Daring Bakers October 2010 Challenge: Buttermilk Doughnuts - Gluten Free!!

The October 2010 Daring Bakers challenge was hosted by Lori of Butter Me Up. Lori chose to challenge DBers to make doughnuts. She used several sources for her recipes including Alton Brown, Nancy Silverton, Kate Neumann and Epicurious.

I was more than a little daunted when I saw this months challenge. It was not the prospect of making doughnuts that made me nervous, we had done these before. It was the prospect of making them gluten free that I was worried about.

We were provided with an assortment of different doughnut recipes to chose from for this challenge, including a vegan gluten free recipe, however, as it was vegan this recipe didn’t include any milk or eggs in the recipe and I wanted to use these for my own doughnuts and so I decided to combine two different recipes together. I used the basic quantities from the vegan gluten free version and the ingredients and method from the non gf version. This worked well although my recipe was still a little hit and miss with the quantity of flour. Gluten free flours generally result in thicker batters as they absorb more liquid than wheat flours. My dough started off a little wet so I ended up just adding more flour until I got the right consistency but this seemed to work fine.

The dough was still quite sticky but we had been warned that this was expected so I didn’t worry. I also used a mix of yeast and baking agents in the dough as I wanted my doughnuts to be as light and puffy as possible. It produced a very smooth and puffy dough that was easy to work with.

I decided to make a few different varieties of doughnut – ring doughnuts, doughnut holes (the middle cut outs of the ring doughnuts) and chocolate stuffed round doughnuts. I filled the rounds of doughnut dough with chocolate chips before frying them, which meant a glorious molten chocolate centre when they were eaten hot from the pan – just watch out as they’ll be hot!

The doughnuts seemed to brown and cook incredibly quickly, more so than standard doughnuts I have done in the past. I’m not sure why this was but they were still cooked all the way through so it didn’t really matter. The ring doughnuts were coated in a maple sugar glaze, the doughnut holes were tossed in cinnamon sugar and the chocolate stuffed doughnuts were dusted with regular caster sugar.

When eaten warm the doughnuts were light, puffy and full of air holes. They had a crisp golden outer crust and a soft springy middle – success! I think the chocolate stuffed ones were my favourite, there is something so indulgent about biting into a hot gooey chocolate centre.

A word to the wise though, gluten free doughnuts do not keep well. They are fine for a couple of hours but after this time they start to turn a bit hard and dense. So if you want gluten free doughnuts – make and fry them to order!

Either way I was really pleased with my doughnuts and ate far too many of them – I had to take photos of them all you see. Thanks Lori for such a great challenge. Click to see the Daring Bakers blogroll for more doughnut delights.

Gluten Free Buttermilk Yeasted Cake Doughnuts

(My adapted combination of Nancy Silverton’s cake doughnuts and Whole Living Daily’s vegan gluten free doughnut recipe)

Ingredients
60 ml warm water
150g maize flour

100g rice flour

50g tapioca flour

50g buckwheat flour

¾ tsp xanthan gum
100g caster sugar
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1&1/8 tsp dried fast action yeast
200ml buttermilk
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract

Sunflower oil for frying

Extras

Decorations of your choice – I used cinnamon sugar, caster sugar and maple icing glaze

Fillings of your choice – I used chocolate chips

Method

Scatter two large baking trays with extra flour and set aside for later.

In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flours, sugar, bicarbonate of soda, xanthan gum and baking powder. Make a large well in the center, add the yeast and pour over the warm water and leave for 3 minutes before mixing briefly.

Add the buttermilk, whole egg, egg yolk and vanilla extract and mix together well using a round bladed butter knife. Switch to your fingers once the mixture starts to come together – it will be very sticky, but shouldn’t be wet.

Flour a work surface well with flour and turn out your dough. Scatter over a little more flour and gently roll or press the dough out until it is around 2cm thick.

Have the cutter of your choice to hand and cut out large round discs of doughnut dough. Use a smaller cut to cut away the centre if you want to make ring doughnuts. Keep any centre cut outs as these make great mini doughnut holes. Place the cut out doughnuts on the pre-prepared floured baking trays.

