The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

I had really wanted to do the Baked Alaska but time just wouldn't permit. I had to settle for the petit fours.

My first disappointment was in the required brown butter pound cake. I found it dry and unappetizing. Because I've made plenty of ice cream before and I had the time issues, I just ended up buying some ice cream and using that. Lastly, I just have a miserable time when it comes to dipping things in chocolate and them coming out attractive.

This all being said, I will not be sharing the recipes. Plenty of other bloggers will.

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.

As soon as I saw this challenge I knew that I'd use it for my BFF's birthday. The challenge was when to fit in the making of the components. Luckily I had almost all the ingredients in stock, I only needed to buy bananas and cream. Also, the individual parts were all simple recipes. I just needed to consider things like freezing times between each step.


I really liked the cake element with the chocolate genoise cake. Simple, light, soft and fluffy. On reflection, I think I should have rolled it along the long side instead of along the short side. This would have resulted in more smaller slices which would make a prettier design on the outside of the bowl.

I don't care for chocolate ice cream and so I made a banana one for the bottom layer. I also had some left over vanilla from the big canning weekend and so I used that in addition to making a small batch of vanilla.


I got rave reviews from everyone at the party. One 12 year old said it was 'the best cake EVER!' The host of the party begged to keep the leftovers (about 1/4 of the total). I had no problem with that since I wasn't interested in transporting a melting cake back home on a 15 minute drive.

I would make this again for the right occasion. It's easy, just be sure to allot enough time for the freezings.


I'm not including the ice cream recipes below. You can make whatever you like or just buy some from the store.

Swiss Rolls

6 medium sized eggs
1 C caster sugar
8 oz powdered sugar for rolling
6 T all purpose (plain) flour
5 T natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
2 T boiling water
a little oil for brushing the pans

For the filling-

2C whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about 1/2 cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
5 T sugar

Pre heat the oven at 400 deg F approximately. Brush the baking pans ( 11 inches by 9 inches ) with a little 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.
In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.
Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.
Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.
Place a pan in the center of the preheated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the center is springy to the touch.
Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it. (I prefer using another piece of parchment paper.)
Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.
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.
Repeat the same for the next cake as well.
Grind together the vanilla pieces and sugar in a food processor 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.
In a large bowl, add the cream and vanilla-sugar mixture and beat till very thick.
Divide the cream mixture between the completely cooled cakes.
Open the rolls and spread the cream mixture, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of 1/2 an inch should be fine).
Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge till needed, seam side down.

Fudge Sauce for center layer

1 C sugar
3 T natural unsweetened cocoa powder
2 T cornstarch
1 1/2 C water
1 T butter
1 t vanilla extract

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

Assembly

Cut the Swiss rolls into 20 equal slices.
Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with cling film/plastic wrap.
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).
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).
Add the fudge sauce over the vanilla ice cream, cover and freeze till firm.
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.
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.

It's been 30 years since I had my favorite flavor of Baskin Robbins. It was called Jungle Fruit sherbet and was basically mango and pineapple mixed together. My brother always got the mint chip and I always got the Jungle Fruit or Pralines n Cream.

I've made my own version, although it is just not the same as the BR one.

1 qt mango nectar
2 cups orange juice
1 small can of crushed pineapple
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
optional:
1/4 cup pureed peach
1/4 cup minced maraschino cherries

Mix all ingredients together and then put into ice cream maker. Process according to operating instructions.

This recipe was from the LA Times. So far it has been my favorite ice cream for consistency. It's not rock hard when frozen a few days.

5 Meyer lemons

1 tablespoon cardamom pods, crushed

1 cup half-and-half

1 cup sugar

1/2 vanilla bean

6 large egg yolks

3 cups whipping cream

1. Peel 1 lemon with a vegetable peeler, taking care not to cut into the bitter white pith. Place the peel in a nonreactive medium saucepan with the crushed cardamom, half-and-half and sugar. Scrape the vanilla pod seeds into the pan and drop in the pod. Heat over high heat to just under a boil. Remove from the heat, and allow to steep for 10 to 15 minutes.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks, and then pour in some of the hot half-and-half mixture, stirring constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of a wooden spoon, 4 to 5 minutes.

3. Pour the mixture through a strainer into a bowl. Finely grate the zest of 2 lemons and add it to the mixture. Allow to stand for 10 minutes.

4. Add the cream to the mixture. Juice all 5 lemons and add the juice (you should have about three-fourths cup) to the cream mixture. Chill thoroughly.

5. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (Makes 1 quart.)

Each serving: 490 calories; 5 grams protein; 31 grams carbohydrates; 0 fiber; 24 grams fat; 24 grams saturated fat; 287 mg. cholesterol; 52 mg. sodium.


Meyer Lemon

Warning: This is an extremely rich ice cream!

With the temperature at 108 degrees in Sacramento and a thick fog of smoke over the valley, what else would you think of but ice cream? I actually made this a while ago and am still enjoying it. But this version will clog your arteries!

1 c half and half
1 c sugar
6 egg yolks
3 c heavy cream
1 c pureed strawberries
1 t vanilla or seeds from half a vanilla bean

Mix together half and half and sugar in a saucepan and eat over high heat to just under a boil. Remove from the heat. Add vanilla. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks, and then pour in some of the hot half-and-half mixture, stirring constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of a wooden spoon, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and mix in heavy cream and pureed strawberries. Chill thoroughly.
Pour into prepared ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions.