube Baking sheet, lined with silicone liner or baking parchment

Method To make the choux buns:

1.Set the oven to Gas Mark 7 or 220°C.

2.Pour 150ml (¼ pint) water into a pan and add the butter. Place the pan over a medium heat and stir until the butter melts. Increase the heat and bring the mixture to a rapid boil. Remove from the heat and tip in the flour. Beat the mixture until it forms a ball and comes away from the sides of the pan.

3.Leave the mixture to cool for at least 10 minutes, then beat in the eggs. Fill the piping bag with the mixture and pipe about 16-20 balls, about the size of walnuts on to the lined baking sheet. Place above the centre of the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the buns have risen and are a pale-golden colour.

4.Remove from the oven and pierce each bun with a skewer, or fine knife, to allow team to escape, then return to the oven to bake for a further 5 minutes until the buns are crisp. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

5.Cut each bun almost fully in half. Remove any soft mixture from the centres, using a teaspoon. Fill the buns with the ice cream, then place them in freezer container. They will freeze for up to 1 month.

6.To serve: Make the coulis by heating the frozen fruits with the orange zest and caster sugar over a low heat, stirring occasionally until the fruit defrosts. Increase heat and bring mixture to the boil. Cover pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Press the fruit through a fine sieve. Scrape the mixture underneath the sieve into the pulp to thicken it. Stir until evenly mixed, then allow it to cool completely.

7.Remove choux balls from the freezer and allow them to soften for about 10 minutes, then stack them in serving dishes and spoon some coulis over.

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Jo Pratt recipes - Summerberry crumble sundae

INGREDIENTS For the summerberry ice-cream...
1 x vanilla ice-cream recipe
500g (1lb 2oz) fresh or frozen summer berries: strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackberries
100g (3 1/2oz) caster sugar
For the raspberry sauce...
250g (9oz) fresh or defrosted raspberries
Juice of 1/2 lemon
3tbsp caster sugar
To make the sundae...
Handful of fresh summer berries
2-3tbsp whipped cream
2-3 hob-nob or digestive biscuits, crumbled

METHOD to make the ice-cream, follow the instructions for the vanilla ice-cream given left, until the stage at which it is ready to churn. If you are using fresh berries, remove any stalks and rinse under the tap. Frozen ones just need to be defrosted before using.

Puree the berries and sugar in a food processor or blender, or mash well with a potato masher. Push the puree through a sieve to remove any pips or seeds. Taste the puree and add more sugar if it isn't sweet enough. Add the puree fruit to the vanilla custard and pour into an ice-cream machine and churn for about 20-30 minutes, until the icecream is thick and scoopable.

To make the sauce, blend together the raspberries, lemon and sugar until smooth and then push through a sieve. now layer the ice-cream, raspberry sauce, some fresh berries, whipped cream and crumbled biscuits in a sundae glass.

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British winter warmers - Recipes from the northeast

Scarborough woof, or seawolf, is a much-loved speciality of the North Sea coast. It's an ugly looking critter that belongs to the marine catfish family, which is odd because it does not have the whiskers of a catfish, and has teeth like a dog's (maybe that's where the name "woof" comes from).

We get our kippers from Fortune's of Whitby. At the Star, we serve this with a hollandaise mixed with the classic tartare ingredients of chopped gherkin, capers, parsley, shallots and lemon juice; a good ready-made hollandaise or tartare would do the job, too. Serves four.

For the beer batter
15g fresh yeast
300ml dark beer
225g flour
1 tsp salt
1 dash vinegar
Vegetable oil, for deep-frying
12 50g pieces woof (or cod or lemon sole fillets)
Seasoned flour

For the scallops
A little olive oil
8 king scallops, cleaned and removed from shells

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Recipe - Cherry-almond-coconut granola

Total time: About 1 hour

Servings: Makes about 6 cups

Note: This granola is not as sweet as you might be used to. It would be nice sprinkled over vanilla ice cream for dessert, or over Greek yogurt for an afternoon snack.

1 cup shredded or shaved unsweetened coconut

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1/4 cup honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup slivered or sliced almonds, your choice

1/4 cup sesame seeds

2 tablespoons brown sugar

About 1 cup dried cherries (a 5- to 6-ounce bag)

1. Heat the oven to 275 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Sprinkle the coconut in a single layer on the parchment paper and toast just until some of the edges of the coconut begin to color but the coconut is still mostly white, 3 to 7 minutes (timing will vary depending on how finely the coconut is shredded). Remove and set aside to cool (leave the parchment paper on the baking sheet).

