Daring Bakers: Swiss Swirl Ice-Cream Cake

There are so many Firsts for me this month. One eventful month I would say. First my application to Daring Bakers got approved earlier this month, followed by a new purchase - Ice-Cream maker...(perfect timing considering I was supposed to make 2 Ice-Creams from scratch). Then came my first ever Digital SLR camera...perfect timing..I do need good clicks (not that good camera=good clicks..but its important) and this is the first time I've ever made a swiss roll. So many firsts and yet I would say the challenge was pretty straightforward and a SUCCESS! I completely enjoyed making it.The July 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by the lovely Sunita. Sunita (completes her 3 years with daring bakers..woohooh..) challenged the DB's to make Swiss Swirl Ice-Cream Cake. The challenge recipe has been adapted from this Swiss swirl ice cream cake from the Taste of Home website.

The challenge required us to make a swiss-roll from scratch, followed by a layer of Ice-Cream, then a Fudge sauce, followed by another layer of Ice-cream all made from scratch...yp that's right...I divided the man-work to two days for ease although it could be done in a day but requires quite a lot of freezing time between layers. So made the swiss-roll on Day1, slathered the Raspberry-Cream filling and chilled it in the fridge. left the yoghurt to drain overnight for the Mango-Yoghurt Ice-cream with the. On Day 2 I made the White chocolate Ice-Cream, Mango-Yoghurt Ice-Cream, Fudge sauce and layered everything patiently (waiting for the layers to freeze was like Eons). I also changed the components and made my (own recipe) Swiss Roll.

My Swiss Swirl Ice-Cream Cake slightly adapted from the Taste of Home

Ingredients
For the Swiss Roll
Cocoa - 30g
Flour - 20g (I used SF floor, that's all I had in my store cup-board)
Eggs - 3
Muscovado Sugar - 75g
Salt - a pinch
Vanilla Extract - 1tsp
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C and butter a 24x32cm rectangle tin or a swiss-roll tin, line it with parchment and buttered this too for easy removal later. Sift the cocoa, salt and flour twice and set aside. Beat the eggs and sugar until the mixture is mousse like (about 10 min). blend in the extract and add the four-cocoa mixture in three to four goes. Lightly fold the mixture until everything is incorporated well making sure not to overdo. Gently tap the tin to get rid off the air bubbles and bake for 10-12 minutes until the centre is springy to touch.
Lay out a slightly damp tea towel and sprinkle this with a tbsp of sugar. Turn out the cake onto this and carefully roll up tightly with the tea towel (I left the parchment in place). Allow this to cool on a wire rack and get on with the filling.
For the Raspberry-Cream Filling
Fresh raspberries 1 cup
Double Cream - 200ml
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Icing Sugar - as per taste
Method:
Whip the cream with Icing sugar and Vanilla extract till soft peaks form. Blend in the raspberries and beat just for a minute. carefully unroll the swiss-roll and peel off the parchment. Spread the cream on the cooled swiss-Roll and roll it up again tightly, this time without the towel. Cover with cling and chill this till required.
For the White Chocolate Ice-cream
White Chocolate - 175 grams
Egg Yolks -  2
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Milk - 300ml
Cream - 200ml
Vanilla beans scrapped from a pod
Method:
Heat the milk till bubbles form on the sides of the pan along with the vanilla beans. Melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of simmering water or in a microwave until most of the pieces are melted but you can still see a few pieces of chocolate. Beat the yolks along with sugar until pale and pour the hot milk into this, whisking continuously (else you will end up with scrambled eggs). Pour this mixture into the chocolate and whisk until everything is smooth and glossy. whip the cream till soft peaks form and fold this into the chocolate mixture. Churn this in the ice-cream maker according to package instructions and chill until required.
For the Chocolate-Fudge Sauce slightly adapted from Nigella's Butterscotch sauce
Muscovado Sugar- 1 tbsp
Plain Sugar - 2 tbsp
Golden Syrup - 2 tbsp
Cocoa - 2 tbsp
Butter - 2 tbsp
Heavy Cream - 100ml
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Method:
Heat all the ingredients in a saucepan until it reaches a boil, whisking constantly. Cool and set aside.
For the Mango-Yoghurt Ice-Cream
Mango Puree - 2 cups
Drained Yoghurt - 500g
Vanilla Extract - 1 tsp
Icing Sugar - as per taste
Heavy Cream - 100ml
Method:
Whisk the Yoghurt, Cream, Vanilla extract, Icing sugar until smooth and freeze in an Ice-Cream maker until semi-set. Chill this.
Assembly of Swiss Swirl Ice-Cream Cake:
Slice the swiss-roll into thin slices. Cover the bottom and sides of the bowl that you'd be using to set the dessert with a cling film. Arrange the slices onto the bowl covering the bottom and the sides. Freeze this for at least 1 hour. Next spread the semi-set ice-cream layer all the way up to the sides of the bowl. Freeze this until completely set about 2 hours. (Patience is not on of my virtues and I poured the fudge sauce in 1 hour that led to 2 white chocolate layers between the fudge sauce layer).
Pour the fudge sauce layer on top of the set ice-cream layer and freeze this at least for 2 hours. Layer the semi-set Mango-Yoghurt ice-cream on top of the set fudge sauce, cover with 2 layers of cling and freeze overnight or 5-6 hours.
To unravel the swiss-swirl ice-cream cake, remove the cling film and dip the ends of the bowl in a big bowl of hot water. Invert onto a plate and gently tap. It should come away easily. Remove all the cling film and slice using a knife dipped in hot water. Voila! It looks gorgeous and taste....you've got to try it to know.

