Saturday, February 28, 2009

Daring Bakers: Chocolate Valentino with Ice Cream

Here it is - my first Daring Bakers challenge result!


The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. They have chosen a chocolate valentino cake by Chef Wan, a vanilla ice cream recipe from Dharm, and a vanilla ice cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.


The flourless chocolate cake requires only three ingredients - chocolate, eggs, and butter - and pretty much tastes exactly like the chocolate that you use. I selected Scharffen Berger 70%, which is dark and not very sweet, with subtle fruity hints. The cake is supposed to be very dense and fudgy, but I'm sorry to say mine came out rather dry. There could be a few reasons for this. I've heard that the cake is best after sitting for a day, but I ate my first serving the day I made the cake, and my second serving straight out of the fridge. Other servings (which we gave away) that weren't straight out of the refridgerator looked a bit more moist, but I can't say for sure. The other possible cause for the dryness might be the egg whites; the recipe calls for stiff peaks, which I thought I had, but notes that overbeating may cause a dry cake. I guess my peaks should have been a little softer.


The challenge hosts, Wendy and Dharm, each provided a vanilla ice cream recipe (one custard-style, one Philadelphia-style), but they also stated that we didn't have to make vanilla - we were free to experiment. I made a custard-based coffee ice cream (since Dan loves coffee!). I hobbled together a recipe (included below) after looking at dozens of non-coffee recipes (every coffee recipe I could find used instant - yuck!). After spilling half of the ice cream mix (oops), I dumped the rest in my ice cream machine only to discover that the motor had died. It wasn't completely gone - a sickly hum emanated from somewhere within - but it couldn't summon the power to turn the paddle, so it was useless. I had to pour the mix in to a Tupperware container and use the old "take it out of the freezer to stir every half hour" method, which worked fine, but it wasn't as smooth as it would have been with a machine.


I also made a bourbon caramel sauce, which was fantastic. I used Bulleit, which has undertones of tobacco and coffee, so it worked very well with the coffee ice cream. The caramel sauce is the subject of my next video, which will be posted here Monday, so come back then for the recipe. (If you haven't seen the first video, click here to watch it.)


CUSTARD-STYLE COFFEE ICE CREAM
2 cups heavy cream, divided
1 cup 2% milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup coffee

Put milk, sugar, and 1 cup of the cream in a saucepan and cook over medium heat until just before boiling. Do not let it boil! Remove from heat and let cool for five minutes. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, then slowly add a small amount of warm milk mixture (about 1/2 cup) while whisking rapidly to temper the eggs. Add egg mixture to the saucepan with the remaining milk mixture and stir. Return to moderate heat and cook (without boiling) until thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat and stir in coffee and remaining cream. Place custard in refridgerator for several hours or overnight. For freezing, if using a machine, follow manufacturer's directions; to freeze without a machine, follow David Lebowitz's directions here.
The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef. We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

16 comments:

Namratha said...

Coffee ice-cream, that sounds killer! Nice pics! :)

Anonymous said...

Mmm, coffee ice cream, my favorite. Sounds great and looks lovely.

-Sea

Unknown said...

I thought about doing a coffee ice cream but did cinnamon instead. Great job! Your pictures are great.

Lisa said...

Oh wow, your plating is awesome, it makes me want it now! I'm not into coffee, but I'd devour that ice cream, as it looks so creamy. Love everything you did, and welcome to Daring Bakers! :)

Anonymous said...

Welcome to The Daring Bakers! Your cake looks fantastic and your flavour combinations are great :)

Rebecca said...

Coffee ice cream is my favorite. I bet it tasted great with the Chocolate Valentino!

Angelica said...

wow, i'll have to try your coffee ice cream sometime, looks great!

fatboybakes said...

mmm, coffee ice cream. did you use the whole eggs or just the yolk? am gonna try your coffee ice cream recipe.

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the DB'ers! Beautiful first challenge! :)

Amanda said...

I've been waiting to see your photo results, and they are indeed gorgeous-- I think you need to give me some food photography lessons! And thanks for the sample of this-- we loved that caramel sauce.

Unknown said...

Welcome to the Daring Bakers! Coffee ice cream sounds lovely.

Sarah said...

Thank you for the lovely comments, everyone! Fatboybakes, I did use whole eggs.

Elizabeth said...

That looks great!

Laurel said...

Wonderful job on your first challenge!
I'm sorry to hear about the death of your ice cream machine but the ice cream looks delicious nonetheless!
My cake was rather dry as well. Perhaps because of the dark chocolate?? I used about a 70% as well...

silverrock said...

oooo I love those extra shards of chocolate shoved into the ice cream... the only way to make a flourless chocolate cake better?? adding more chocolate :) Way to go on your first DB challenge, keep up the amazing bakes!

Anonymous said...

nice presentation, looks beautiful!