By LAURA GROSS-HIGGINS
Summer is the time to take it easy. Who wants to bake in the hot weather? Not me. Many people take advantage of the abundant fresh fruit to make fruit salads. But there are other cool desserts that can be made easily and that have a wow factor. And they are based on whipped cream or ice cream.
I always collect recipes that look good to me. Sometimes I don’t make them right away. I have loose-leaf binders, with the recipes in plastic sleeves. Sometimes when I am trying to make something new, I will browse the binders and pick something out. This past year I made two such recipes, neither of which I had made before. One is a variation on a chocolate icebox cookie cake that was popular when I was growing up, and the other is a Creamsicle cake. I had torn each recipe from its issue before I threw it away, just trying to weed out my “paper” collection.
When I say that I may not make recipes gathered like this right away, these both are examples of that. The Espresso and Mascarpone Icebox Cake recipe came from an August 2004 issue of Gourmet, and the Frozen “Creamsicle” Cake also came from an April 2004 Gourmet. I only made them recently.
I have tweaked these a little, to my taste. You may have to buy a springform pan, maybe two, if you don’t have them. Or try using a 9- or 8-inch square pan or a 9-by-11-inch one for Sheila’s cake. I did that for the Creamsicle cake.
For those who are lactose-intolerant, the markets are now selling coconut ice cream in various flavors. You certainly could play around with combining flavors.
Whatever you do, have fun with these. They could inspire a lot of creative variations.
Sheila’s Basic Ice Cream Cake
3 one-half gallons ice cream (any flavors you want)
One 15-oz package Oreo cookies
Chocolate Magic Shell ice cream topping
Wilton’s whipped icing mix
Decorations (frosting, et cetera)
One 13-inch springform pan
Soften one half-gallon of ice cream until soft but not melted.
Using a rubber spatula, press softened ice cream into bottom of pan. (This is actually the top of the cake! Using a light color ice cream looks best.) Place pan in freezer and freeze solid.
Soften second flavor and press into pan on top of the frozen first layer. Freeze until solid.
Prepare chocolate crumble. Remove white filling from two-thirds of a package of cookies and discard. Then crumble the cookies. Shake Magic Shell well and add enough to coat the crumbs until just moistened. Mix well.
Layer this mixture on top of the second layer of ice cream. Freeze again.
Now add the third flavor of ice cream. Freeze overnight. This is important.
Take cake out of the freezer the next day and carefully run sides of pan under hot water without soaking the ice cream; just hit the sides of pan with water. Turn the pan upside-down and pop out cake onto a large plate. Freeze again for at least two hours.
Frost with prepared Wilton’s whipped icing mix. Refreeze for two hours.
Then decorate as desired. Sheila said she usually uses buttercream frosting for decoration.
Espresso And Mascarpone Icebox Cake
(Gourmet, August 2004)Serves 12
3 cups chilled heavy cream
½ cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
1 cup mascarpone cheese (about 9 oz) at room temperature
One 9-oz box chocolate wafers, such as Nabisco’s Famous
1 tbsp instant espresso powder
¼ tsp vanilla (optional…I added this)
9½-to 10-inch springform pan
Beat 2 cups heavy cream with 6 tbsp sugar with an electric mixer at medium speed until it just holds soft peaks, 2 to 4 minutes. Reduce speed to low and add mascarpone and mix until combined.
Spread 1¼ cups mascarpone mixture evenly in bottom of springform pan. (I sprinkled crushed chocolate cookie crumbs sparingly on the bottom to make it easier to get out of the pan.) Cover the mixture with 14 wafers, slightly overlapping, if necessary. Spread with another 1¼ cups of the mixture, followed by 14 more wafers on top. Put the remaining mascarpone on top. Smooth top with a metal offset spatula; then cover pan with foil and freeze until firm, about an hour.
Transfer from freezer to refrigerator and chill, covered, until a sharp knife inserted into center cuts through the wafers easily, about 8 hours (or overnight).
Pulse remaining wafers in a food processor until finely ground.
Now beat the remaining cup of cream, with espresso powder and remaining 3 tbsp of sugar. (Tip: If you have a mortar and pestle, grind the powder and sugar together; they will blend more easily into the cream.) Add the vanilla, if you wish. Then beat at medium speed until it just holds stiff peaks, about 3 minutes.
At this point, you can remove the foil and the side of the pan and frost the cake all over with the espresso/cream mixture. Then sprinkle with the crushed crumbs on the edge of the top. Serve cold.
Or, for transporting to another place, frost the espresso layer as with the others, sprinkling on the chocolate crumbs at the very edge of the pan at the end. Refreeze. (My husband prefers it served frozen. Your guests might prefer it as well.)
Frozen ‘Creamsicle’ Cake
Serves 4 (or more)
16 low-fat vanilla wafers, finely ground in a food processor
2 tsp finely grated fresh orange zest
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1½ tbsp light corn syrup
1 cup orange sorbet, or sherbet, slightly softened
1 cup vanilla frozen yogurt (can use nonfat variety)
One 9-inch square pan (or use a 3½-cup, 7.5-by-3.5-inch, loaf pan*)
*If you use the loaf pan, line it with a double layer of plastic wrap that overlaps the sides by a few inches.
Stir together cookie crumbs, zest, butter and corn syrup in a small bowl, then press into the pan. Spread sorbet evenly over crumb crust and freeze 30 minutes to harden. While this is freezing, soften the frozen yogurt. Spread evenly over the sorbet and freeze, covered with plastic wrap, until firm, at least 2 hours.
For the 9-by-9-inch pan, take it out. Let soften five minutes. Then cut into as many slices as you like.
*For the loaf pan: Using the plastic wrap as an aid, lift the cake out; then peel off plastic. Let stand five minutes to soften, then cut crosswise into four pieces.
I used the 9-by-9-inch pan. It was easier to serve a bunch of people.