Gather up any scraps of dough and roll out again until all the dough is used up.

Leave the trays of doughnuts to prove for an hour in a warm place. They should puff up slightly but will not double in size.

Heat 1½ inches deep of oil in a fairly large saucepan until a small scrap of dough dropped into it turns golden brown within 20seconds (around 190C).

Carefully drop the doughnuts, 1 – 2 large ones at a time, into the hot oil. Once they start to look golden brown around the edges, flip them over and cook for a further 20 seconds. Remove from the oil with a slotted fish slice and drain briefly on kitchen paper before tossing in sugar or drizzling with a glaze.

Best served and eaten whilst still warm.

To make Filled Doughnuts

Method 1: Fill a piping bag with smooth seedless jam, custard or filling of your choice. Once the doughnuts are cooked, insert the tip of the piping bag in the side of the doughnut and squeeze out a generous amount of filling.

Method 2: (For more solid fillings) Place a teaspoon full of chocolate chips into the centre of the raw round of doughnut dough. Gather up the sides and squish together in the centre, encasing the chocolate in the dough. Turn the dough over and pat into a round flat disc. Fry as normal and leave to cool slightly before taking a bite. The chocolate middle should be all gooey and melted!

I made 12 assorted large ring & round doughnuts and 12 doughnut holes

Gluten Free Apple & Blackberry Buckwheat Crumble

I want to start by thanking everyone for all their kind comments and words of encouragement during the past week. All the blogs, recipes, hints and tips you have given me will be enough to keep me busy in the kitchen for a very long time and I’ve got lots of new ideas and ingredients to experiment with.

A couple of nights ago a good friend of mine invited me and a group of our friends round for dinner. We all get together about once a month for an informal dinner and chat which is a great way of keeping up to date with everyone’s latest news. This was going to be the first time I had seen any of them since being diagnosed as coeliac and I was a little unsure how they would take it. The meal had been planned for some time I felt rather bad about having to phone the host up and explain I wouldn’t be able to eat the pasta dish she was planning. However, she was really supportive and didn’t mind in the slightest and quickly changed the menu to a delicious vegetable curry with rice. As a thank you I told her I’d bring a dessert choice.

We had a small pile of cooking apples sitting on the counter from my grandmothers garden as well as some late blackberries so an apple and blackberry themed dessert was the obvious choice. I decided to turn them into a crumble as I felt sure I would be able to make a suitable crumble topping using my new range of gluten free flours. I decided to use primarily buckwheat (my new favourite) as I thought its natural sweetness and nutty flavour would go well with the fruit and a little potato and rice flour for their crumbliness. I also added some ground almonds for flavour and to help mask any strange flavours that I thought the flours might produce – I’m happy to say there were no strange flavours.

I decided to puree the blackberries and use just their juice in the base of the crumble, rather than add the whole berries. I love the flavour and colour blackberries give but I know some people don’t enjoy their seeds so I though this would be a good compromise. I also stewed most of the apple beforehand and then stirred through some raw apple at the end for texture. The blackberry puree bubbled up through the apple during cooking and dyed all the fruit a gorgeous bright shade of purple which made it look so inviting when you broke through the golden crumble topping.

I’m please to say that everyone loved the crumble and said if they hadn’t been told, they wouldn’t have known it was gluten free – hurrah! If you really thought about it there was a slightly sandy texture from the rice flour but when mixed with the fruit this was not noticeable. In fact I enjoyed it so much that I used the rest of the fruit to make another crumble the following day which I enjoyed with my family after Sunday dinner last night.

Gluten Free Apple & Blackberry Buckwheat Crumble

Ingredients
450g cooking apples
150g eating apples
150g blackberries
50g caster sugar

Buckwheat Crumble
100g buckwheat flour
30g potato flour
20g rice or maize flour
40g ground almonds
70g butter
50g caster sugar
1 tbsp water

Method – Crumble Topping

Measure out the flours, ground almonds and sugar into a bowl. Cut the butter into small cubes, add to the flour and rub it through the flour using the tips of your fingers. Lift the flour up as you rub the butter in, letting it fall back into the bowl. Continue until you have no large lumps of butter left and the mix resembles fine bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the water and squeeze the mix together so you get a few bigger clumps. Set aside for later.

