Happy Birthday!

      Okay, so Miss Clarke, this is for you, because today is your birthday down in the little land of Kiwi's. I know the cake says "Layne" and "Kris", but you can ignore those. If you were here in TO, I would have made you one too.

         Back in October my brother asked for an ice cream cake for his birthday. We were celebrating it at Thanksgiving because that was the only time everyone would be together. Layne's birthday (my future Mother in Law), was right after Thanksgiving, so she also got her name on the cake. Unfortunately, my brother ended up having to work, so we enjoyed his birthday cake for him.

         Thanks for the back story, right? I know, here is the recipe.

Supplies
Chocolate ice cream
Vanilla ice cream
Smucker's Magic Shell (or equivalent)
Oreo's (or equivalent)
Cool Whip - optional
Hot Fudge
Gel icing (for writing)
Spring-form pan
Parchment paper


Step 1: Make your homemade chocolate ice cream (recipe here)

• Now, before you put the ice cream in a tub to freeze, cut a piece of parchment paper to fit a little wider than the bottom of your spring-form pan. Press it into the bottom of your closed pan, and press it against the edge so it kind of covers the small gap between the bottom and the sides (mine leaked a little when I put it in the freezer, and then it stuck to the metal bottom, parchment paper should fix this). 
• Scoop your fresh ice cream into the pan, only going about a third of the way up. Make sure you scoop into the centre, then use an offset spatula to guide it to the edge (this will reduce the amount of ice cream you get on the top 2/3 of the pan).
• Put it into the freezer.

Step 2: Hot fudge layer

• Once your chocolate ice cream is frozen, it's time to start on the next layer.
• Heat the fudge, but don't make it too hot, you don't want to melt the ice cream you pour it onto, just warm enough to make the chocolate fudge easy to pour. 
• Pour it over the chocolate ice cream so you have a good layer.
• Put it back into the freezer.

Step 3: Chocolate crunchies layer

• Put about 2 rows of Oreo's into a plastic bag (I believe most bags have 3 rows). Using a heavy can or a rolling pin crush the cookies. You don't want them to be too fine, or it will become a paste, making cutting your cake near impossible. You want about 2.5 cups, and chunks are good, believe me. Transfer this mixture into a bowl.
• Squirt your Magic Shell chocolate into the bowl of crushed Oreo's, just less than half the bottle (remember, you can add more, but you can't take it out). You want the cookie crumbs to be coated, but not turned into a paste.
• Spread the cookie crumbs evenly over the chilled fudge layer. If you need to make more, make some more.
• Put it back into the freezer.

Step 4: Make your homemade vanilla ice cream (recipe here)

• Scoop your ice cream over the cookie crumb layer and smooth it out even with the top of the pan with an offset spatula.
• Put it back in the freezer.

Step 5: Decorating (Optional)

• Remove your cake from the freezer and from the spring form pan.
• Without letting it thaw too much, spread Cool Whip evenly over the top and sides. For extra detail, you can pipe rosettes, stars, or shells (stay tuned for a post on proper piping and  terminology, once I learn it at work)
• Freeze to solidify again.
• Write your message using a gel icing writer. This should be done just prior to serving.

Step 6: Eating

• Remove the cake from the freezer (and from the spring form pan if you didn't decorate). 
• Let it sit out for about 10 minutes.
• Using a warm knife, cut the cake and serve.
• Eat the cake (it's delicious).

           Whether you make this for your birthday, for someone else's birthday, or just because you want a homemade version of the classic DQ cake (but better), this is the cake for you. Try experimenting with different flavour combinations. I think a homemade cookie would be fantastic in it too.

                                                                                                                                                    Enjoy!

                                                                                                                                                        Mel

Homemade Ice Cream

     Hmmm, so much good food in the past few days, I'm not quite sure where to start.... Ice cream, ribs, apples, chicken, popcorn... let's start with dessert.

My beautiful baby

     Mr. Pepper loves gifts that benefit him (he's sweet). So for Christmas 2010 he purchased me a Colbalt Blue Kitchenaid Mixer. You see, this benefits him because now I can bake and he reaps the rewards. And, oh how he has reaped them, between cakes, cookies, brownies, and cinnamon buns, Mr. Pepper has been my faithful resident taste-tester, a job that he eagerly accepts. Then, for Christmas 2011, Mr. Pepper gave me a Kitchenaid Ice Cream maker. See, another gift that he benefits from, so now, between all the cakes, cookies, etc, he has added homemade ice cream taster to his repertoire.

       On Tuesday I decided to make some ice cream, and it's about a 2 day project (it's tough when you want the ice cream right now). Tuesday morning I put the ice cream making bowl in the freezer. It has to freeze solidly, so make sure you remember to do this... it's horrible when you go through all this work and remember that you forgot to freeze the bowl. I made this portion of the recipe on Tuesday afternoon, and finished it off on Wednesday.

The ingredients

       So, the recipe (pretty much the one that came to with the mixer, but with less vanilla):

• 2 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 cups whipping cream
• 3 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp salt

The mixture

1. Heat half-and-half until very hot, stirring often. DO NOT BOIL. Remove from heat.
2. Whisk yolks and sugar on speed 2 until blended and thickened. Gradually add hot half-and-half. Mix well.
3. Return mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat stirring constantly until small bubbles form and mixture is thick on the back of a wooden spoon. DO NOT BOIL.
4. Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl and stir in whipping cream, vanilla and salt. Cover and chill thoroughly (at least 8 hours).

The inspiration

      Wednesday afternoon I was getting ready to put it into the ice cream maker when I had a brainstorm, "What if I made it rippled?" "Rippled you ask?" "Yes, with berries." So off I went to find a recipe. Luckily the August 2012 issue of Chatelaine had a recipe.

The berry syru

1. Combine 2 cup of berries (they suggested blueberries, I used frozen 'power berries' - a combination of blackberries, cherries, raspberries and pomegranate) with  1/2  cup of honey and 4 tbsp lemon juice in a saucepan.
2. Set saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to medium and gently boil, stirring occasionally, until syrupy, about 10-15 minutes (because my berries were frozen I found that there was  still a lot of liquid left over, so I let it simmer for longer to cook off the liquid).
4. Transfer to a metal bowl and chill in the freezer for about an hour. 

      

My gift at work

Now that the ripple was chilling, I started prepping for ice cream making.

1.   Attach the frozen bowl and dasher (that's the mix head) to the mixer and turn to "stir" (speed 1). Using  a container with a spout, pour the ice cream mixture into the freeze bowl. Continue on stir for 15-20 minutes (I generally go a bit longer) or until desired consistency.

2.   Alternate adding layers of ice cream and the syrupy mixture into your container of choice before freezing.

3.   Freeze.

Yield: 16 Servings

When serving, let stand at room temperature until slightly softened, about 10 minutes before attempting to scoop.

Enjoy!

Mel