Daring Bakers Challenge: Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

‘Tis the time of year to turn on the fan, sprawl on the couch (or on the patio if it’s not 100 degrees out) with a good book, and enjoy a bowl of ice cream. This Swiss Roll ice cream cake is like an all-in-one ice cream sundae with two different ice cream flavors, hot fudge, chocolate cake, and strawberry whipped cream! It’s sure to cool you down on a hot July day.

I rarely make ice cream, though I love to eat it. I don’t own a fancy ice cream maker, just this simple hand crank Donvier model that we used when I was young. This ice cream maker is 22 years old! In fact, I can tell you that we made our first ice cream from this machine on December 27, 1988 (it must have been a Christmas present). And we liked it. Thanks, mom, for keeping good notes!

I generally make a custard ice cream (in other words, using eggs) so it was interesting to try these simple recipes with just cream, sugar, and flavor. They did come out delicious! The only issue I had was that the chocolate ice cream never froze solid. It remained soft, even after sitting in the freezer overnight. I’ve never made chocolate ice cream before, so I’m not sure if this was my error or a problem with the recipe.

The original recipes called for caster sugar, which is unavailable where I live. It’s basically superfine sugar, so I created my own substitute by grinding some organic sucanat in a coffee grinder. It worked beautifully!

Since there are so many lovely berries available right now, I decided to give my cake a berry twist. I used fresh strawberries in the Swiss roll filling, and fresh blackberries in one of the ice cream layers.

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake
Adapted from Taste of Home

This recipe is best made over the course of two (or more) days. I made the Swiss roll and blackberry chip ice cream on the first day, and the hot fudge and chocolate ice cream on the second day, while assembling the cake. The cake sat in the freezer overnight, since I had some difficulty with freezing the chocolate ice cream.

Chocolate Swiss Roll With Strawberry Whipped Cream Filling
Yield: one Swiss roll (approximately 10 slices)

For the cake:
3 eggs
1/2 cup sucanat, finely ground in a coffee grinder or food processor
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon boiling water

For the filling:
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons confectioners sugar
5 tablespoons fresh strawberry puree

Preheat the oven to 390°. Prepare an 11 inch by 9 inch baking pan by spraying with cooking spray then lining with parchment paper.

With an electric mixer, beat the eggs and sucanat until the mixture is very thick. This will take about 10-12 minutes. The mixture is thick enough when you lift the beater and it leaves a trail for 10 seconds.

Sift the flour and cocoa powder together. Fold into the egg mixture in three batches. Gently stir in the boiling water. Spread the batter into the pan, as evenly as possible. It will be very thin.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the center is springy and the edges are starting to curl away from the sides of the pan.

Spread a dish towel on the counter and sprinkle it with some confectioners sugar or finely ground sucanat. When the cake comes out of the oven, invert it onto the dish towel. Peel away the parchment paper and trim off the crisp edges.

Carefully roll up the cake and the towel together. Doing this while the cake is still warm will allow the cake to keep its shape once filled. Cool the cake, rolled up in the towel, on a cooling rack, seam side down. While the cake is cooling, prepare the filling.

Place the mixer bowl and beater in the fridge for 10-15 minutes (this step is optional, but will make it easier to whip the cream). Puree the strawberries in a food processor (or like me, if you don’t have one just use a potato masher).

Add the cream and vanilla extract to the bowl and beat until soft peaks form. Sprinkle in the confectioners sugar and continue to beat until the cream forms stiff peaks, or to your desired consistency. Fold in the strawberry puree. If you’re not using the whipped cream right away, place it in the fridge.

Cover your work surface with confectioners sugar to prevent the cake from sticking. When the cake has completely cooled, carefully unroll it onto the sugared surface. Spread the whipped cream over the cake, to within 1/2 inch of the edges.

Gently roll the cake up again, without the towel this time. Sprinkle the cake with confectioners sugar and wrap with plastic wrap. Refrigerate, seam side down, until ready to use.

Blackberry Chip Ice Cream
Yield: slightly less than one quart

2 cups whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sucanat, finely ground
1 cup fresh blackberries
1/3 cup grated chocolate

Whisk together the cream, vanilla extract, and sucanat. Stir in the blackberries and chocolate. Pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions.

If you’d like to make the ice cream without an ice cream maker, David Lebovitz gives some excellent instructions.

Hot Fudge Sauce
Yield: 1 3/4 cups

1 cup sucanat
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon unsalted butter

In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sucanat, cocoa powder, cornstarch, and water. Heat over medium heat, stirring contantly, until the mixture comes to a simmer. Continue whisking until the mixture thickens, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Chocolate Ice Cream
Yield: one pint

2 cups whipping cream
1 cup sucanat
3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Combine all ingredients in a sauce pan, and place over medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture begins to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature (even better, cool and then place in the fridge for an hour or two).

Pour into your ice cream maker and freeze according to instructions.

To assemble the cake:

Select a freezer-proof container of the size and shape you desire for your cake (I used a 2.5 liter Pyrex bowl). Line the bowl with plastic wrap to facilitate easier removal of the cake. Slice the Swiss roll and line the bottom and sides of the bowl with the slices. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer until the slices are firm (about one hour). In the meantime, remove the blackberry chip ice cream from the freezer to soften (about 20 minutes).

Spread the softened ice cream over the Swiss roll slices, cover, and place back in the freezer until the ice cream is firm (about 2 hours).

Pour the fudge sauce over the ice cream to the desired thickness (I only used about half of the sauce). Cover and place back in the freezer until the fudge sauce is firm (this took 3 or 4 hours).

Soften the chocolate ice cream. Mine had never firmed up so I didn’t need to remove it from the freezer ahead of time. Pour the softened ice cream over the fudge layer. Cover and place back in the freezer until firm (I left it overnight).

To remove the cake from the bowl, invert the bowl onto a plate. Carefully hold down the plastic wrap and lift the bowl off. If the plastic wrap sticks to the bowl, run a cloth dipped in warm water over the outside surface of the bowl. Peel the plastic wrap off the cake, slice, and serve.