Fruit

Preheat the oven to 190C.
Peel, core and roughly dice the cooking apples. Place into a large pan, cover the base of the pan with 1cm of water and heat until the mixture begins to bubble. Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes until the apple is mushy and soft. Peel, core and roughly dice the eating apple and stir through the stewed apple. Set aside.
Meanwhile, place the blackberries into a separate small pan and add enough water to cover the base of the pan. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes until the berries are beginning to break down and release their juices. Remove from the heat and transfer the blackberries into a sieve set over a small bowl to catch the juices. Crush the blackberries with the back of a spoon, pressing all the juice through the sieve and into the bowl below. Continue until you have only the seeds left behind. Discard these.

Assemble
Pour the blackberry puree into the base of a pie or pudding dish. Spoon the apple mixture over the top and scatter over the crumble topping.
Bake in the preheated oven (190C) for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden in colour and crisp.
Allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. The blackberry puree should have bubbled up through the apple and stained it all a gorgeous shade of purple.
Serve with custard, cream or ice cream if desired. Also tastes great cold.

Daring Bakers August 2010 Challenge: Ice Cream Petit Fours

The August 2010 Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Elissa of 17 and Baking. For the first time, The Daring Bakers partnered with Sugar High Fridays for a co-event and Elissa was the gracious hostess of both. Using the theme of beurre noisette, or browned butter, Elissa chose to challenge Daring Bakers to make a pound cake to be used in either a Baked Alaska or in Ice Cream Petit Fours. The sources for Elissa’s challenge were Gourmet magazine and David Lebovitz’s “The Perfect Scoop”.

This month we were required to make a brown butter pound cake and some ice cream of our choice and turn it into either baked alaska or petit fours. I had never had frozen ice cream cake petit fours before and so this was my dessert of choice.

As we experimented with ice cream in last months Daring Bakers challenge I wanted to do something different this month. I remembered a recipe for instant banana ice cream that I read about a few months back and decided now would be the perfect time to test it out, especially as I had yet more overripe bananas in the fruit bowl! The method is surprisingly simple yet yields delicious results. You freeze chunks of banana and then blitz them (still frozen) in a food processor with a little yoghurt and syrup and within seconds – ta da – instant smooth and creamy frozen banana cream that has the taste and texture of ice cream! You can eat it straight out the bowl or freeze it for later. It’s ingenious and fantastically bananary, not to mention healthy. I really recommend you give it a go.

I was also pleased to try out the brown butter cake recipe we were given, as I’d never made one of these myself. It turned out very well and produced a very light, springy and golden coloured cake with a nutty overtone. I also added a mix of cinnamon, ginger and freshly grated nutmeg to mine which I thought would complement the nuttiness as well as the banana ice cream.

Everything was going well until it came to the glaze. Rather than use the recipe provided I decided to make a glaze I have done in the past for profiteroles. I’m not sure what happened but one minute I had smooth glossy sauce and then next it was too thick and gloopy. I used it anyway, but it refused to coat the petit fours properly so instead I just spooned some over the top and let it drizzle over the sides a bit. They still ended up looking pretty, but not the elegant sophisticated petit fours I was hoping for. As a result I’m not giving you the glaze recipe I made, but I have written the glaze recipe provided below for anyone who wants to make these. Note to self: sometimes things are best left un-meddled.

I loved the taste and texture of these little bites. The spiced nutty cake and banana ice cream were a great match and the glossy dark chocolate glaze left you with a rich cocoa taste that tasted delicious as it mingled with the melting banana cream.

Thanks Elissa for choosing such a great challenge. Click to see a list of my fellow Daring Bakers and what they did with their cake and ice cream.

