Raspberry Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream Cake
Chocolate truffle, raspberry ice cream.
Chocolate truffle, raspberry ice cream.
Chocolate truffle...
Get the picture?!! That's what you'll experience with every mouthful of this easy-to-make layered concoction! It's totally amazing!!
I don't know about you, but layered food excites me! Yes, I obviously don't get out enough, but you can't deny the visual appeal of digging into something with distinctly different eye-catching sections. If it's true that we eat with our eyes, then you will feast on this, amid cheers from your admiring fans!
This couldn't be easier but because you have to freeze each layer as you go, you need to give yourself several hours to put this together. However, because it's frozen, you can make this dessert way ahead of when you're planning to serve it. And it's flexible too--if you don't like raspberry, feel free to use strawberry, coffee, or plain old vanilla--really anything that will contrast nicely with the chocolate layer.
You start by melting butter and chocolate together and whisking in a whole lot of eggs to make the truffle mixture. Then you freeze a layer of that.
Meanwhile, you prepare the raspberry ice cream by mixing vanilla with frozen raspberries in syrup, which if you can't find anywhere, you can easily make yourself.
Then, once the first chocolate layer has frozen, you add a layer of raspberry ice cream and freeze that.
And once that's frozen, add another chocolate layer--
The process continues until you've created 5 gorgeous layers that taste just as gorgeous as they look!
Oh, and if your stripes tend to waver a little (or a lot, as you can see because I made the mistake of not placing the pan exactly level in the freezer) you can just tell everyone you were going for a unique artistic feel--once they've taken a bite, no one will question your artistry at all!
Raspberry Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream Cake
Serves 8-10 people
Prep Time: 20 minutes active time, several hours for freezing
Ingredients
For the Raspberries in Syrup
(It's near impossible to find frozen raspberries in syrup, but if you're lucky enough to do so, then buy as 10 oz. package and skip the next step--just defrost them.)
- 1 large package frozen raspberries, thawed
- 1/2 cup sugar
For the Cake
- 1 3/4 sticks (14 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into large chunks
- 9 ounces bittersweet chocolate (I used Lindt), roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 8 large eggs
- 2 pints good vanilla ice cream
The Recipe
1. To make the raspberries in syrup: Place thawed raspberries in a bowl and combine with 1/2 cup sugar. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour and up to one day.
2. Lightly grease or spray with vegetable spray, an 8 or 9-inch springform pan. Place the bowl and paddle attachment (or beaters, if using a handheld mixer) in the freezer to chill for at least 30 minutes.
3. In the top of a double boiler, over hot water, melt the butter and chocolate, stirring often. Once melted and smooth, remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Let the mixture stand for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is completely dissolved. Then whisk in the eggs one at a time, until the mixture is very thick and shiny. Pour about 1/3 of the mixture into the pan, cover with a sheet of plastic wrap (but don't allow the wrap to touch the chocolate) and freeze for at least 30 minutes, until very firm. If you want perfect even layers, make sure you place the pan on a totally flat surface in the freezer. Meanwhile cover the remaining truffle mixture with a piece of plastic wrap as well and leave on the counter.
4. Once first chocolate layer is completely frozen, using a food processor or blender, process the raspberries in syrup until smooth. Remove the chilled bowl and beaters from the refrigerator and spoon the vanilla ice cream into the bowl. Beat the ice cream for about 30 seconds till slightly softened. Add in the raspberry puree and beat until totally incorporated into the ice cream. Spread half of the ice cream over the chocolate layer in the pan and smooth the top. Cover again and freeze for another 30 minutes or until very firm (all freezers chill differently). Return remaining ice cream to freezer, covered.
5. Once raspberry layer has frozen, pour half of remaining chocolate mixture on top and smooth out. Cover and refreeze for at least 30 minutes or until very firm. If necessary, remove remaining ice cream from freezer to soften again and then spread all of it over the frozen chocolate layer. Cover and freeze for another 30 minutes until very firm, then pour remaining chocolate mixture on and smooth the top. Cover carefully with plastic wrap so as not to touch the last layer and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight. Or make this up to one month ahead, covering with a double layer of plastic wrap and foil.
6. About 20 minutes before you're ready to serve the cake, remove from freezer and take off plastic wrap and aluminum foil (if using). Soak a large kitchen towel in hot water and wring it out. Wrap the towel around the sides of the pan for a minute or two. Remove the sides and refrigerate the cake, still on the springform bottom, for about 15 minutes before slicing.
Enjoy!
Note: Recipe adapted from Sweet Times by Dorie Greenspan. I left out the Framboise from the ice cream and made my own raspberries in syrup by macerating defrosted frozen raspberries in sugar.
