Pretzel Drumstick Ice Cream Cake

Summer has made it to D.C. ....well, my definition of summer. My friends keep insisting it's only Spring but once I see my boyfriend melt into a puddle I know Summer has begun. 

my spoils from strawberry picking!

When I moved to DC I was very enamored by this idea that in the Summer people go to pick berries. Growing up in Arizona,  a state where the plants are set to kill you, the idea of a sweet little strawberry just sitting in the sunshine was enticing. Now I go every year. Perhaps you recall such tales from when I went blackberry and blueberry picking, or cherry picking. I have fallen madly in love with Butler's Orchard, a little farm outside of Washington, DC. Summer for Brandon may start with melting into a puddle, but for me Summer is when I finally make it out berry picking!

I planned out the perfect day for Saturday: Pennsylvania Dutch Market and Strawberry Picking! Tis the season after all! Now, I didn't take photos at the market....pretty sure that's a no no, BUT, I did take pictures of some of the foods I scored for my strawberry picking picnic! Those beautiful sandwiches are made on bread so fresh it was still warm when I cut it! On the left, we have my personal favorite made with Gorgonzola, pepper turkey, and strawberries on warm soft freshly baked bread. On the right we have Brie, strawberries, basil, and pepper turkey. Amazing! 

As if the sandwiches weren't good enough, I of course picked up every kind of potato salad I saw: German, red, and yellow. I love love LOVED the German potato salad. I truly did. It had bacon? What was not to love?!

if you are wondering, all the plates and cups came from Anthropologie

I also made us up some lemonade and brought a few fixing to please the crowd. I highly recommend trying basil in your lemonade. Ever since I made lemon basil soda I can't leave the combination alone. I love the peppery kick it adds. If you're more of a traditionalist, perhaps adding pomegranate schnapps or watermelon liqueur will be more your style. Just add 50ml to a cup of lemonade and you've got yourself a nice little cocktail!

TIP: Summer calls for lemonade in a hurry. I keep frozen lemon juice ice cubes in the freezer, and a jar of simple syrup at the ready. Voila! Instant homemade lemonade! Throw a few lemon juice cubes in a glass, add simple syrup and water! 

After a LONG day in the beautiful summer sun walking around strawberry fields, picking over a Pennsylvania Dutch Market, and picnicking in the beautiful fields of Butler's Orchard we needed a cold treat: Pretzel Drumstick Ice Cream Cake! It's a little sweet, a little salty, a bit of crunch and super easy. Perhaps you noticed that luscious cake up top? If not it's posted below, yet again. It was a great centerpiece for sitting around and talking about our lovely excursion!

Making a Drumstick Cake was super fun! I got the idea to do it as an adaptation from an ice cream sandwich cake I saw on RealSimple.com.  I had thought I'd have a rough time cutting the cones in half to create the scalloped look. NOPE! It was easy and really a great use for fancying up a Drumstick into a pretty ice cream cake!

My day was perfect. The sun was gorgeous, the strawberries ripe, the bread freshly baked, the boyfriend remained solidified despite the heat, and the ice cream cake was rich. Absolutely wonderful. I hope all of you get to enjoy the same. If not the strawberries and sunshine, at least the cake!

Enjoy!

Pretzel Drumstick Ice Cream Cake
Full disclosure: Nestlé has provided me with free product and other items in order to help with my review, but anything I receive from Nestle does not affect my thoughts on its company or their products. 

1 box of Nestle Pretzel Cone Drumsticks
1 box mix for brownies, plus the eggs and oil it asks for (I used Ghirardelli dark chocolate mix)
1 cup caramel sauce
1 cup of pretzels

Bake brownies according to box instruction in an 8 inch round pan. Remove from pan and allow to cool. Cut brownies into a top and bottom layer. Line another 8 inch pan with plastic wrap, covering the bottom and sides. Place bottom layer in to pan. Set top layer aside.

Cut the ice cream tops off of the Drumsticks. Set aside. Cut each drumstick in half and place ice cream side down on top of the brownie. Repeat with remaining Drumsticks.

Take the ice cream tops of the Drumsticks and smash together to create a chunky ice cream. Layer this over top of the Drumstick Cones.

Crumble top half of the brownies over top. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the freezer for 4-6 hours.

When ready to serve remove the cake from the pan and top with caramel sauce and pretzels.

Chocolate Raspberry Charlotte Royale Bombe Glacee

This treat takes some work! And even more effort to make look pretty! I was paranoid the entire time. This ice cream cake is a twist of a Charlotte Royale and a Bombe Glacee, two amazing antique desserts. The result is beautiful and a very tasty treat!

The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Sunita of Sunita’s world – life and food. Sunita challenged everyone to make an ice-cream filled Swiss roll that’s then used to make a bombe with hot fudge. Her recipe is based on an ice cream cake recipe from Taste of Home.