Spiced Brown Butter Pound Cake & Instant Banana Ice Cream Petit Fours

Spiced Brown Butter Pound Cake
275g unsalted butter
200g plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
110g light brown sugar
75g caster sugar
4 large eggs
½ tsp vanilla extract
(I also added 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ tsp ginger and ¼ tsp nutmeg)

Method
Preheat the oven to 165C and put a rack in the center. Butter and flour a 9inch/23cm square pan.
Place the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Brown the butter until the milk solids are a dark chocolate brown and the butter smells nutty – but you don’t want black and burnt. Pour into a shallow bowl and chill in the freezer until just congealed, 15-20 minutes.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt (and spices if using).
Beat the cooled brown butter, light brown sugar, and caster sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well, and then the vanilla extract.
Stir in the flour mixture at low speed until just combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan. Smooth the top with a rubber spatula. Bake until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife along the edge and invert right-side-up onto a cooling rack to cool completely.

Instant Banana Ice Cream

3 bananas
150g yoghurt
1 tbsp honey, glucose or golden syrup

Method
Ahead of time, peel the bananas and cut them into rough chunks. Place in a plastic bag and freeze them until solid.
Place the chunks of frozen banana in a food processor and blitz to break the bananas into smaller pieces. Add the yoghurt and honey/syrup and blitz again until smooth and creamy. (Adding the syrup helps prevent ice crystals from forming during freezing).
Eat straight away or spread the mixture into a clingfilm lined pan the same size as your cake, if making petit fours and freeze until firm.

Assembly of Ice Cream Petit Fours

Line a 9inch/23cm pan with clingfilm, so that no sides of the pan are exposed and there is some extra plastic wrap hanging off the sides.
Take the brown butter pound cake and level the top with a serrated knife if needed. Then cut the cake in half horizontally to form two thin layers. Place one of these layers into the base of the lined pan.
Remove the ice cream from the freezer, lift it out of the pan with the help of the cling film and place it on top of the base layer of cake. Top with the second layer of cake, wrap well in clingfilm and return to the freezer overnight.
Make the chocolate glaze (your own recipe or see below)
While the glaze cools, remove the ice cream cake from the freezer and use a sharp knife to cut it into 4cm squares. You can trim the edges first if needed.
Place the ice cream cake squares on tray lined with a sheet of greaseproof to help clean up later.
Glaze the petit fours one at a time by dipping/coating them in the chocolate glaze. Use a spoon or fork to help you. Place a petit four on the tines of a fork and spoon chocolate glaze over it.
Place the petit fours on the greaseproof lined tray and freezer for an hour. Allow to st at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe Provided
250ml whole milk
A pinch of salt
165g caster sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise or 2tsp vanilla extract
500ml double cream
5 large egg yolks
1-3 tsp vanilla extract (see method)
Method
1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams. Scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean and add to the milk, along with the bean pod. Cover, remove from heat, and let infuse for an hour. (If you do not have a vanilla bean, simply heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a medium saucepan until the liquid steams, then let cool to room temperature.)
2. Set up an ice bath by placing a 2 litre bowl inside a large bowl partially filled with water and ice. Put a strainer on top of the smaller bowl and pour in the cream.
3. In another bowl, lightly beat the egg yolks together. Reheat the milk in the medium saucepan until warmed, and then gradually pour a quarter of the warmed milk into the yolks, constantly whisking to keep the eggs from scrambling. Once the yolks are warmed, scrape the yolk and milk mixture back into the saucepan of warmed milk and cook over low heat. Stir constantly and scrape the bottom with a spatula until the mixture thickens into a custard which thinly coats the back of the spatula.
4. Strain the custard into the cream and stir the mixture until cooled. Add the vanilla extract (1 tsp if you are using a vanilla bean or 3 tsp if you are not using a vanilla bean) and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, preferably overnight.
5. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze in an ice cream maker. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, you can make it without a machine. Click to see instructions from David Lebovitz.

Chocolate Glaze Recipe Provided
250g dark chocolate, finely chopped
250ml double cream
1½ tbsp light corn syrup/golden syrup
2 tsp vanilla extract
Method
Stir the cream and syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and add the dark chocolate. Let sit 30 seconds, then stir to completely melt the chocolate. Stir in the vanilla and let cool until tepid before glazing the petit fours.

Banana & Caramel Cheeseless Yoghurt Cheesecake

This cheeseless cheesecake was a bit of an experiment. I was eating some very thick Total Greek yoghurt and thinking how it was so lusciously thick and creamy that it was almost the texture of cream cheese. I then began to wonder whether it could be used in a recipe in place of cream cheese and naturally my first through for a cream cheese rich recipe was cheesecake.