2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a large pot over low heat. Stir in the honey, vanilla and salt, then stir in the oats, almonds and sesame seeds. Add the brown sugar and stir gently until everything is completely combined. Transfer the granola to the parchment-lined baking sheet, breaking up any clumps so the granola is spread out in a single layer.

3. Toast the granola, stirring every 15 to 20 minutes, until the mixture is golden brown, about 40 to 60 minutes. Remove the tray and set aside to cool, then transfer the granola to a large bowl. Add the toasted coconut and cherries, stirring well to combine.

Each one-fourth cup: 158 calories; 4 grams protein; 19 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams fiber; 8 grams fat; 4 grams saturated fat; 5 mg. cholesterol; 51 mg. sodium.

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Goat's milk ice cream 'almost killed woman'

Rachel Devine, 24, went into anaphylactic shock and had a heart attack minutes after eating the ice cream, which contained goats' milk. She was in Turkey with her boyfriend when the incident happened in August. Her father said she was undergoing rehabilitation to learn how to walk and talk again at Musgrave Park Hospital.

"Rachel has asked for all the details of what happened, but regarding her memory and her personality, everything remains intact," Stephen Devine said. "She is a determined girl and wants to return to her job, she works for a law firm in Manchester where she studied.

"She had just been given her training contract to train as a solicitor before she left on holiday." Mr Devine said his daughter, who was flown back to Belfast 10 days after she collapsed, was aware that she was allergic to goats' milk, but did not know it was an ingredient in the ice cream.

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Apple crisp with Manchego cheese ice cream

Apple Crisp with Manchego Cheese Ice Cream
Serves 6
Shortcake Biscuits
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
5 tablespoons sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped, seeds reserved and bean discarded
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest of half an orange
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into cubes and chilled

1/2 to 3/4 cup cold heavy cream
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon water
1/4 cup coarse sugar
Apple Filling
1 1/2 pounds crisp apples, such as Fuji or Braeburn
3/4 cup sugar
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons Calvados (apple brandy)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Crumble Topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup shredded coconut
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
Manchego Cheese Ice Cream
8 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
3 cups half-and-half
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1/2 pound Manchego cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
For shortcake biscuits:
Preheat oven to 350º. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Set aside.

Combine flour, baking powder, sugar, vanilla bean seeds, salt, and orange zest in a large bowl. Stir to combine.

Add butter, and use fingers to crumble butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Pour in 1/2 cup cream, and stir with a fork until a loose dough forms, slowly adding remaining 1/4 cup cream as necessary (dough should be sticky but not wet).

Transfer dough to a floured surface. Knead gently with floured hands until dough comes together, 3 to 5 turns. Pat the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick round, and cut out 6 biscuits with a 3-inch round cutter, re-rolling dough once.

Place biscuits on the prepared baking sheet. Whisk together beaten egg and water in a small bowl; brush each biscuit lightly with egg wash, and sprinkle each with coarse sugar.

Bake until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on pans for 5 minutes; serve warm.
For apple filling:
Peel apples and cut into 1/4-inch dice. Set aside.

Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium heat; add sugar, and stir about 2 minutes or until sugar melts,.

Add diced apples, and cook about 3 minutes or until apples just begin to soften. Combine lemon juice, Calvados, and cornstarch in a small bowl; stir until cornstarch is dissolved.

Add lemon juice mixture to the pan, and cook about 4 minutes, stirring, until juices thicken. Serve warm.
For crumble topping:
Preheat oven to 350º.

Combine flour, sugar, brown sugar, oats, pecans, and coconut in a large bowl; stir until well combined. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt butter. Slowly add melted butter to the bowl, stirring to incorporate.

Pour mixture onto an un-greased cookie sheet, breaking up large clumps with your fingers. Bake 10 to 14 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool slightly; break up any remaining big pieces to achieve a crumbly consistency.
For Manchego cheese ice cream:
Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in a large bowl until pale and fluffy; set aside.

Combine cream, half-and-half, and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a simmer. Slowly ladle 1 cup hot cream mixture into egg yolks, whisking constantly. Pour egg-cream mixture back into the saucepan, and cook about 4 minutes, stirring constantly, until mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon. Pour mixture into a large bowl.

Add cheese cubes and stir. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Once cooled, pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl. Discard cheese and vanilla bean. Refrigerate custard until cold, then freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
To serve:

Place 1 shortcake biscuit on each serving plate.

Spoon apple filling over biscuit, then sprinkle with crumble topping.

Serve with a scoop of Manchego cheese ice cream on the side.

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