This has come from my imagination – how to create a dessert for Christmas that combines traditional Christmas flavours with ice cream.

For our Australian Christmas we need something cold and refreshing – I remember as a child forcing myself to eat hot Christmas puddings just so I could get the sixpences that were embedded in them. Fortunately my tastes have changed and I now actually like rich fruit cakes and puddings but I still don’t think that they belong on hot summer days following a long, leisurely, over-indulgent seafood and ham based Christmas lunch.

This Christmas the desert will be a layered ice cream cake with vanilla ice cream, chopped up rich fruit cake, brandy / Kahlua soaked fruit, spiced nuts, chocolate chips and lastly another layer of vanilla ice cream with scotch.

CHRISTMAS FRUIT ICE-CREAM CAKE

Ingredients

• 1 dark fruit cake (buy pre-made to make it easy), cut into cubes, semi frozen to make it easier to cut, and returned to the freezer to keep it cool
• 2 cups spiced nuts
• 2 cups of assorted chopped dried fruit – dates, apricots, sultanas, soaked overnight in any alcohol – rum, brandy, kahlua, irish cream 0r a combination that tastes good (tasting is essential) – cool in the freezer once soaked. My dates broke down and made a lovely syrupy mix.
• 2 bags or choc chips – I used white and dark – store in freezer
• 4 litres of ice cream made as needed
  • 2 litres of brandy flavoured no churn ice cream for the top
  • 2 litres vanilla ice cream for the base

Method

1. Prepare a large flat container that takes a lid, line it neatly with plastic wrap (spray a little water on the container to help keep the plastic in place) then put a layer of baking paper on the bottom, bringing it up the ends and sides, depending on the width of the container. This helps to hide the wrinkles on the plastic. Put the container in the freezer to cool.

2. Have all the ingredients prepared and cold before making the ice cream.

3. Churn the first batch of ice cream and spread it into the cold container. Put it into the freezer until it has almost set.

4. Add the layers (if it is a hot day work quickly and return to the freezer between layers to stop the ice cream melting):

1. push in the fruit cake pieces
2. spread with the soaked fruit
3. spread the nuts
4. layer the choc chips

5. Return the dish to the freezer.

6. Make the final ice cream layer – I used my freshly made vanilla extract, still quite strongly flavoured with brandy, otherwise vanilla extract and brandy or whisky added in the final churn.

7. Spread evenly over the chocolate layer, cover and return to the freezer.

8. Finally decorate with drizzled chocolate.

9. An hour before serving move it from the freezer to the fridge so it is possible to cut.

10. Serve with a scoop of brandy custard ice cream and a pile of spiced seasonal fruit such as peaches and mangoes.

 

 

FIVE LAYER ICE CREAM CAKE

This is an almost perfect ice-cream cake. Five layers – the first, a biscuit base with a difference, because it is a vanilla ice cream with a lot of crumbed chocolate biscuit stirred through. The base and the pre-made chocolate wafers on the top make it so easy and it looks great. The whole recipe takes days as each layer needs to be frozen before the next can be added. The positive is that plain ice-cream can be made ahead and softened on the day that it is going to be added to the stack.

The flavours below are simply suggestions, use any that complement each other, and add plain flavours in between, or go for fewer layers or stick to a theme – all fruit or all cocktail flavours. Start with the biscuit base and get creative.

THE BISCUIT BASE

Ingredients

• 1 ½ packs Arnott’s Chocolate Ripple biscuits
• 750ml of vanilla ice-cream
• 2 tsp vanilla bean paste
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 200g white sugar

Method

1. Smash up the biscuits – between two sheets of silicon paper using a rolling pin – and add to vanilla ice cream
2. Spread on the base of the high sided tray

DARK CHOCOLATE SORBET LAYER

This is so tasty and doesn’t taste at all like a sorbet, just a luscious, chocolatey smooth indulgence. Use it between layers and as a topping on the ice-cream cake.

