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["* Please note that the prep time does not account for time required to freeze the ice cream or chill the shortbread dough.", "For the cheesecake ice cream (yields about 3 cups):", "Cut cream cheese into small pieces and place into a blender or food processor. Add the lemon zest, sour cream, half-and-half, sugar and salt. Puree until very smooth. No chunks!", "Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator for 1 hour, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.", "Line a 9"" square pan with parchment paper (make sure some of the paper hangs over both ends of the pan-you'll use it as a handle to remove the frozen ice cream from the pan) and then spread the ice cream into the prepared pan, smoothing it out as much as possible. Freeze ice cream in the pan until it is completely frozen. This will take at least 2 hours.", "For the red velvet shortbread stars:", "In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat butter and sugar until the mixture is a bit fluffy. Add in the salt and flour and mix until just incorporated. Then add the cocoa powder and mix again. Carefully add the food coloring and vanilla, stirring until red coloring is evenly distributed. Divide dough into 2 equal portions and pat each into a 4"" round disc. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours.", "Once the dough is chilled, heat oven to 350u00b0F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside.", "Lightly flour your work surface and rolling pin. Remove one dough disc from the refrigerator and roll to about 1/4"" thick. If the dough is sticky, just pick it up and pat into a round, flour your surface again, and roll out the dough again. I found that this second rolling did the trick every time. With a small star shaped cookie cutter (mine measured 2-1/4"" across), cut out star shapes and place them on your parchment lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with red sugar. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes, taking care to not let the cookies brown. Let cookies rest on cookie sheet a couple minutes before removing them to a wire rack to cool completely.", "To assemble the patriotic ice cream sandwiches:", "Cut the ice cream around the edge of the pan and then gently remove the frozen slab of ice cream from the pan using the parchment paper overhang. Dip the same star cookie cutter you used for the cookies into a shallow bowl of hot water and start cutting out ice cream stars, dipping the cutter into the hot water in between each cut.", "Turn a star cookie upside down and place an ice cream star on top of the cookie (make sure to line up the edges). Top with another star cookie (right side up) and gently press together to make a sandwich. Repeat until all of the ice cream stars are used. You will have more star cookies than you need. Immediately place the ice cream sandwiches in the freezer to freeze thoroughly. Keep frozen until ready to serve.", "Source: Red Velvet Shortbread Stars adapted from Raspberry Shortbread Hearts on my site, original recipe from Betty Crocker's 40th Anniversary Edition Cookbook's Scotch Shortbread recipe. Cheesecake Ice Cream adapted from Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream on my site, original recipe from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz."]