This challenge was just that! A challenge! With multiple components coming together it took me the better part of my Saturday to complete the charlotte bombe glacee. I can’t call it a swiss roll ice cream cake. It just seems a little too low for such amazing antique desserts. The bombe has been around since the 1800s. Can you imagine trying to make ice cream in the early 1882? I can’t but Le Guide Culinaire has nearly sixty recipes for the bombe and it was published in 1903! The Charlotte Royale dates back farther to the 1700s. Absolutely amazing.

The biggest recommendation I can make is to freeze the swiss rolls before trying to assemble. It kept crumbs from getting in the icing, and kept the rolls from falling completely flat under the pressure of the knife. I also had a second mold for my bome that I used to ensure things were even, and cut up smaller pieces of swiss cake roll to fill in any gaps between the rolls to keep the ice cream from showing.

I absolutely loved this challenge! Thanks Sunita for an excellent challenge!

You’ll be making a few components for this dessert:

chocolate swiss rolls with raspberry buttercream

hot fudge sauce

raspberry jelly ice cream and

chocolate ice cream.

Personally I’d recommend completing all components before assembly.

Chocolate Swiss Rolls with Raspberry Buttercream

6 medium sized eggs

1 C caster sugar

6 tblsp all purpose (plain) flour +

5 tblsp dutch processed cocoa powder

2 tblsp  boiling water

a little oil for brushing the pans

for the raspberry buttercream:

1 cup butter, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla

a pinch of salt

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

raspberry jelly to taste (about ½ cup for me)

Pre heat the oven to 400 F. Brush two 11x9 inch pans with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper.

In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick; when the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface for at least 10 seconds.

Add the flour mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula. Fold in the water.

Divide the mixture among the two baking pans and spread it out evenly, into the corners of the pans.

Place a pan in the centre of the pre heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch.

Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it.

Turn the cake on to the towel and peel away the baking paper. Trim any crisp edges.

Starting from one of the shorter sides, start to make a roll with the towel going inside. Cool the wrapped roll on a rack, seam side down.

Repeat the same for the next cake as well. Allow to cool. Meanwhile make the raspberry jam buttercream. Whip butter, salt, and vanilla till creamy then whip in powdered sugar in a stand mixer using the paddle attachment. Beat on a medium speed until light and fluffy. Add jam and continue until incorporated.

Open the rolls and spread the raspberry jam buttercream, making sure it does not go right to the edges (a border of ½ an inch should be fine).

Roll the cakes up again, this time without the towel. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill in the freezer until needed, seam side down, until ready to assemble the charlotte bombe glacee

The Hot fudge sauce

1 C powdered sugar

3 tblsp dutch process cocoa powder

2 tblsp arrowroot powder (or cornstarch)

1 and ½ C whipping cream

1 tblsp butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder, arrowroot powder and whipping cream.

Place the pan over heat, and stir constantly, till it begins to thicken and is smooth

Remove from heat and mix in the butter and vanilla. Keep aside to cool until ready to assemble the charlotte bombe glacee

Raspberry Jelly Ice Cream

2 large eggs
¾ cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup whole milk

½ cup raspberry jelly


In a stand mixer combine the eggs and sugar. Beat for one minute until light and fluffy. Gently mix in the cream, milk and raspberry jelly. Do not whip!

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Pour ice cream into a suitable container and freeze until ready to assemble the charlotte bombe glacee.

Chocolate Ice Cream

2 large eggs
¾ cups sugar
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cups whipping cream
1 cup whole milk
2/3 cup dutch process cocoa


In a stand mixer combine the eggs and sugar. Beat for one minute until light and fluffy. Gently mix in the cream, milk and dutch process cocoa. Do not whip!

Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Pour ice cream into a suitable container and freeze until ready to assemble the charlotte bombe glacee.

Assembly:

Cut the Swiss rolls into 20 equal slices ( approximately 2 cms each ).

Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl in which you are going to set the dessert with cling film/plastic wrap.

Arrange two slices at the bottom of the pan, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the bowl, with the seam sides facing away from the bottom, to cover the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till the slices are firm (at least 30 minutes).

Soften the raspberry jelly ice cream. Take the bowl out of the freezer, remove the cling film cover and add the ice cream on top of the cake slices. Spread it out to cover the bottom and sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and freeze till firm ( at least 1 hour)

Add the fudge sauce over the raspberry jelly ice cream, cover and freeze till firm . ( at least an hour)

Soften the chocolate ice cream and spread it over the fudge sauce. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4-5 hours till completely set .

Remove the plastic cover, and place the serving plate on top of the bowl. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl and the plastic lining. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water. The bowl will come away easily.

Keep the cake out of the freezer for at least 10 minutes before slicing, depending on how hot your region is. Slice with a sharp knife, dipped in hot water.