Daring Bakers - 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.

Isn't this cake the bomb? I mean, literally it is a bombe, and who can't fall in love with a cake that looks this delectable! Out of all of my Daring Baker's challenges this one probably took me the longest, but I think it just may have been the most fulfilling challenge I have completed as of yet. I absolutely adore ice cream, especially homemade, and if you pair that with cake and hot fudge then I'm over the moon.

I started by going to the library and checking out The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz. I was amazed at all the different flavors. Avocado, black pepper, basil . . . wow! But I have to say that as amazing as those flavors sounded I am usually drawn to something right away and no matter how hard I look I just keep coming back to that recipe or item. For me it was the toasted almond and cherry ice cream. I loved the look (as I've mentioned before I'm very visual) and the flavors and textures sounded fantastic. I knew that chocolate would be great paired with that so I knew I was going to make the swiss roll a chocolate flavor as well as the hot fudge for the center of the bombe. I kept wavering a bit on the second flavor of ice cream because I wanted to try something new but I also wanted a flavor to compliment the toasted almond and cherry. In the end I went with a chocolate with mini chocolate chips mixed in.

I first made the chocolate ice cream. It was a great experience and very easy since I had just made vanilla about a week ago. The process was pretty much the same. I chose to make a custard style because I wanted the ice cream to set well and for it to be rich and creamy like ice cream as opposed to ice milk. Once the ice cream was finished churning I mixed in the mini chips and stuck it in the freezer for the few days until I could assemble the whole cake. (See below for recipe) 

Next up was the toasted almond and cherry ice cream. Fresh cherries from the local farmer's market . . yum! Pitting them was an interesting process and a new one for me. After the cherries were candied and the almonds were toasted and chopped, it was time to make the ice cream. This recipe was also a custard style ice cream that required you to steep the almonds in the cream for about an hour. After they were finished steeping you were told to squeeze out the almonds to get all the cream and then discard the almonds. Who in the world is just going to discard over a cup of finely chopped almonds that have been steeped in a sweet, cream? Not me! Those babies went into a ziploc bag and into the fridge where they are waiting to become a crust to a pie or something equally delicious. I probably could have sat there with a spoon and just eaten bite after bite of these almonds. (See below for recipe) 

Never having made a swiss roll cake before I have to admit I was a teeny bit nervous. Especially with how many people were mentioning that their cakes cracked and fell apart. I really didn't want make more than one so I was hoping I'd get it right the first time. Thank goodness it went off pretty much without a hitch. I ended up using pillowcases to wrap the cakes in because I didn't have thin enough dishtowels. That, and you need about six hands: Two to roll the cake, one to hold down the pillowcase while the other is using a spatula to make sure the cake doesn't stick to the pillowcase, and two for taking a picture of it! (Click here for recipe)

The fudge sauce went together quickly. I don't know if mine thickened up quite as much as it was supposed to but it was thick enough once it sat in the freezer overnight. (Click here for recipe)

Although the process to assemble was quite lengthy if you waited for each layer to freeze it wasn't terribly difficult. The thing I wish I could have changed was making sure that the bottom layer of plastic wrap was smooth so that my cake and whipped cream didn't have little wrinkle lines. This was a fantastic challenge, and absolutely perfect for a hot summer's day! Enjoy!