ice cream cake and farm magic

Ice cream cake is, hands down, one of the easiest divine desserts on the planet to make!

After spending a couple of days on Prince Edward Island, I have ice cream on the brain. PEI is the proud home of Cow’s Ice Cream. As a guest of Anne’s island, I felt the need to indulge. To put this ice cream’s flavour in perspective; it’s ‘meal missing worthy’. Why have lunch when you can have a Cow’s! I promise this is not an infomercial. Their ice cream really is that good. I was so inspired by the taste and texture of Cow’s ice cream, I decided to create an ice cream cake for Sara’s birthday on Sunday.

We arrived home from PEI to find our neighbours cutting our hay for their horses. I felt like I’d landed in an enchanted place where everything is wholesome and beautiful. Our neighbour’s son’s three daughters each have their own horse which he keeps for them. To off-set the expense, they board additional horses. To date, they have nine in total. Needless to say, the horses eat a lot of hay during the winter. More hay than their pastures produce so we offered our hay which would normally be cut and left to rot.

It was amazing to watch them work with farm equipment half a century old. I felt like I was watching a scene from an historical reenactment except I wasn’t. It was happening in real time for a real purpose. I know my neighbours think I’m a bit wacky always wanting to photograph, for them, what is ordinary. To me, it’s magic.

With Dad and Ralph working on the barn and the work being done to finish our swimming hole, the summer is flying by. Sunday we relaxed and celebrated Sara’s twenty seventh birthday with a summer barbecue topped off with a double decker ice cream cake sitting in a pool of hot fudge sauce and drizzled with butterscotch sauce. I said, “celebrating!”

I’ve made ice cream before but this is the first time that I’ve used a custard base. Suffice to say, I’ll never go back. The difference between straight cream and an egg yolk custard is light years. The custard base creates a denser, creamier ice cream that silenced our dinner table. For five minutes, no one spoke. We were heads down and shoveling! After the initial gorging, we settled down and our conversation resumed. Too funny!

If you haven’t invested in an ice cream maker yet, I sound like a broken record, I continue to urge you to buy one. They’re not expensive and, even if you only make a couple of batches a year, it’s so worth it.

Just a few shots of what’s going on…

Ice Cream Cake

Serves 8

Crust:
4 Skor bars, coarsely chopped – sprinkle on the bottom of an 8” spring-form pan – set aside

Vanilla Layer:
3 cups heavy cream
2 vanilla beans, split and scraped
Place cream and both the inside and scraped vanilla pods in a medium sized pot
Bring cream to the scalding point and allow to steep – off the heat.

4 egg yolks
½ cup sugar
Beat together until light and creamy – about 4 minutes
Remove vanilla pods from scalded cream and discard.
Slowly pour scalded cream into egg mixture in a steady stream while whisking.
Whisk constantly to avoid scrambling the eggs.
Place mixture back in pot, place over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture reaches 170*F
Cover and chill completely
Once chilled, follow your ice cream maker’s instructions
When finished, spoon ice cream over the crushed skor bars then place in freezer.

Chocolate Layer
2 ounces semisweet, chopped
4 large egg yolks, room temperature
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup skim milk
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa, sifted
In a heatproof bowl, over a pot of simmering water, melt the chocolate. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Set aside.
In a small saucepan whisk the cream and skim milk into the sifted cocoa powder until you have a smooth paste.
Place over medium-high heat and bring to the scalding point
Slowly pour scalded cream mixture into egg mixture in a steady stream while whisking.
Whisk constantly to avoid scrambling the eggs. Then stir in the melted chocolate.
Place mixture back in pot, place over medium heat stirring constantly until mixture reaches 170*F
Cover and chill completely
Once chilled, follow your ice cream maker’s instructions
Spoon finished chocolate ice cream over the vanilla layer, cover and place back in freezer
Allow the ice cream cake to soften a little before serving – about 10 minutes on your counter.
Serve with your favourite sauce.

THE LOVE: Stir the custards constantly to avoid scorching them. I served my cake with hot fudge sauce and butterscotch sauce. Click on the names to go to these recipes.

printable recipe