As summer comes to an end, turn ice cream into ice cream cake. This childhood favorite is often store-bought, but can easily be re-created in your own kitchen. Layers of chocolate cake and cherry-filled ice cream makes the Black Forest Ice Cream Cake a crowd-pleaser during any season.
Black Forest Ice Cream
Making ice cream might seem daunting, but here’s the deal: Homemade ice cream is just so good. If you are short on time, you can definitely buy vanilla ice cream and mix it with black cherries and shaved chocolate. This vanilla ice cream starts with a custard base: heavy cream, milk, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla bean are warmed over low heat until thickened. Once the custard is made, it will be refrigerated for several hours or overnight. The ice cream base is then poured into the ice cream machine where the magic happens.
Buttermilk Chocolate Cake
Layering ice cream with a super moist cake is key, and three layers of buttermilk chocolate cake pairs perfectly with Black Forest Ice Cream. This is a simple cake recipe that adds black coffee to boost the flavor of chocolate, and it’s perfectly moist both frozen and fresh.
Cherry Liqueur Simple Syrup
I add simple syrup to all of my cake recipes. Cherry liqueur will add additional cherry flavor to each layer of cake, and any leftover syrup can be used in a cocktail or gourmet lemonade.
Kristen Massad of Dallas, a pastry chef and graduate of the French Culinary Institute in New York, blogs at joyoliver.com.
Black Forest Ice Cream Cake
1 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup hot coffee or boiling water
Black Forest Ice Cream (recipe follows)
Cherry Liqueur Simple Syrup (recipe follows)
Chocolate shavings, for garnish
Fresh black cherries, for garnish
Heat oven to 350 F.
Prepare three 6-inch cake pans with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt; whisk until combined and set aside.
In a mixer with a paddle attachment, mix buttermilk, oil, egg and vanilla extract.
Add the dry ingredients and mix on medium speed until batter is smooth and all ingredients are fully incorporated.
On low speed, slowly add the boiling water or coffee to the batter and mix until fully combined
Divide batter into the 3 pans.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until cake springs back at the touch.
Allow the cakes to cool for 10-20 minutes before removing from the pan.
Use an 8-inch cake ring to layer the ice cream cake. Place the cake ring on cake stand or plate
Place one cake layer in the cake ring. Using a pastry brush, add the Cherry Liqueur Simple Syrup to the cake layer and then spread the Black Forest Ice Cream (slightly softened). Repeat with chocolate cake, simple syrup and ice cream until you have three layers of cake
Place it in the freezer until you are ready to serve. Garnish the cake with chocolate shavings and fresh black cherries.
Black Forest Ice Cream: Whisk 1/2 cup sugar, 4 egg yolks and 1 teaspoon vanilla extract; set aside. In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups heavy cream and 1 cup whole milk; bring to a simmer. Temper the eggs by whisking 1/4 cup of heavy cream mixture into the egg mixture and whisk until smooth. Pour the tempered egg mixture into the remaining heavy cream mixture in the saucepan over medium heat and stir continuously until the ice cream base thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Remove from heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove any cooked egg yolks, then pour the ice cream base into a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and allow it to come to room temperature. Once the custard is at room temperature, refrigerate the custard for 3-4 hours to thicken. Pour the custard into an ice cream machine and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. Fold 1 cup pitted and chopped black cherries (fresh or frozen) and 1/2 cup chopped semi-sweet chocolate into the ice cream and pour into an airtight container or metal loaf pan and place in the freezer until ready to use.
Cherry Liqueur Simple Syrup: In a small saucepan, combine 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 cup water and bring to a boil. Once the sugar is dissolved, turn the heat off and pour in 2 tablespoons cherry liqueur. Let the simple syrup cool completely before using.