Dulce de Leche Ice Cream

When I was in my last few years at school Mum and I used to go to the cinema most Sundays. We would head to Paignton and have a short walk along the beach before ducking into the cinema complex on the waterfront. We never bought popcorn or drinks (mum would sneak in a bottle of water) but we did buy ice cream. We only ever bought one flavour: Häagen-Dazs Dulce de Leche in those pricey tiny tubs. You had to ask the confused teenager at the till for toffee ice cream. We were addicted.

So now I know how to make ice cream and how to make dulce de leche, the two had to be combined to recreate our favourite treat. This recipe is simple and recreated the ice cream I so fondly remember.

I served this ice cream at my birthday BBQ along with the rest of the strawberry frozen yogurt, a litre of David Lebovitz's chocolate ice cream (a new try for me - it's insane. So rich and smooth), my mum's tiramisu (recipe to come at some point soon) and a big bowl of macerated strawberries and raspberries. It was a great combination of indulgences.

The other sweet thing at my BBQ (though we didn't eat it till the next day) was my birthday cake. My lovely friends made it for me. There is something very special about a cake made for you with care and attention - which is why I always try to make sure everybody has one on their birthday. It's not about being fancy, it's about the thought behind it. I'll treasure the story of my friend Tom carefully tweezering the silver balls onto this cake because he wanted to get them just right. Baking can be such a wonderful gift.

 

Dulce de Leche Ice Cream
(adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

375ml whole milk
185ml cream
300g + extra for swirling dulce de leche*

Heat the milk and cream in a large saucepan over medium heat until the mixture boils. Remove from the heat and whisk in the dulce de leche. Pour into a bowl set in an ice bath and leave to cool, stirring occasionally. Pour into a jug and refrigerate overnight. Churn according to  your manufacturers instructions. Layer some dulce into the bottom of your tub, add 1/3 of the ice cream, layer in more dulce, add the next and layer in etc. Freeze until firm.

* the recipe for making dulce is here, or you can buy it.

(Makes about 1 ltr)

Strawberry Cream Layer Cake

As I mentioned a few posts ago, I made a cake on my birthday. It wasn't really my birthday cake (I am assured that my friends will be making me one for my birthday BBQ tomorrow, thereby breaking the current baker's curse situation) but it was the cake I ate on my birthday

My mum's friend Mary (of blueberry loaf cake with mint and lemon fame) also had some on the day and as a result decided to ask me to make one for her friend Susie's birthday. So I made it again this weekend and this time it really was a birthday cake.

Incoherant birthday rambling aside, this is a great summer cake. The featherlight sponges are split, brushed with vanilla syrup, soaked with some strawberry puree, smeared with softly whipped cream and finally topped with thinly sliced fresh strawberries. The icing on top is amazing (if I do say so myself) - marscarpone, a bit of icing sugar and some more lovely strawberry puree. The first time around I folded in some extra whipped cream but, as you can see from the photo above, it made it a bit too thin. Either way it's pale pink and utterly addictive.

So, birthday or not, I think you should make this cake soon.



Strawberry Cream Layer Cake
(sponge adapted from David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert, rest my own)

For the strawberry puree:

350g fresh ripe strawberries

Wash and dry the berries. Remove the stems and place into a food processor or blender. Blend until it is as smooth as possible. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl to remove the seeds. 

For the icing:

250g marscarpone

50g icing sugar

80g strawberry puree

Beat the marscarpone with a spoon in a medium sized bowl until smooth. Add the icing sugar and beat until combined. Add the strawberry puree in four batches, beating to combine between each addition. Put into the fridge to chill and set a bit while you make the sponges etc. 

For the sponges:

105g plain flour

40g cornflour

3/4 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

4 eggs, separated

45ml cold water

160g caster sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Grease and line two 7" tins (or 6" - I used these the first time). Sift the flour, cornflour, baking powder and salt together three times. Place the yolks and water in bowl of a stand mixer and whip on high for 1 minute. Add the sugar and whip for 5 minutes - by then the mixture should be pale, fluffy and leave a trail when the whisk is lifted out that is visible for at least 5 seconds. Add the vanilla and whip for a few seconds to combine. Transfer the mixture to another bowl (unless you have two stand mixer bowls) and wash the bowl up, drying it carefully. Whip the egg whites in the mixer to stiff peaks.

Place the yolk mix bowl on a damp cloth to stop it moving. Sift 1/3 of the flour over the yolk mix, then fold it in carefully (see here for technique). Add and then fold in 1/3 of the egg whites. Repeat, folding 1/3 flour, 1/3 whites, 1/3 flour, 1/3 whites until they are all combined. Quickly and gently transfer the mixture to the two tins, level out and put in the oven. Bake for about 20-25 minutes - a skewer should come out clean from the middle of the cake and it should spring back from a touch. Immediately slide a knife around the edge of each cake so that it shrinks evenly. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes then remove to the rack and peel off the paper.

For the vanilla syrup:

75ml water

60g caster sugar

1/2 vanilla pod

While the sponges are baking, place the water and sugar into a small saucepan. Scrape the seeds out of the pod and add both the seeds and pod to the pan. Heat over a medium heat until the sugar has fully dissolved. Leave to steep until needed. 

To assemble:

100ml double cream

150g fresh strawberries

remaining strawberry puree

Whip the double cream until it holds soft peaks. Split the cool sponges into two with a serrated knife. Cut the strawberries into thin slices of about 1/2 cm. Cover the serving plate with four strips of baking parchment and then set one sponge circle on top. Brush 1/4 of the syrup over the sponge. Spoon over about 2-3 tbsp of strawberry puree, spreading it out as you go. Spread a 1/3 of the whipped cream over the top, leaving a small space around the edge. Arrange 1/3 of the strawberry slices over the cream in a single layer. Add the next sponge circle and press it down lightly. Repeat the syrup, puree, cream and strawberries for this circle and the next. Finally add the last layer and brush over the last 1/4 of the syrup. If you like, cut a wooden skewer to size and use as a dowel to keep everything in place. Use about 1/3 of the icing to create a crumb coat, concentrating on filling any gaps on the sides between layers. Chill for 30 minutes. Finally smooth over the rest of the icing and add any decoration - I piped whipped cream dots on the first, then wrote on the second with white chocolate.

This cake doesn't keep very well, as the strawberries and fresh whipped cream don't hold well (or the cake next to all that moisture) - so it's best to prepare it as near to the time you want to eat it as possible.

(Serves 10-12)