Verdict: 'S' loved it and had his second serving in 3 hours (the slices are pretty huge). I loved the medley of flavours. The rich and very chocolatey sponge sandwiched with a fresh, fruity raspberry filling. Match made in heaven it is...This Chocolate and Raspberry...Then comes a light White chocolate Ice-Cream to tease your taste buds...which is a little sweet compared to the swiss-roll and gorgeously creamy. Next the Fudge sauce...a dentists nightmare..with sugar in 3 forms...(not a big fan but had to include it for the challenge). Then comes my favourite layer...Lovely and light Mango-Yoghurt Ice-cream. I was delivered a couple of cartons of Total Greek Yoghurt to try and test and I couldn't resist making this Ice-cream. Mango and Yoghurt have been a staple back home during summers...Mango lassis, Plain lassis, mango smoothies...What better way to combine the two summer favourites? I have discovered another favourite with this challenge...Mango and chocolate...absolutely wicked together. I completely enjoyed making this gorgeous looking dessert. Thanks Sunita for hosting this month's DB challenge.

I heart Music - Matcha Elaichi (Cardamom) and Nutella Mascarpone Macaroons

I remember my mum yelling "Turn down the volume" while my TV played Bon Jovi's "It's my life..It's now or never..I ain't gonna live forever..I just want to live while I'm alive"... volume turned way up to shatter the glasses around. I was a rebel at home and maybe that's why I loved songs like this that portrayed my state of mind (or maybe the high octane video). So wherever we travelled my precious vinyl collection travelled with me (although I have managed to lose quite a lot of my favourites).Music was always a big part of us back home. All our bollywood films have at least a dozen songs (yes even till date this hasn't changed) and they were played in the buses, autos (tuk-tuk... a 3 wheeled chauffer driven ferrari for the poor) we travelled...at weddings and the parties we went to. Then there was MTV and Channel [V] to play our favourite numbers day in and day out. It is difficult for me to say my favourites as they keep changing but there are some evergreen ones like Bon Jovi, the Beatles, Scorpions, Billy Joel, George Michael, ABBA, Micheal Bolton, A.R Rehman...

A hopeless romantic at heart, I always dreamt that my MAN would play guitar, sing my favourite songs to me and we would have candle light dinners on special occasions...Well that pretty much didn't happen..You see Mr. S cant sing or play guitar but I am lucky that he does likes music and has a similar taste...Thank god for that at least we dont have keep fighting and ejecting CDs on our long drives..And Thank god we still do candle light dinners..

This month the MACTweets sweethearts and MACQueens Deeba and Jamie have asked us to create a MAC inspired, by our favourite song...So here it is my totally crazy and rebellious like me Matcha-Cardamon and Nutella Mascarpone Macaroon.. inspired by Bon Jovi's It's my life...

I love the mix of cardamom in my daily dose of chai and have incorporated the same flavour with matcha in my macaroons. I also love nutella and this time instead of slathering the macaroons with plain nutella I made it a little lighter with mascarpone. 

Ingredients

Ground Almonds 75gms

Powdered Sugar 75 gms

Egg whites 50 gms divided

Caster Sugar 75 gms

Water 25 gms

Matcha green tea powder 1/2 tsp

Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp

Green food colour

Method:

Make a heart shaped template using heart shaped cookie cutter onto a parchment sheet. Place a silpat on this.

Sift the ground almonds, matcha, cardamom powder at least twice and sift the powdered sugar. Set aside. Whisk 25gms egg whites till peaks form and heat the caster sugar with water until soft stage (110C). Pour the syrup in a steady stream, into the the peaks beating all the time until glossy peaks form. Add the colour at this point and whisk. Now mix the 25gms whites to the almond powder mixture and gently fold the almond mixture into the glossy whites mixture. Transfer this into a piping bag and pipe onto the parchment paper using the stencil. Bake at 150C for about 12-14 min depending on the size of your macaroons. Mine were quite big.

