You know the lovely long summer holiday you’ve been looking forward to for ages? Well, don’t look now, but it’s all over! Is it just me, or does it feel like that flew by quicker than you can say “flip-flops”? But, fear not… school starting doesn’t mean the summer has gone! I’ve got the perfect bake for a lovely hot January… a fab, funky Melting Ice Cream Cake with a surprisingly speckled inside! I baked this for a friend’s little girl – adapting the recipe & instructions from a similar cake on Pinterest.
YOU WILL NEED
EQUIPMENT
An electric mixer, 3 disposable foil trays (or equal sized baking tins if you have them) two piping bags, an icing scraper (or similar tool) and a long wooden / bamboo skewer
INGREDIENTS
For the cake:
- 350g self-raising flour
- 3tsp baking powder
- 350g soft unsalted butter
- 350g caster sugar
- 6 large free range eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- Up to 65ml milk – any kind
- 120g Icing-based sprinkles of your choice (normal sugar-based sprinkles like vermicelli or 100’s & 1000’s will melt away during the baking process, but icing-based ones retain their shape & colour)
For the frosting:
- 200g butter, VERY soft but not melted
- 250g medium fat cream cheese
- +- 800g icing sugar, sifted
- 1tbsp lemon juice
- Purple gel colour
For the “melting ice cream” pink ganache:
- 200g white cooking chocolate (large blocks, chopped up, work better than chocolate chips)
- 85ml cream
- Pink powder colour
- Sprinkles to decorate
For the ice cream cone:
- One sugar cone
- 1 cup Rice Krispies
METHOD
Preheat oven to gas mark 4/170ºC/360 ºF
Prepare your disposable foil tins by spraying with Spray & Cook and cutting a circle of baking paper for each one
Instructions for the cake:
- Cream your butter and sugar until combined, light and fluffy.
- Add eggs one at a time.
- In a separate bowl, mix baking powder & flour, then add little by little and mix well (with the mixer now on slow).
- Add vanilla extract.
- If your batter is a little thick as mine was, add up to 65ml of milk – adding a tablespoon at a time and stopping when you get to a consistency that you’re happy with.
- Add your chosen sprinkles to the batter and mix well.
- Using a spatula, divide your batter equally between the disposable tins. Use the back of a spoon to smooth down each cake – this will help them to bake flat.
- Pop them into the oven and keep a close eye on them – you don’t want them to get browned. Take them out as soon as a skewer to the centre comes out clean (25-30 min depending on your oven).
- Remove from oven and allow to cool completely.
- Once cool, level the tops of all 3 layers, reserving the scraps for later use.
Instructions for the frosting:
- Mix the butter and cream cheese
- Add icing sugar gradually and mix well
- Add lemon juice
- Refrigerate to firm if necessary, or add up to 60ml hot water if too firm
- Remove ⅔ of the white frosting from the mixing bowl and transfer to a separate bowl – cover with a damp towel to prevent the frosting from drying out.
- Tint the remaining frosting, with the purple gel food colour, using a few drops at a time.
- Transfer the purple frosting to a piping bag with a 12mm round tip. (If, like me, you don’t have the widest selection of piping tips, just using the coupler on its own works equally well! You could even just snip the tip off a disposable piping bag.)
- Fill the second frosting bag with white frosting.
To assemble:
Use the remaining white frosting to sandwich the cake layers (I prefer to assemble my cakes directly on to a flat cake plate) and cover the entire cake in a thin crumb coat. You will have a little frosting left over and this should be reserved for later use.
After the crumb coat has been applied, use the piping bags with white and purple frostings to apply alternating lines of frosting around the sides of the cake, making them as even as possible. Using a cake turntable is recommended here, as it makes the job much easier.
Place your icing scraper vertically to the side of the frosted cake and carefully scrape away some of the frosting in a single motion until stripes are revealed. You may need to make several passes before the frosting is completely even – wipe excess frosting away from the scraper after each go. Set the cake aside while you prepare the ganache. (*See note below)
Instructions for the ganache:
- Heat the cream until it’s about to boil, then add the chopped chocolate.
- Allow to stand for 2 minutes, then stir until the chocolate has fully melted into the cream.
- Whisk until smooth and glossy. When you start to stir it, you think it won’t come together, but it will.
- Add pink powder colour, little by little, until the desired hue is achieved.
- Allow to cool slightly to a pourable consistency.
- Using a spoon, drizzle some of the ganache onto the centre of the cake, then gently push the pooled ganache over the edges of the cake to create a drip effect. Reserve the unused ganache.
Instructions for the ice cream cone:
- Crumble the reserved cake scraps into a bowl and add 2 tablespoons of the remaining buttercream.
- Mix until thoroughly combined and firm enough to pack into a ball. Roll the ball as smooth as possible, then set aside.
- In another bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of icing with the Rice Krispies. Pack this mixture into the sugar cone and insert the bamboo skewer into the centre.
- Thread the ball onto the skewer and press it on to the top of the sugar cone.
- Use a spoon to cover the ball with the leftover pink ganache. If the ganache is too firm, reheat at 10-second intervals in the microwave until smooth and pourable. Allow the excess ganache to drip back into the bowl.
- Turn the ice cream pop upside down and insert it into the cake at a slight angle.
- Pour more ganache over the ball portion, if needed.
- Cover the ice cream ball and pink ganache with sprinkles.
*The Pinterest post called for refrigerating the cake at this stage, which I did, but I found it made the smooth application of the ganache more difficult as it tended to set too quickly. It was, therefore, difficult to spread/smooth it, so I wouldn’t recommend it. Luckily I had my little blowtorch handy so I could heat & blend some of the messier bits!
Happy baking!
