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Daring Bakers Challenge: Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

Jeanne — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 08:00:35 +0000

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.

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.

Rhubarb Berry Pi

Jeanne — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 03:44:53 +0000

Saturday, 7:10 am. The farmers market had just opened and we found ourselves in front of a bright display of strawberries and marionberries. As we selected one of each type of berry, the farmer appeared in front of us and half-whispered, “I’ve got one container of tayberries back here if you’re interested.” The Boyfriend and I exchanged looks. “What’s a tayberry?” I asked. He produced the half pint container and replied, “They’re like gold. They won’t last long.”

I’m not sure if it was his clever marketing or the gorgeous purplish-black hue of the tayberries, but we were sold. We brought home the most delicious collection of strawberries, marionberries, and tayberries. Our CSA share added boysenberries and rhubarb to our bounty. Now, each and every one of those berries could have made their way into our stomachs within a few hours. But I had grander plans for them: pie.

Here they are. The tayberries are on the left side, at the top. They look like blackberries but are longer in shape. They’re a cross between blackberries and raspberries, which means that they taste phenomenal. The perfect addition to my summer berry pie. This pie is definitely a winner, so I’m submitting it to “You Want Pies With That?” for this month’s summer fruit pies roundup.

I decorated my pie with a lattice crust on top, garnished with little pie crust strawberries. The filling came out a beautiful deep purplish-blue color, with a rich sweet-tart berry flavor. The perfect beginning to summer. Now, if only I had some vanilla ice cream…

Rhubarb Berry Pie
Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
Yield: 1 yummy 9″ pie

For the crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unsalted butter, cold
1/4 to 1/2 cup ice cold water

Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Slice 1/2 cup of the butter into small cubes and add it to the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter or a fork, blend the butter into the flour until it resembles large crumbs.

Slice the remaining butter into 1/4″ pats. To do this, slice a stick of butter lengthwise into four pieces. Rotate the stick and cut four lengthwise slices again. Then slice the strips.

Add the butter pats into the flour mixture and blend just until all the butter is coated in flour. Leave large chunks of butter in the dough for a flakier crust.

Add the ice water, one tablespoon at a time, mixing gently with a fork after each addition. Add enough water that the dough just comes together when you grab a small handful. Resist the urge to add too much water, it may get sticky when you try to roll it out.

Separate the dough into two halves, form each half into a disc shape, and wrap with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. This “relaxation period” will serve to keep the dough chilled (thereby preserving the chunks of butter) and allow the gluten to relax (making the dough easier to roll out).

For the filling:
4 cups fresh berries, rinsed (I used 1 cup each of strawberries, marionberries, boysenberries, and tayberries)
1 cup rhubarb, chopped (about 4 small stalks)
1 cup sucanat (or your preferred sugar)
1 1/2 tablespoons tapioca flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

Preheat the oven to 450°.

Combine the berries and rhubarb in a large bowl. Add sucanat and stir gently until well combined. Sprinkle the tapioca flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg over the berry mixture, gently folding until combined.

Beat the egg white and water in a small bowl. Set aside.

On a generously floured work surface, roll out one of the pie crusts to about 12″ or 13″ in diameter. Gently wrap it around the rolling pin and transfer it to a 9″ pie plate. Brush the inside of the crust with the egg white mixture. This helps to avoid a soggy crust.

Pour the fruit filling into the crust. Roll out the top crust and use it whole or create a design that inspires you. I chose to make a lattice pattern with the top crust. Brush the egg wash over the top of the crust as well.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes at 450°, then turn the oven down to 350° and bake for an additional 35-50 minutes. If it looks like the filling may bubble over in the oven, place a baking sheet covered with foil underneath the pie. The pie is done when the crust turns brown and the filling is bubbling.

Allow the pie to cool on a cooling rack for 45 minutes before slicing. Then eat it all up!

Blueberry Strawberry Quick Bread

Jeanne — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 04:02:31 +0000

I miss fresh berries during the winter. Luckily, I found some strawberries in my freezer. My first instinct was to make strawberry muffins, but I decided to try a quick bread instead. Of course, I didn’t have enough strawberries, so I added some frozen blueberries as well.

This bread is quick and easy. It doesn’t get much simpler than this. Two mixing bowls, one loaf pan, and into the oven it goes. An hour later, you’ve got a healthy snack!

While your bread is baking, you’ll want to check out this cookbook:

Lauren from Celiac Teen has compiled an ebook to benefit survivors of the earthquake in Haiti. All proceeds will be donated to the Canadian Red Cross, earmarked for Haiti earthquake relief efforts.

Lauren compiled 87 recipes, donated by 71 individuals (one of whom is me!). She asked foodies to donate recipes that make us think of home, so that we may remember those who lost their home in the earthquake. I am proud to be a part of this amazing fundraising effort. I hope that you’ll make a donation!

And now, without further ado, I bring you a bread recipe.

Blueberry Strawberry Quick Bread
Adapted from The King Arthur Flour Baker’s Companion
Yield: One loaf

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
2 eggs
1/2 cup mashed strawberries
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup canola oil

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9 x 5 loaf pan with butter, or spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs, strawberries, applesauce, and oil. Fold in the blueberries.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients, and stir until combined. Pour into the pan, and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool the bread in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool on a cooling rack.