Ingredients

Makes about 6 cups

• 1 litre water
• 400g white sugar
• pinch salt
• 170g sifted cocoa
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Method

1. Heat the water, sugar and salt until the sugar is fully dissolved and allow to cool in the refrigerator.
2. Add the cooled sugar syrup, 400g sugar, 170g cocoa powder, pinch salt and 2 tsp vanilla extract into a blender on high speed for 90 seconds until all is well combined.
3. Refrigerate overnight.
4. Churn until until it is soft and creamy, about 15 to 20 minutes.
5. Add to the ice-cream cake as the next layer.

 

MINT COOKIES AND CREAM LAYER

Ingredients

We are making a Philadelphia style ice-cream to carry the flavours here.

• 400g whole milk
• 500g thickened cream
• 200g white sugar
• pinch salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup fresh mint leaves (torn up and packed into a cup)
• 8-10 broken up chocolate cream biscuits, leave the chunks biggish – something like Oreos or Arnott’s Chocolate Cream biscuits
• A few drops of mint essence (to increase “mintiness” if necessary)
• A few drops of green food colouring if it doesn’t go green enough (just to give a very pale green reminiscent of mint – if we see the green then we will expect the mint flavour)

Method

1. Mint infusion: Whisk together 200g of milk, 250g of cream, sugar, salt and vanilla. Bring the mixture just to a boil to dissolve the sugar. Remove from heat and add the mint leaves, let steep for an hour, strain and discard the mint leaves.
2. After steeping and straining, add the rest of the cream and milk.
3. Refrigerate 1 to 2 hours, or overnight.
4. Churn until thickened, about 20 minutes. When the ice cream is almost fully churned, gradually add the crushed cookies through the top of the ice cream maker, let mix until just combined.
5. Spread over the previous layers

 

MARSHMALLOWS, GINGERNUT AND CHOC RIPPLE LAYER

Prepare the mix in and swirl in before making the ice-cream

Ingredients for chocolate ripple

• 100g sugar
• 100g Golden Syrup
• 125g water
• 40g Dutch processed cocoa
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Heat the sugar, golden syrup, water, and cocoa powder in pan until it boils stirring constantly then let it simmer for 1 minute, still stirring.
2. Add the vanilla and place in a bowl to chill until needed.

Gingernut and Marshmallow mix in

• Pack Arnotts Gingernut biscuits crumbled – in a bowl
• 4 cups small marshmallows or larger ones cut into bits – in a bowl

1. Spread the marshmallows on a baking sheet lined with foil or a silicone mat. Use a blow-torch to brown them turning them over to brown all sides.

Philadelphia Style Ice Cream

• 150g white sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 500g thickened cream
• 350g milk
• Pinch salt

Method

1. In a high speed blender (Vitamix) blend the 150g sugar, 1tsp vanilla extract, 500g thickened cream, 350g milk and pinch salt until the sugar has blended in, approximately 90 seconds
2. Chill in the fridge or freezer until really cool then churn.
3. When the ice-cream has churned put a dollop of fudge and a sprinkle of broken biscuits and marshmallows on the base, then add a ladle of ice cream, continue dollops and swirls of each until all used up. From time to time give most recently added components a gently swirl but don’t stir. Leave it to have some surprises of gooey fudge, plain ice cream or marshmallows.
4. This is not meant to be a homogeneous mix.

 

ADD-INS FOR A VANILLA LAYER

• These are all added to the standard approx 1.5 litre mix. The end volume will be different depending on whether they are solid add-ins or flavours.
• Coffee (this is a pre-made affagato) – 3 tbs good quality instant coffee granules, gives little bursts of coffee
• 2 tbs dark chocolate grated or a crumbled flake chocolate (or coffee flavoured chocolate sprinkles)
• 3 tbs kahlua.
• Add 2 tbs coffee and kahlua to the churn as the mix begins to set, adding the chocolate and last tbs coffee to right at the end.