hello kitty baked alaska ice cream bombe

For my birthday, the past few years I've made myself a Hello Kitty cake of some sort (see here and here). So this year, I decided to make a baked alaska / ice cream bombe, but in the shape of Hello Kitty, of course! I knew that there would be many components to make the cake (two different flavors of homemade ice cream, chocolate cake, and meringue frosting), so I started making the ice creams a week in advance. (By the way, while this cake itself is not in my new book, "The Hello Kitty Baking Book", the recipes for most of the components are in it - minus the almond ice cream. And instead of coffee oreo ice cream, the book does have a recipe for cookies-n-cream ice cream).

Anyway, things got so busy that I wasn't able to make the rest of the components in time for my actual birthday! Which was fine, since we didn't celebrate with my family until a week later, as my brother was out of town.

I wanted to create a take on the flavors of my favorite childhood ice cream flavor, mocha almond fudge!, So for the outside layer, I made a coffee oreo ice cream, which I churned and then froze in an 8-inch metal bowl (with another bowl on top to make the shape for the next ice cream layer). And for the inside layer, I made an almond-scented ice cream (made with imitation almond extract, because my daughter is allergic to all nuts), which I churned the next day and then poured into the hollow of the coffee oreo ice cream. (Note - to replace the crunch you would normally get from the almonds in mocha almond fudge, I used oreo cookie crumbs in my coffee ice cream layer).

For the cake layer, I made an 8-inch chocolate cake (the cake recipe itself is in my new book), which I also froze after wrapping it tightly in two layers of saran wrap and a large ziplock freezer bag. And when it was time to assemble, I unwrapped everything and placed the ice cream layers upside down onto my cake layer.

Next came the meringue (recipe also in my book!), which basically is a meringue made from gently-cooked egg whites and sugar,whipped up to form a frothy marshmallow-like frosting (this can be used as a frosting, or as the basis for meringue cookies baked at low heat in the oven).

I used an offset spatula to frost the meringue all over the cake, and then used a piping bag fitted with a small tip to pipe Hello Kitty's details on top. Then I let it set in the freezer until it was time to serve!

Right before serving, I used a kitchen blow torch (the same kind that you use for creme brulee) to brown the meringue all over. (Note, if you don't have a kitchen blow torch, you can also brown the meringue in your oven, on broiler setting, for a few minutes).

I made especially sure to brown Hello Kitty's details so that they would stand out against the rest of the white meringue.

When I had envisioned this cake in my head, I wasn't so sure how it would turn out looking. But I LOVED it. It looked like a giant Hello Kitty toasted marshmallow. :) Wheeee!

And the inside! I absolutely loved the combination of the coffee oreo ice cream and the almond ice cream! And even better with the moist chocolate cake and fluffy marshmallow-y frosting!

This is such an elegant and delicious make-ahead dessert, and you could even use store-bought ice cream to make things easier. I think it would be great at any dinner party, definitely a crowd pleaser!

Happy belated birthday to all those April babies out there!

holiday birthday ice cream cake

My husband's parents were visiting from Hawaii recently, during which we celebrated my father-in-law's December birthday.  I knew that on previous visits, he had liked my homemade coffee oreo ice cream, so I decided to make him an ice cream cake!

For the bottom layer I made a 6-inch chocolate cake using my favorite recipe.  Then for the ice cream layer, I made my coffee oreo ice cream, and froze it in a 6-inch cake pan.  Once the ice cream was frozen, I assembled my cake.

To decorate the cake, I wanted to avoid using buttercream, as I wanted something light and not too sweet, so I chose to cover the cake with freshly whipped cream.  As I have found with past ice cream cakes (see my links for Elmo ice cream cake and Hello Kitty ice cream cakes), covering an ice cream cake with any frosting has it's challenges, and requires putting the cake back in the freezer every few minutes to avoid the melting of the ice cream layer.  But I was eventually able to cover the cake with two coats of whipped cream, and then I finished it off with a simple shell border.

I wasn't planning on making anything fancy, but I still wanted the cake to be festive, so I sprinkled edible red, green, and white confetti all over the cake.  The final touch was a quick birthday message.  And of course, birthday candles!

Then we sang "Happy Birthday", and the kids helped Grandpa blow out the candles.

Hope you had a happy birthday, Dad!  We're glad we got to spend it with you this year!

coffee bean ice cream

My friend Reggie's husband LOVES coffee ice cream, and since they were coming to visit I wanted to make them a batch.  Normally I make my coffee oreo ice cream for them, but this time I wanted to try serving them a new coffee bean ice cream recipe that I found in my David Lebovitz ice cream book.  I had made it once over the summer and I think I like it even better than the coffee oreo!

This ice cream starts with infusing warm milk and heavy cream with whole coffee beans.  I let mine steep for over an hour before continuing with cooking the egg yolk custard base.  The final step was to add a teeny bit of finely ground espresso bean before letting that mixture sit in the fridge until cold, and finally churning it in the ice cream machine.

I love the look of the flecks of ground espresso bean!  And the ice cream came out smooth and creamy, and rich with deep coffee flavor.  I hope this becomes their new favorite coffee ice cream too!

tiramisu ice cream

My friend Hsing recently made tiramisu ice cream, and when I tasted it I knew that I wanted to make it too!  Not long after that, I had the perfect opportunity - my cousin Angie was coming to visit and I know that she loves boozy desserts, so I decided to make it for her.

The source was, once again, David Lebovitz's book "The Perfect Scoop".  The ice cream base included Kahlua and rum, as well as mascarpone cream to create a creamy richness.  I also made a mocha ripple (made by simmering espresso, cocoa powder, vanilla, sugar, and corn syrup), which was layered into the ice cream after it was done churning.

The resulting combination of flavors was delicious!  Although I would have loved more coffee flavor, so next time I'll try adding some espresso to the ice cream base as well.

coffee oreo ice cream

Two of my favorite ice cream flavors are coffee, and cookies and cream (followed by pistachio), so it only makes sense that my favorite ice cream to make is coffee oreo.  I've made this ice cream countless times - for house guests, parties, ice cream cakes ... and pretty much everyone loves the combination.

Most ice cream recipes call for egg yolks to make the ice cream base rich and creamy, but I tend to prefer making my ice cream without the egg yolks (less guilt!).  So my coffee oreo ice cream simply consists of milk, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla, and espresso (followed by chopped oreos added during the last five minutes of churning).

In the future I plan on also trying different variations on this coffee ice cream  - coffee and chocolate chip cookies, coffee and candy bars, coffee and brownies ... any suggestions are welcome!

***
Update: Okay, I caved.  I started using egg yolks in my coffee oreo ice cream, incorporated by cooking them into the custard ice cream base.  It makes the ice cream that much richer and creamier, and now I can't go back!

hello kitty ice cream cake

Since my last couple blog entries were Hello Kitty related, I wanted to also show you the "hello kitty" cakes I've been making.  I made this ice-cream cake for my best friend Sue's birthday back in March.  It was a chocolate cake with homemade coffee-oreo ice cream - my favorite combination!

Before that, I had made this one for my friend Hsing last October.  It was a chocolate cake also with homemade mint oreo ice cream.

And I also made this mini 6-inch ice-cream cake for my friend Diana last February. It was a chocolate cake again, but I can't remember what ice-cream flavor I made.  I think it was my plain coffee ice-cream?

I think next I'm going to make something "hello kitty" for my daughter's first birthday, in December.  I need to start brainstorming for some new ideas!

*** Update:
You can now find my recipe for Hello Kitty Ice Cream Cake in my new book, "The Hello Kitty Baking Book"! Enjoy!