I decided that if I was going to experiment with a cheeseless cheesecake then I didn’t want it to be your run of the mill cheesecake. I had three ripe bananas sitting on the side so decided to incorporate them into the cheesecake along with some dulce de leche caramel to make a sort of banoffee style dessert. I spread the caramel on top of the biscuit base, topped this off with slices of banana and then poured over the yoghurty topping which I’d flavoured with lots of mashed banana and a little cinnamon and finally a few more blobs of caramel.

The Greek yoghurt behaved well in the mixing of the dessert and I put it into the oven with hopes that it would bake and set, although I admit I was a little doubtful it wouldn’t collapse and try and seep out the tin or just remain liquid. However, I needn’t have worried as it baked perfectly. I took it out when it was lightly golden and puffy around the edges and still retained a gentle wobble in the centre. It levelled off into a perfectly smooth surface as it cooled. I loved how the extra little blobs of caramel were peeping out here and there, I could hardly wait for its overnight chill in the fridge before tasting it.

I can safely say the taste was worth the wait. It cut into perfect creamy slices and had a wonderful texture, creamy and thick as with all cheesecakes, but someone lighter. The biscuit base had remained firm and crunchy thanks to its covering of caramel and the slices of banana added a nice texture contrast to the mashed banana in the filling and the crisp base. There was a slight hint of cinnamon which complemented the other flavours wonderfully without being obviously cinnamony. Delicious.

I hadn’t told my family what I was doing and after serving them all slices and watching them gobble it up they couldn’t believe it when I told them there was no cream cheese involved. Its taste is so indulgent and satisfying that you would never guess it was made with Greek yoghurt. Even using the full fat Greek yoghurt there is only 130kcal and 10g fat per 100g compared to the cream cheese which has 240kcal and 23g fat per 100g – that’s nearly double the calories and nearly 2.5 times more fat compared to the yoghurt!! So next time you fancy a rich and creamy indulgent cheesecake why not try reaching for the Greek yoghurt instead of the cream cheese? I know I’ve been converted!

Banana & Caramel Cheeseless Yoghurt Cheesecake
(An Apple & Spice recipe creation)

Ingredients
190g digestive biscuits
75g butter
500g full fat Greek yoghurt (I used Total)
50g caster sugar
2 eggs
2 tbsp cornflour
50ml double cream
1 tsp cinnamon
3 bananas
½ tin (180g) dulce de leche caramel

Method
Preheat the oven to 180C. Have a 7inch/18cm deep springform tin to hand.
Crush the digestive biscuits until they resemble fine breadcrumbs. Melt the butter and stir in the crushed biscuits and mix until they are well coated. Press the mixture into the base of the tin and place in the fridge to chill for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, cut two of the bananas into 5mm thick slices and warm the dulce de leche slightly in the microwave to make it more spreadable – it does not need to be hot or runny.
Remove the base from the fridge and spread over the dulce de leche. Cover with a layer of sliced bananas and return to the fridge while you prepare the topping.
Mix the sugar and cornflour together and place into a large bowl. Add the yoghurt and cream and beat until combined.
Mash the remaining banana and any leftover banana slices until very mushy. Add to the yoghurt mix along with the cinnamon and eggs. Beat well until everything is well combined – it won’t go completely smooth because of the banana.
Pour the yoghurt banana mixture over the top of the chilled base. Blob a few spoonfuls of the dulce de leche on top and swirl into the mix.
Place the tin on a baking tray and bake for 50-55 minutes. The cheesecake will have puffed up and turned lightly golden around the edges. It should still have a little wobbly in the centre when gently shaken, but not actually be liquid.
Allow to cool completely in the tin before refrigerating for at least 4 hours or preferably overnight before serving.
To serve, run a sharp knife around the edge of the tin and release from the ring.
Serves 8-10

Daring Bakers July 2010: Chocolate, Raspberry & Hazelnut Swiss Roll 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.

