Cranberry Vanilla Ice Cream Cake

For Thanksgiving one of my friends jokingly suggested I make an ice cream cake. I followed through!

This particular recipe has 5 main components: the sponge layers, cranberry puree (used in ice cream and glaze), the ice cream layers, the whipped cream frosting, and the mirror glaze. The recipe seems a bit daunting, but it’s pretty fool-proof and tastes great!

The sponge is based off The Little Eppicurian, the mirror glaze and no churn ice creams are adapted from RosannaPansino and the Food Network, respectively.

1. Sponge: [makes 1 jelly roll sheet]

• 112g cake flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 5 large eggs, separated
• 156 g granulated sugar
• 60 g whole milk

1. Oven at 400F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat.
2. Whisk together sifted flour, baking powder, and salt.
3. In a different, large bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, and milk until pale.
4. Separately, whisk egg whites until medium stiff peaks (if you whisk too stiff, it’s harder to incorporate).
5. Add dry mixture to wet mixture and fold together. Then slowly fold in the medium stiff egg whites.
6. Pour batter onto the baking sheet and then rap the sheet down a few times to release any big air bubbles.
7. Bake for 8-9 minutes (a toothpick should go in and out cleanly).
8. Invert cake, remove silpat or parchment paper, then add a clean silpat/ new parchment paper and revert.
9. Let cool.

2. Cranberry Puree:

• 450 g cranberries
• 240 ml water

1. Add cranberries and water in a pot and heat on high.
2. Let cranberries pop and when they look soft, mash up the cranberries until you get an apple sauce like consistency. If it’s too liquidy, keep mixing over high heat until it reduces.
   
3. Pass through a fine mesh strainer and cool.

3. No Churn Ice Cream:

• 396 g (14 oz can) condensed milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• 470 g heavy whipping cream
• 75 g cranberry puree  

1. Whip the whipping cream to stiff peaks.
2. Whisk in the condensed milk.
   • –> Vanilla base complete.
3. If adding in flavors (in this case, cranberry), fold in about 75g cranberry puree). [I did it to taste.]

Cake Assembly:

1. Line a cake pan with parchment paper.
2. Lay down a piece of cake.
3. Add ice cream bases to piping bags and pipe onto the cake layer you put down.
4. Add another piece of cake. 
5. Continue layering until you reach the top of your cake pan.
6. Freeze for at least 6 hours.

4. Whipped Cream Frosting:

• 235 g heavy whipping cream
• 30 g powdered sugar (give or take, to taste depending on how sweet you want it)
• 2 g gelatin
• 10-15 ml water

1. Add water to gelatin and mix until apple sauce consistency.
2. Heat for about 30 seconds until liquid.
3. Whisk whipping cream and slowly add in liquid gelatin. Whisk until stiff peaks.

5. Cranberry Mirror Glaze: [adapted from RosannaPansino]

• 55 g white chocolate (chopped up finely to help melting)
• 35 g condensed milk
• 50 g sugar
• 61.25 g corn syrup
• 25 ml water
• 4 g gelatin (+ about 15 ml water to bloom)
• 60ish g cranberry puree

1. Mix gelatin in water until you get an apple sauce consistency. 
2. In a small pot add corn  syrup, water, and sugar and bring to a boil.
3. Add in gelatin and condensed milk. Whisk until gelatin fully dissolved.
4. In a bowl with the chocolate, add the liquid mixture and whisk until chocolate is fully melted.
5. Add cranberry puree (I added about 60g, but was doing it to taste [to overpower the white chocolate flavor].
6. Bring the glaze to room temperature or slightly colder. (You can cover it with cling wrap and throw it in the fridge, but be careful. You don’t want it to solidify, but don’t want to melt the whipped cream frosting either.)

Decoration:

1. Pull out the ice cream cake (should be easy if you lined out the cake pan with parchment paper) and place on cake board [I just use cardboard wrapped with foil] or plate.
2. Start to cover the cake with a small amount of whipped cream frosting to serve as a “crumb” coat. Freeze for a few minutes.
3. Add the rest of the whipped cream frosting.
4. Freeze for 10ish minutes.
5. Add glaze to a piping bag and make drips around the edge of the cake.
6. Fill in the rest of the top.
7. Decorate however else you like. I used macarons and cranberries.
8. Freeze until ready to serve and enjoy! :D

-Mario