TWD- Chocolate Banded Ice Cream Torte

For this weeks Tuesday’s With Dorie, Amy of Food, Family and Fun chose: Chocolate-Banded Ice Cream Torte on pages 288-289 of Baking, From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

I was full of good intentions to make my own ice cream (tres keen on Dorie’s burnt sugar recipe). However, I realised that I was in increasing danger of having a post that was entitled “good intentions” rather than having completed the challenge! That said I was keen on the caramel thing so I went to my go to recipe from Sherry Yard for her caramel sauce.

No one in my household is immuno-suppressed so I didn’t worry about the raw eggs in the truffle mixture. I have never seen pasturised egg products in Darwin, so I just washed the eggs first and didn’t think about it further.

What I do want to share is my recent discovery about using a stick mixer in making ganache. It emulsifies the cream or butter and chocolate together beautifully. It works especially well with white chocolate ganache. I think if I had made this discovery a few months ago my Daring Bakers Opera Cake would have been so much more handsome! Check out the discussion board at Planet Cake for some great baking information. (Thanks Steph for writing about this amazing place. I am currently in high level negotiations with good husband about going to Sydney for a week to take their intensive class).

I made a half batch and used 2 very petite 4 inch spring form tins. In that size it was a bit tricky to smooth out the layers. Also, ice cream melts in nano seconds here. I mixed in some caramel sauce for a ripple effect. I also found a use for some leftover praline powder as a garnish on top. This is a lovely desert for something special. However, the most appreciative in the house were in fact the under 5 set. At least my boys have good taste!

Now go check out the TWD blogroll for some other mouthwatering reading…

TWD- Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

For this weeks Tuesday with Dorie, Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity chose: Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream on page 434 of Baking from my Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan.

One advantage of living in the tropics is it is always ice cream weather.

I also had the epinphany of leaving the bulky ice cream canister in the display home/stunt kitchen freezer as my freezer at home is always jam packed.

The recipe was quite simple.  I substituted light sour cream (as it was in the fridge ready to go) the only other variation was a Tablespoon of gin.  It helps keep the ice crystals from forming and can make it easier to scoop straight from the freezer.  It is really important not to add too much alcohol otherwise you get soup!  (Anyone who has stored vodka in the freezer knows the anti-freeze properties of alcohol.

I like the freshness of flavor of this ice cream but I am a fan of the cooked custard style of ice cream.  Even though I used light sour cream and regular cream (35% fat) in the recipe I had a slight residue of cream/fat that took a while to disapate from the roof of my mouth.  Not certain what that was from but perhaps there wasn’t the right balance to emulsify the fats better (such as eggs or larger amounts of sugar).

So the final verdict is lovely flavor profile but not perfect mouth feel.  Lots to contemplate in how to make it better for next time.  Now go check out the TWD blogroll to see what everyone else came up with.