Just reading about this challenge bought a smile to my face. Here was a dessert that I had been meaning to attempt for ages but had been putting off in favour of some easier desserts. As it was this month’s challenge, I knew it was time to take the whisk by the handle and get baking.

When reading the recipe I felt a little uneasy as it consisted of so many components. We had to make a Swiss roll filled with cream and frozen, two different flavours of ice cream, layered inside the Swiss roll slices and around a hidden fudge centre – yikes!

I was most nervous about the ice cream components as I don’t have an ice cream maker and have tried making ice cream by the home freezing, stirring, freezing process before with limited success. However, I soon discovered that this recipe didn’t require the egg based ice cream variety, but relied on freezing flavoured cream to produce the ice cream which is much better behaved for home freezers.

We were provided with recipes for chocolate Swiss roll, chocolate and vanilla ice creams and a chocolate fudge centre, all of which had to be made from scratch. However, we were allowed to choose our own flavour combinations which was great as I love coming up with different flavour combinations.

I decided to stick with the chocolate Swiss roll as the outside layer, as I loved the colour contrast between the chocolate sponge and the white cream filling. My first ice cream flavour choice was raspberry as I have recently found a bottle of pure raspberry syrup which is so intensely raspberry that I knew it would go wonderfully with the chocolate.

To complement both the chocolate and raspberry flavours I decided to make my second ice cream hazelnut. I achieved this by added chopped roasted hazelnuts to a vanilla ice cream base. I also stirred in some Frangelico (an amazing hazelnut liqueur). The resulting ice cream was divine! Silky smooth and creamy, unsurprisingly due to the cream but with the slight crunch from the nibs of toasted hazelnut and the liqueur flooded your senses with hazelnut flavour – just gorgeous. The main thing to take note of is that by adding the alcohol, the ice cream will not set completely solid, which is great for eating but rather tricky when trying to layer it into a dessert!

Finally I stuck with the chocolate fudge centre as both my ice creams where quite pale in colour and I wanted the hidden centre to really stand out and add a wow factor when the finished cake was cut into. The fudgy sauce itself was delicious, so thick and glossy, I bet it would be great drizzled warm over profiteroles.

Making all the components and assembling the cake took time, especially the hourly mixings of the ice creams while they were freezing, but none of it was too tricky and I was able to complete the dish from start to finish in one day. I had plenty of time to get on with my other jobs in-between and the results were definitely worth the effort.

The dessert looked yummy when I unmolded it. The swirls of Swiss roll making it look quite elegant with little streaks of the pink raspberry ice cream peeking out between the gaps. I cut into it using a knife, unsure what to expect but the results were far better than I had hoped!

WOW! I loved how it turned out. The Swiss roll outer layer gave the edge a two toned stripy effect that reminded me of a zebra. Just inside this was the pale pink raspberry ice cream with the paler nutty hazelnut ice cream at the base. The centre of chocolate fudge came out perfectly formed – I’ve no idea how that happened as it sort of sunk into the ice cream when I added it. Magic! I loved how it really stood out against the ice cream layers and yet tied in with the chocolate sponge edge. It really added a wow factor.

How did it taste? Only one word needed – Divine! Silky smooth and creamy, fruity and nutty with the occasionally crunch texture from the chopped hazelnuts. The Swiss roll had stayed surprisingly soft and the fudge centre was rich and sticky.

Yes it is completely cream and calorie laden but for a dessert this good I don’t care! Just what you need on a hot summer day and it’s sure to impress any guests you might have over for a BBQ. Thanks Sunita for choosing such a fabulous dessert. Click to see the Daring Bakers blogroll.

