July '10 Daring Baker's Challenge: Swiss Swirl Ice Cream Cake

The weather this summer has been tolerable but not very pleasant. Yes, the summer sun is out in full force and wrecking havoc upon those of us who dread the sunlight. I'm not a cold-blooded monster per se, just more of a fall/winter girl. Yes, I rather enjoy the cool, damp Autumn showers as well as the blisteringly frigid breeze that December brings. But that's not to say that summer doesn't have it's positive notes; one thing is for certain, during the summer-time nobody can give you the "glarey-eyes" if they catch you eating ice cream for dinner :P. And if they do give you the "glarey-eye" you know it's only because they're jealous that you're enjoying a frosty treat whilst they are left to suffer in the sweltering heat, without the reprieve of their own tasty sweet. Okay, maybe some of you health-nuts and parents out there don't condone ice cream as a meal... but when you're desperate and sweaty you must admit that nothing beats ice cream.

Anyways, all this banter is simply leading into this month's Daring Baker's Challenge which 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.

So... on with the recipe... and the pretty pictures

Swiss Rolls

Ingredients:
- 6 medium sized eggs
- 1 cup caster sugar + extra for rolling
- 6 tbsp, a pinch over 1.5 oz of all purpose (plain) flour + 5 tbsp/a pinch under 1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
- 2 tbsp of boiling water
- a oil for brushing the pans

Filling:
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of ~ ½ cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
- 5 tbsp caster sugar

Method:
1. Pre heat oven to 200C or 400F.

2. Brush baking pans ( 11 x 9 in) with a oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake. 3. In a large mixing bowl, beat together eggs and sugar until very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.

4. Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.
5. Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.
6. Place a pan in the center of the pre-heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the center is springy to the touch.
7. Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it.
8. Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.
9. Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down.
10. Repeat the same for the next cake as well.
11. Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processer till nicely mixed together. If you are using vanilla extract, just grind the sugar on its own and then add the sugar and extract to the cream.
12. In a large bowl, add the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture and beat till very thick.
13. Divide the cream mixture between the completely cooled cakes.
14. Open the rolls and spread the cream mixture, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of ½ an inch should be fine).

15. Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge till needed, seam side down.

Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:
- 2 ½ cup whipping cream
- 1 vanilla bean, minced or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ cup granulated sugar

Method:
1. Grind together the sugar and vanilla in a food processor. In a mixing bowl, add the cream and vanilla –sugar mixture and whisk lightly till everything is mixed together. If you are using the vanilla extract, grind the sugar on its own and then and the sugar along with the vanilla extract to the cream.
2. Pour into a freezer friendly container and freeze till firm around the edges. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely.

The Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 3 tbsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 tbsp cornflour/cornstarch
- 1 ½ cup water
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract

Method:
1. In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, cornflour and water
2. Place the pan over heat, and stir constantly, till it begins to thicken and is smooth (for about 2 minutes).
3. Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla. Keep aside to cool .

The Chocolate Ice Cream

Ingredients:
- 2 cups whipping cream
- 1 cup caster sugar
- 3 tbsp natural unsweetened cocoa powder

Method:
1. Grind together the sugar and the cocoa powder in a food processor .
2. In a saucepan, add all the ingredients and whisk lightly.
3. Place the pan over heat and keep stirring till it begins to bubble around the edges.
4. Remove from heat and cool completely before transferring to a freezer friendly container till firm around the edges. If you are using an ice cream maker, churn the ice cream according to the manufacturer’s instruction, after the mixture has cooled completely.
5. Remove from the freezer, beat till smooth and return to the freezer. Do this 3-4 times and then set completely

Assembly
1. Cut swiss rolls into 20 equal slices (~2 cms each)
2. Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with cling film/plastic wrap.
3. Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes).
4. Soften the vanilla ice cream. Take the bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and add the ice cream on top of the cake slices. Spread it out to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till firm ( at least 1 hour)
5. Add the fudge sauce over the vanilla ice cream, cover and freeze till firm . ( at least an hour)
6. Soften the chocolate ice cream and spread it over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely set .
7. Remove the plastic cover, and place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily.
8. Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.

I decided against making the hot fudge part and the chocolate ice cream part because I had gone a little overboard with the chocolate-ness of my swiss rolls. The over-zealousness of my frosting and my decision to make the frosting chocolate flavored versus vanilla flavoured was probably my downfall. The frosting kinda oozed out, and since it was a similar color to the cake it didn't really create that nice color-differentiation that would have added a lovely finesse to the Swiss Roll. Oh, well... there's always next time.

Also, I didn't have enough whipping cream to make a separate batch of chocolate ice cream, so I simply used up all of my vanilla ice cream to fill the bombe. I'm sure if I used the hot fudge and chocolate ice cream, the bombe would have looked ultra-fantastic... but my sisters and my parents were just so happy that I had made a cold treat for them to enjoy that had both the deliciousness of cake and the refreshing creaminess of ice cream. I really enjoyed making this recipe, and will definitely do it again sometime... probably sticking closer to the original recipe than I did this time.