Fudgy Ice Cream Cake? Yes, please.

I went home for a visit over Father's Day weekend. My mom, dad, and I had a nice time together.

On Sunday, mom and I grilled steaks for dad, and also served potato salad, corn on the cob, bread, and a fudgy ice cream cake.

I got the recipe out of the June issue of Everyday Food magazine. It is delicious and simple to make, combining layers of ice cream, graham crackers, fudge, and then topped with sweetened whipped cream.

It was 100+ degrees the afternoon we served it, and you can see from the picture that the cake started to melt quickly. But it was still good. I kind of wish I had a piece right now on this sweltering afternoon.

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 1/4 cup light corn syrup
• 1 3/4 cups heavy cream, divided
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, plus more for serving
• Salt
• 3 pints vanilla ice cream
• 18 graham crackers
• 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar
• Unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

1. Lightly coat an 8-inch square cake pan with cooking spray; line pan with plastic wrap, leaving a 6-inch overhang on two sides. Freeze pan at least 10 minutes. In a medium pot, combine corn syrup, 1/4 cup cream, butter, granulated sugar, cocoa, and pinch of salt; bring to a boil, whisking, over medium-high. Remove from heat and let fudge sauce cool. Meanwhile, remove 1 pint ice cream from freezer and let soften, about 15 minutes.
2. Evenly press softened ice cream into pan. Top with a single layer of graham crackers, breaking to fit. Drizzle with 1/4 cup fudge sauce and freeze 15 minutes. Repeat twice, omitting sauce on final layer. Wrap in plastic and freeze until firm, 8 hours (or up to 3 days). Cover and refrigerate remaining fudge sauce.
3. To serve, invert pan and run under tepid water to loosen cake. Invert onto a platter and remove plastic. Microwave fudge sauce in 30-second increments until pourable. Pour over cake and freeze to solidify, 5 minutes. In a large bowl, using a mixer, whip 1 1/2 cups cream and confectioners' sugar on high until stiff peaks form, 3 to 5 minutes. Dollop cake with whipped cream and dust with cocoa. Serve immediately.

I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Ice Cream!!!

My birthday was last week. I won't mention how old I am because I'm trying not to think about it. Anyway, in between having mild panic attacks (I literally hyperventilated in a restaurant the night before the big day just from thinking about turning another year older - it was embarrassing and sad) and lying to anyone who would listen about my actual age, I was able to snag a few cool gifts.

One was a Cuisinart ice cream maker which I am thrilled to have. I couldn't wait to try out, so yesterday, I went to Wal-Mart and bought out the dairy section so I could make some ice cream.

I decided to start with a recipe from the recipe booklet that came with the machine and settled on one flavored with green tea.

Overall, I am pleased with the way it turned out, but I'm not sure I will make the same recipe again. It's a little too eggy for my taste, and the green tea flavor isn't very strong. Still, it is pretty yummy, although I think I can probably tweak it to make it better.

I've been reading about all the different kinds of things I can make with this machine, and I'm excited to try them all, especially since it has been too hot around here for baking lately.

Here's the recipe for the ice cream I made yesterday.

Green Tea Gelato
3 1/4 cups whole milk
8 green tea bags
1/4 cup powdered fat free milk
8 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream

Place the milk in a medium saucepan and heat to a simmer. Pour half over the tea bags in a medium bowl and let steep for 30 minutes; strain, pressing all the liquid from the tea bags. Stir powdered milk into remaining milk and keep warm over low heat. Place egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl. Using a hand mixer or whisk, beat until thick and pale yellow. While mixing, slowly add the hot milk and whisk until blended. Stir the egg mixture back into the saucepan and addd the tea-infused milk; increase heat to medium. Stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture is thickened like a custard sauce and registeres 180 degrees. Strain the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. Stir in cream, cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours before continuing.

Turn the machine on; pour mixture into freezer bowl, and let mix until thickened, about 20 to 25 minutes. The gelato will have a soft, creamy texture. If a firmer consistency is desired, transfer to an airtight contained and place in freezer for about 2 hours. Remove from freezer about 15 minutes before serving. Enjoy!