I always claim that it’s never too hot for coffee or too cold for ice cream. My love for both of these inspired this cake and she’s perfect for a summer dessert!
P.s You can easily modify the ice cream layers to incorporate your favourite flavours.
INGREDIENTS
CAKE (Tip 1) ½ cup cacao powder 1 tbsp coffee powder 1 cup boiling water ½ cup sunflower/canola oil 1 tbsp vanilla essence 4 large eggs, separated 1 ½ cup castor sugar 1 ¾ cup cake flour 1 tbsp baking powder ½ tsp salt ICE CREAM (Tip 2) 2 litre vanilla ice cream 1 tbsp coffee powder 1 tbsp boiling water 1 tbsp vanilla essence TOP LAYER (GANACHE) 150g dark chocolate, finely chopped/grated ½ cup cream
METHOD
CAKE
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C and place the oven rack in the middle.
2. Prepare two round cake tins (20-23cm) with baking paper and non-stick spray.
3. In a medium jug, combine the cacao, coffee and boiling water until well combined and smooth.
4. Add the oil and vanilla to the cacao mixture and combine. Set aside to cool down.
4. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks with an electric mixer (Tip 3).
5. Gradually add the castor sugar, while whisking, until light and fluffy.
6. Add the cacao mixture to the egg mixture and whisk until well combined.
7. Sift the dry ingredients over the egg mixture and mix until just combined.
8. In a medium glass bowl, whisk the egg whites with a clean electric mixer until soft peaks form.
Gently fold the egg whites into the cake batter until well combined.
9. Divide the cake batter between the prepared cake tins by weight.
10. Bake the cakes in the middle of the oven for 25-30 minutes until a cake tester comes out clean
when inserted in the middle of the cake (Tip 4).
11. Allow the cakes to cool down for 5 minutes before loosening the sides and demoulding onto cooling
racks. Allow the cakes to cool down completely before assembling the cake.
ICE CREAM
1. Remove the ice cream from the freezer to soften just a little.
2. In a coffee mug, mix the coffee, boiling water and vanilla essence until the coffee has dissolved.
3. Spoon all the ice cream into a large glass bowl and stir the coffee mixture through the ice cream
until everything is well combined.
4. Place the ice cream back into the freezer if you still have preparations to do before assembling
the cake or if the mixture became too soft while mixing.
ASSEMBLE
1. Cut the domes off the cakes to level the cakes before cutting each layer through the middle with a
bread knife to produce 4 cake layers (Tip 5).
2. Clean your cake tins and place a cake layer on the bottom of the tin. Then spoon ½ of the ice
cream or a third of the ice cream onto the cake layer (depending on Tip 5).
3. Top the ice cream layer with another cake layer, gently cover with plastic wrap and immediately
place the cake into the freezer to set (3-4 hours/overnight).
4. Turn the cake out onto your cake stand and allow the cake to soften just a little before cutting
and serving.
TOP LAYER (Tip 6)
1. Place the grated chocolate in a medium glass bowl.
2. Heat the cream in the microwave in 30 second bursts until it just starts to boil.
3. Immediately pour the heated cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 1 minute. Using a
wooden spoon, stir this mixture with small circular movements in the middle of the bowl until
smooth and glossy.
4. Allow the mixture to cool down until it has set to a thick pouring consistency.
5. You can pour this top layer over the cooled cake at any time. Simply remove the plastic wrap,
slowly pour the chocolate over and return the cake to the freezer. Once the chocolate has set on
top, you can cover the cake again with plastic wrap.
You can also wait to serve the cake before pouring the top layer over the cake. The leftover cake can then be refrozen with the chocolate layer on top.
TIPS
1. If you are short on time, you can use an easy mix chocolate cake. I would recommend Ina Paarman’s.
Appreciate this tip because I won’t suggest using easy mixes again anytime soon.
2. You can combine any flavours/liqueurs/chocolates/nuts/sweets into this ice cream layers to make
the cake your own!
3. I would recommend whisking the egg yolks and sugar with a stand mixer if you have one.
4. If the cake tester comes out with very wet cake batter, bake the cakes for another 5 minutes and
test again. Be careful to not overbake the cakes.
5. You can decide if you want to assemble the cakes separately using one divided cake (thus two cake
layers) with a centre of ice cream, or you can use all 4 cake layers with 3 ice cream centres to
present a large cake instead of 2 smaller cakes.
6. You can use any chocolate sauce of your choice for the top layer.