Daring Baker - Swiss Swirl Icecream Cake

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 such a joy cause I got to share with some amazing people. The first ones to have it were Vibha, Vivekji[Her husband], my sister and I..... We hopped over to their house after dinner with iceboxes full of dessert lest it melt by the time we got there. We had a great time chatting up. Left some of the dessert for the kids Tarini and Karan.

I made the challenge in 2 variations as the flavour combinations were different. The first one was Chocolate Swiss roll with Vanilla Icecream, Chocolate Fudge Sauce, Cherries and Chocolate Icecream.
The second one was Vanilla Swiss roll with Lemon Icecream, Chocolate Fudge Sauce, Cherries and Belgian Chocolate Icecream.

I said, Show me some love...... and love is what I got.... :)

The next set of people to enjoy the dessert were Nivritti, Bennifer, Snigdha and my mom[not in the picture].

What a poser....
ok fine... Before Snigdha kills me for calling her a poser.... I made her pose with it... :)

We came back from a yummy Sushi Dinner and went ballistic having fun with the desserts... giggling n having super fun in general. The girls were shocked to see how much goes into clicking pictures and making the icecream which they gobble up in 5 seconds.....

Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake
To download a printable .pdf of the entire challenge with step by step instructions, click HERE!

The Swiss Rolls:
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 10 - 12 minutes
Rolling and cooling time: at least 30 minutes
Filling: 5 - 8 minutes
Filling and rolling: 5 - 10 minutes

Ingredients:
6 medium sized eggs
1 C / 225 grams caster sugar /8 oz + extra for rolling
6 TBS. / 45 grams/ a pinch over 1.5 oz of all purpose (plain) flour + 5 TBS. /40 gram / a pinch under
1.5 oz of natural unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted together
2 TBS. /30 ml / 1 fl oz of boiling water
a little oil for brushing the pans
For the filling:
2 C / 500 mls/ 16 fl oz of whipping cream
1 vanilla pod, cut into small pieces of about ½ cm (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
5 TBS. / 70 grams / 2.5oz of caster sugar

Directions:

1. Pre-heat the oven at 200 deg C /400 deg F approximately. Brush the baking pans (11 inches by 9 inches) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper. If you have just one pan, bake one cake and then let the pan cool completely before using it for the next cake.

2. 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.

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

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

5. Place a pan in the center of the pre-heated oven and bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the center is springy to the touch.
6. Spread a kitchen towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it.

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

8. 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.

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

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

3. 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).

4. Soften the vanilla 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)

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

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.

Made some Lemon Ice cream too by adding lemon zest and lemon juice to the vanilla icecream. This tang was just so delectable.... everyone enjoyed it.... Though what one needs to be careful about is that the tangy taste enhances itself while sitting in the refrigerator.... So if you are making this ahead of time adjust the zest and lemon juice accordingly.

Ahhhhh... How can I stop at one...... Swiss rolls were some of the first few things I had tried when I began baking... have no pictures though but it was a joy...... had done Strawberry and Lemon ones.... Chocolate was missing from the trio.... Check.... Designs.... Check.... I just had to do this...... It's very simple....

1. Pour most of the batter[prepared with the recipe above] into a Swiss roll tin lined with parchment paper or baking liner and keep about 2 tablespoons batter for later use. Spread out the batter in the baking tin evenly and smooth the surface.

2. Add about a spoon full of Cocoa powder to the left over batter and combine gently, taking care not to release the air from the batter.

3. Place leftover 2 tablespoons batter into a plastic bag and snip off a bottom corner. Squeeze the batter to draw parallel lines on the surface of the batter. Then use a skewer/toothpick to line vertically in alternate directions. A leaf-shaped design will be formed.

The leafy design Swissroll had me dancing around when it came out clean.... Baking is a-d-d-i-c-t-i-v-e.... Get it Right and the RUSH is greater than any DRUG..... Get it Wrong and the LOW is worse than anything else..... The icecreams did bother me a bit due to the H-O-T and H-U-M-I-D weather in Delhi.... But then chilling the desserts for a day and serving them quickly in an a/c room at night did the trick....

These just flew off the plates... The girls could hardly wait for me to take picures of them.....

Verdict:
Each separate recipe of the dessert were simple but putting together the layers in this heat was bit of a task for me as I just couldn't work in the day. Had to spend the nights on my weekends working on this.

The icecream recipe is something I got right only the second time round while making the 'Belgian Chocolate Icecream' where i added Coffee and extra Cocoa. Vibha's comment on it was "The icecream wuz absolutely amaaaaaazing, have to give it to u!"

The Lemon Icecream... was my personal favourite as I love the 'Lime Ice Soda' at Nirula's and even their Lime n Lemon Icecream......

Nivritti loved the layer of cherries in the dessert.

The overall effect of the Swiss Swirl Icecream Cake was dramatic and tasted D-E-L-I-S-H....