Nutella Mascarpone filling

Nutella 4tbsp

Mascarpone 4 tbsp

Method:

Whisk the mascarpone till light and blend in the nutella.

Assembly:

Take two heart-shaped mascarpone similar in size and spread a little of the nutella-mascarpone mixture and sandwich. Store in the refrigerator for a few hours until set. 

Palak Paneer

This month Sara is hosting Think Spice - Think Garam Masala an event started by Sunita and the participants have to prepare any vegetarian dish using Garam Masala. This event was just in time for me to use the lovely jar of homemade Garam Masala I got from P. She is one of those super women I know  (not that I know many ), who produce amazing food in the kitchen but still manage to work all day, pick/drop kids at station, finish day-to-day shopping and still look lovely with no signs of fatigue every-time I meet her. I suppose its the "power yoga" she practices. Back to the topic - she gave me this jar and said " Do you know we managed to break our dining table trying to grind this?". I couldn't stop smiling. Apparently P and her kids were all enthusiastic about this fancy grinder they found to grind the spices that had to be fixed to a base like a table and rotated with (some muscle power) to get a fine powder, and in the process managed to break the table :-).

Garam Masala just literally means hot spice mix is widely used in Indian cooking, similar to the curry powder. I make my blend  and have given the recipe below.

Palak Paneer (spinach and Indian cheese Paneer in a gravy) is a staple side dish served at most restaurants in India alongside Indian breads like naan or roti. I like this simple recipe which is just blanched spinach ground to a smooth paste and slightly fried Paneer is added to the spinach gravy. Some do use tomatoes to cut the taste of spinach but I like it just like that or maybe with some cream for special occasions.

Ingredients

Spinach 2 bunches 

Onion 1

Ginger 1 inch piece

Garlic 2-3 cloves

Garam masala - 1tsp

Paneer 200 grams cubed

Cumin seeds 1tsp

Green chillies - 2-4 depending on taste

Clove 1

Salt to taste

Method:

Blanch spinach for 2-3 minutes and puree it in a processor with onion, ginger, garlic, chillies until smooth. Put the paneer in hot water for a minute to soften it and drain. (Shop bought Paneer seems to be a bit hard and this is necessary). In a frying pan, heat some oil and splutter the cumin seeds. Now fry the paneer cubes until golden on both sides. Add the spinach puree, salt, garam masala to this and let it simmer for 10-15 min. You could add some water if its too thick. Serve with some naan or flat bread.

For Garam Masala

Ingredients

Cumin seeds 2-3 tbsp

Coriander 2-3 tbsp

Black Pepper 1 tbsp

Star Anise 2

Nutmeg 1/2 tsp

Clove 4-5

Cinnamon 1 large stick

Black and Green Cardamom 2 & 7

Bay leaf 1

Method:

Slightly roast all the ingredients in a pan, cool it and powder it in a processor until fine and store it in a air-tight jar. Just make sure you do not break a table in doing so ;-).

Double Layered Pistachio and Chocolate-Hazelnut Burfi with milled flaxseed, cocoa and berries

Last week I received a big packet of Linwoods Milled Flaxseed, Cocoa & Berries for the Linwoods Cocoa Delights Recipe Development Competition. (Can't tell you how excited I was to use it all). Linwoods has been in business for over 30 years and manufacture a range of Premium Bakery, Fresh Dairy and Healthy Super Food products that are available  across Ireland, UK, Spain and Holland. Linwoods website is definitely worth a click (and yes for internet junkies like me you could buy the product online). Back to the product - A daily 30g serving of this milled flaxseed, cocoa and berries is high in Flavanols which are highly effective antioxidants. A source of Magnesium, Iron, Zinc, Selenium & Omega 3. Linwoods  cocoa is specially processed to provide a high level of Flavanols & 75% reduced fat as compared to the Cocoa in dark chocolate products. I have used their milled organic flaxseed (that I buy from holland and barrett), in smoothies and bread recipes.

A big Thanks to Linwoods and Beth for this. Hopefully I will experiment more with it soon J

 Having seen gorgeous Deeba's  recipe I wanted to try out something different. As soon as they arrived I wanted to make MAC's. After tweeting hysterically with MACQueen Jamie and lovely Anh about using aged whites, egg whites powder, the flavor combos, I tried them and my MAC's got feet (http://twitpic.com/1yzv5l & http://twitpic.com/1yzvw4). I used the milled powder along with some ground pistachios using Bea's recipe as a guide. I did think about making cakes with them, but then came up with the idea of making  Barfi. Barfi is a traditional Indian fudge like sweet made with reduced milk cooked with sugar and a lot of combinations like pistachios,cashews, almonds,coconut or gram flour. Some recipes also use khoya which is similar in texture to ricotta and is made with reducing milk to one-fifth volume. Barfis are mostly made out of Ghee/clarified butter (recipe follows). I have used condensed milk instead of khoya and have also hazelnut for the first time in making Barfi. 

