Daring Bakers in July: Swiss Swirl Chocolate-Mint Ice Cream 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.



Greetings from the USA! I just barely got this month's challenge done before I hopped on a plane Sunday night for a week-long work conference in downtown Boston. I was literally taking pictures and editing an hour before leaving for the airport - since I skipped June's challenge I figured I better get my act together for July, and not only because it has "Swiss" in the name!

I followed the given recipe pretty closely this month, only switching out the ice creams for two from David Lebovitz (Chocolate and Fresh Mint).   The recipe called for making the ice creams, freezing them completely, and then softening again to layer them into the bombe.  I was pretty worried that softening and then re-freezing would result in a crystallized, crunchy ice cream texture - growing up in Egypt where everything melts in the blink of an eye, I ate a LOT of yucky melted-and-refrozen ice cream. However, I only let it become just barely soft enough to spread in the mold before popping it back in the freezer, and the final result showed no signs of crystallized texture.



This dessert turned out very nicely, perfect for summer, and it's quite fun to cut into the bombe and see all the pretty layers and combination of flavors.

You can find the original recipe here. One step I would add is to freeze the cake roll until firm after the whipped cream filling has been added, and then slice with a bread knife. This makes it much easier to slice and layer into the mold without the cream filling squishing around everywhere.

Couchsurfers: Meet Pete and Meg

Pete and Meg flew in on Sunday night from Tel Aviv for their first-ever visit to Europe, and their first ever couchsurfing experience.  Originally from Philadelphia, this couple has been on the road for two months - first in Africa, and then in the Middle East.  The stories of their adventures in Africa were amazing.  Six-inch slugs and being pursued by an angry hippo while in a tiny rickety boat, anyone?  It was particularly wonderful to hear about how they had visited their Compassion sponsored child, James, while in Kenya - see their very touching blog post all about it.  Matt and I sponsor children too, in Thailand and Bolivia respectively, and would love to visit them one day.  After Kenya, Pete and Meg continued on to Uganda and Rwanda, where they spent a chunk of time building a school with a project called Sanejo.

We hit it off immediately and found that we had a lot in common - Christian faith, Sandra McCracken's music, love of traveling, love of good wine and food, and Matt and Meg even share a birthday!  Monday being their only full day in Zurich, they spent the morning on a walking tour around all the classic downtown sights, and then I met up with them later for a box of Luxembürgerli and a relaxing rest of the afternoon at a grassy beach down by the lake.  Tuesday morning we sent them on their way with a breakfast of pancakes and best wishes for their continuing travels to Germany, Spain, France, Scotland and England.    If we are ever passing through Philadelphia you'll be sure to find us visiting Pete and Meg!

Meertrübeli Tarts

Football, city festivals, time off work, barbecues, sweltering sunny days, icy drinks, and fresh berries galore - summer is in full swing and I'm loving it! My friend Gisela gave me a basket of meertrübeli (red currants) from the overachieving bush in her garden, and I immediately set about baking them into these lovely little tarts.  Enjoy!











Red Currant Tarts
Adapted from Delicious Days, Makes 6

1 batch sweet tart dough, well chilled (I use Dorie Greenspan's recipe)
200 grams fresh red currants, washed and de-stemmed
1 large egg
3 tbsp light brown sugar
50 ml heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Butter and flour 6 mini tart pans. Roll out dough into large rectangle and cut out circles large enough to fit into the pans (gather and re-roll dough scraps if necessary).  Fit dough into tart pans and trim off any overhang. Freeze pans for half an hour.  Preheat oven to 180 degrees.  Cut out squares of foil, brush with butter, and then press shiny side down tightly against the dough.  Bake for about 15 minutes, or until dough no longer looks raw but has not browned.  Remove shells from oven and let cool.

Whisk together egg, brown sugar, cream, and vanilla in a small bowl with a pouring spout.  Arrange berries on cooled tart shells, then pour cream mixture over until just at the top of the berries (don't overfill or it will leak out in the oven).  Bake tarts again for 15-20 minutes, until custard is set and berries are burst and juicy.

Let cool, then remove from tart pans, sprinkle with powdered sugar, and serve.  These would be excellent with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of crème fraîche!