Chocolate, Raspberry & Hazelnut Swiss Roll Ice Cream Cake
(Inspired by the recipe of the same name from the Taste of Home website)

Chocolate Swiss Roll
3 eggs
110g caster sugar
25g plain flour
20g natural unsweetened cocoa powder
15ml boiling water
A little oil for brushing the pans
For the filling-
250ml whipping cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
30g icing sugar

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C. Brush a Swiss roll tin (11x9 inches) with a little oil and line with greaseproof baking paper.
In a large mixing bowl, add the eggs and sugar and beat till very thick, about 10 minutes. When the beaters are lifted, it should leave a trail on the surface.
Mix the flour and cocoa powder together and sift it over the whisked egg mixture, in three batches and fold in gently with a spatula, making sure to reach down to the base and around the sides. Finally fold in the hot water.
Spread the mixture into the baking pans and spread it out evenly.
Bake for about 10-12 minutes or till the centre is springy to the touch. It will still be quite soft and squishy due to the nature of the cake.
Spread a tea towel on the counter and sprinkle a little caster sugar over it. Flip the cake out of the pan and onto the tea towel. Carefully peel off the greaseproof paper and leave the cake to cool.
Starting from one of the longer sides, start to make a roll with the towel rolled inside. Leave until cool.

To make the Filling
In a large bowl, add the cream, vanilla and icing sugar. Beat until quite thick.
Unroll the cake from the tea towel and spread it evenly with the cream, leaving a ½ inch border around the edge to allow for spreading when re-rolled.
Roll the cake up again, using the towel to help you but don’t roll the towel into the sponge. Transfer the roll to a sheet of clingfilm and wrap it up well. Transfer the roll to a plate or tray and place in the fridge to chill until firm.

Raspberry Ice Cream

300ml whipping cream
½ tsp vanilla extract
55g caster sugar
3 tbsp raspberry syrup/coulis

Method
In a mixing bowl, add the cream, vanilla and sugar mixture and whisk lightly till everything is blended together. Add the raspberry syrup or coulis and mix in well.
Pour into a freezer friendly container (I used a small tupperware box) and freeze till firm around the edges, about an hour. Remove from the freezer, mix well so it all becomes incorporated and smooth. Return to the freezer for a further hour before repeating the process. It may need a third hour depending on your freezer and container used. (You could use an ice cream maker if you are lucky enough to have one).

Hazelnut Ice Cream

250ml whipping cream
30g caster sugar
1½ tbsp Frangelico (hazelnut liqueur)
25g roasted hazelnuts

Method
Chop the roasted hazelnuts until quite fine. Place the cream, sugar and Frangelico into a large bowl and beat until slightly thick. Add the chopped hazelnuts and fold in to mix.
Pour the mixture into another freezable container or ice cream maker. Freeze for an hour, stir it together again and freeze for another hour. Repeat until the mixture is very thick and nearly solid. (The added alcohol will prevent it from freezing completely solid)

Chocolate Fudge Sauce Centre

50g caster sugar
10g natural unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp cornflour
170ml water
7g butter
½ tsp vanilla extract

Method
In a small saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cocoa powder and cornflour until no lumps are visible. Slowly whisk in the water until combined and to prevent lumps from forming.
Place the pan over the heat and stir constantly until it begins to thicken, about 2 minutes.
Remove from heat, beat in the butter and vanilla and set aside to cool.

Assembly

Line a pudding basin or deep bowl with a large sheet of clingfilm.
Cut the Swiss roll into 10-12 equal slices, approximately 2cms each. Arrange two slices at the bottom of the bowl, with their seam sides facing each other. Arrange the Swiss roll slices up the sides of the bowl, right to the top. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and freeze until the slices are firm, about 30 minutes.
Take your nearly frozen raspberry ice cream out of the freezer and spread it over the base and up the sides of the Swiss roll lined bowl.
Cover the bowl with clingfilm and freeze until firm, about 1 hour.
Once set, add the cooled fudge sauce over the raspberry ice cream, in the base only, not up the sides. Return to the freezer for another hour.
Soften the hazelnut ice cream (if needed) and spread it over the fudge sauce, filling the bowl completely to the top in line with the top of the Swiss roll slices. Cover with clingfilm and freeze for at least 4-5 hours until completely firm and well set.

To Serve
Remove the bowl from the freezer and place a serving plate on top. Turn it upside down and remove the bowl with the help of the clingfilm. If the bowl does not come away easily, wipe the outsides of the bowl with a kitchen towel dampened with hot water and try again.
Leave the cake for 10 minutes to soften slightly and then cut slices using a sharp knife, warmed by dipping it in hot water first.
Eat and enjoy. Serves 6-8