To make some Ghee simmer unsalted butter along with a clove and a cardamom until all water has boiled off and the milk solids, have settled to the bottom. Strain the clarified butter into a clean jar to avoid disturbing the milk solids settled on the bottom of the pan.

Ingredients:

For the Pistachio Barfi

1 can Condensed milk (400ml)

200 gms Pistachio powdered

1/2 tsp of Cardamom powder

1/4 cup of Ghee/Clarified butter (might need more if not using a non-stick pan)

Method:

Line a square baking pan with parchment with a little overhang for easy removal of the fudges. Combine the condensed milk, powdered pistachio, ghee in a heavy bottomed pan (I used a non-stick pan), cooking (at 80C) and stirring all the time for about 10 to 15 minutes. It is difficult to predict the exact time as mine was ready in about 12 min. The mixture should leave the sides of the pan and resemble a stiff bread dough. Scoop out the mixture to the baking pan and smooth the top with the spatula smeared with some ghee (about ½" high). Allow to cool and set it in the refrigerator for a few hours. Cut the burfis into squares or diamonds with a sharp knife dipped in hot water to achieve neat edges and store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Ingredients

For the Chocolate-Hazelnut Barfi

1 can Condensed milk (400ml)

100 gms Cocoa Powder

75 gms Hazelnut Powdered

25 gms Linwoods Milled Flaxseed, Cocoa & Berries

1/4 cup Ghee clarified butter (might need more if not usinga  non-stick pan)

Method:

Line a square baking pan with parchment with a little overhang for easy removal of the fudges. Combine the condensed milk, cocoa, hazelnut powder, milled powder, ghee in a heavy bottomed pan (I used a non-stick pan), cooking (at 80C) and stirring all the time for about 10 to 15 minutes. One of those things you do not want to do while answering phone or watching TV. It is difficult to predict the exact time as mine was ready in about 12 min. The mixture should leave the sides of the pan and resemble a stiff bread dough. Scoop out the mixture to the same baking pan on top of the pistachio barfi and smooth the top with the spatula smeared with some ghee (about ½" high). Allow to cool completely and set it in the refrigerator for a few hours. I have used silver leaf for decoration. You could use chopped pistachios or hazelnuts for decoration. Once set cut the barfis  into squares or diamonds with a sharp knife dipped in hot water to achieve neat edges and store them in an air-tight container in the refrigerator.

Verdict: "S" started wondering why I ever stopped making Barfi's at home (he only gets to enjoy them when I am back from a holiday)..My dear friend B's kids loved it. I loved the way he grabbed the phone from his mum and said "Loved your Burfis aunty...make some more while you come home"..not bad for kids who never eat Indian sweets!

Vanilla Sponge with Chocolate Fudge and raspberries Icing

"Whats the occasion "? S asked as he walked in early to watch the England-Slovenia match. Honestly, I just felt like baking a simple sponge that I had, at a friends place a while ago with some warm custard on top. I asked her for the recipe and she gladly gave it to me. "It's 100,100,100 each of butter, S.F flour, sugar and 2 eggs". "That's it? I remember asking her thinking how can a cake so delicious be this simple. I just fell in love with simplicity of this recipe. I could never give out a cake recipe by heart just like that. 

After I baked the cakes I just wanted to make some plain custard, then I changed my mind and thought of making a chocolate custard and finally ended up using some leftover (Nigella's) chocolate fudge icing (Typical Gemini you see....).I used some fresh, crushed raspberries in the first layer and used the remaining to decorate the top, dusted with some cocoa and finished it with some edible glitter.

Ingredients

For the sponge

100gms Self-Raising Flour

100gms Butter

100gms Sugar

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 Eggs

Method:

Preheat oven to 170C.

Beat the butter sugar till light and fluffy, gradually add the eggs and beat well. Sift the flour into this and lightly fold in until everything is well incorporated. Pour into greased and lined sandwich tins. Bake for about 20 min or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Allow to coll on wire rack and peel off the paper.

For Icing

Half recipe of Nigella's chocolate Fudge Icing

Some Raspberries to decorate.

Cocoa for dusting

Assembly

Place one layer on a cake stand or plate and spread the fudge icing. Crush some raspberries with a fork and spread it on top of the fudge icing. Place the second layer and gently press the cake. Spread some fudge icing on top liberally and decorate with raspberries. Dust with some cocoa if desired.