Chocolate
Decadent chocolate cake layered with rich chocolate chip ice cream and drizzled with delicious chocolate fudge sauce.
Chocolate at its finest.
Details
Servings
8
Diffculty
Advanced
Time
Active Time
2 hours
Inactive Time
1 hour
Total Time
3 hours
Ingredients
Häagen-Dazs® Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
For chocolate cake:
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1-1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups cake flour
2/3 cup valrhona cocoa powder
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1-1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
For chocolate crumbs:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
1/3 cup valrhona cocoa powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
For fudge sauce:
1 ounce 72% chocolate
2 tablespoons valrhona cocoa powder
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup glucose
1/4 cup heavy cream
(In a pinch, substitute 2 tablespoons light corn syrup for glucose.)
Instructions
Prepare the Crust
Heat oven to 250F.
Melt butter: microwave 30-60 seconds on medium/low. Let cool.
Combine flour, cornstarch, valrhona cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a bowl.
Evenly mix all dry ingredients with a spoon. Add melted butter and stir until mixture is in small clusters.
Spread clusters on parchment or lined sheet pan and bake at 250F for 35 minutes. Crumbs will harden as they cool.
Prepare the Fudge Sauce
For fudge sauce: combine the chocolate, cocoa powder and salt in a medium mixing bowl. Set aside.
Combine sugar, glucose and heavy cream in a saucepan and bring the mixture to a boil over high heat.
The moment it boils, pour it into the bowl holding the chocolate. Let sit for a full minute before gently mixing with a whisk.
Increase the vigor of whisking every 30 seconds for 1-3 minutes.
Warm up in the microwave or gently on the stove before using for gelato cake.
Prepare the Cake
For chocolate cake: heat oven to 325F.
Combine cream, butter, and sugar in a stand mixer (medium to high) for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow.
Lower the mixing speed to add eggs, and then increase mixture speed to medium-high for 3 minutes until homogenous and fluffy.
There should be no streaks of fat or liquid.
Stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl.
On a low speed, stream in oil, buttermilk, and vanilla extract together. Increase mixer speed to medium-high and paddle for 3-5 minutes until mix is white in color.
Decrease to very low speed: add flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt. Mix 45-60 seconds. Mix for an additional 45 seconds on the same speed to scrape the sides of the bowl and hydrate any remaining lumps in the cake batter.
Build the Cake
Line a quarter sheet pan with cooking spray, and use a spatula to evenly spread the mixing bowl contents into the pan.
Give the bottom of your sheet pan a bang on the countertop to even out the layer.
Bake for 18-20 minutes. At 18 minutes, gently poke the edge of the cake with your finger. Leave the cake in the oven an extra two minutes if it doesn’t bounce off your finger.
Remove cake and cool.
Build the Cake Layers
Building the cake: put a piece of parchment or a silpat on the counter. Free the cake from the sheet pan, and peel off the baked-on parchment or silpat from the bottom.
Use the cake ring to stamp out two circles from the rectangular cake. Reserve them for your two top cake layers. The remaining cake scrap will become the bottom layer.
Layer 1, the bottom: clean the cake ring from stamping and place it in the center of a clean parchment or silpat-lined sheet pan.
Take one strip of acetate and line the inside of the cake ring.
Reserve the second strip of acetate to use halfway through the cake building process.
Use the back of your hand to tamp the scraps together into a flat, even layer – the base of your cake.
Use the back of a spoon to spread half of the apricot jam in an even layer over the cake. sprinkle half of the chocolate crumbs evenly across the top of the apricot jam.
Use the back of your hand to anchor them in place. use the back of a spoon to spread half of the Häagen-Dazs® Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream as evenly as possible over the chocolate crumbs. Note: temper your pint of gelato in the fridge for 20 minutes for an easy to spread consistency.
Layer 2, the middle: with your finger, gently tuck the second strip of acetate between the top 1/4 inch of the first strip of acetate and the cake ring, so that the second strip of acetate forms a clear ring 5- to 6-inch tall enough to support the total height of the finished cake.
Repeat Layer 1 using one of the cake rounds as the base.
Layer 3, the top: nestle the remaining cake round into the Häagen-Dazs® Chocolate Chocolate Chip Ice Cream of Layer 2.
Pour the fudge sauce (slightly warm) over the top layer of the cake to coat and cover for a glossy finish.
Transfer the sheet pan holding your assembled cake to the freezer. Freeze the cake for a minimum of 6 hours to set the cake and its fillings. The cake will keep in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.
When you are ready to serve the cake, pull the sheet pan out of the freezer. Using your fingers and thumbs, pop the cake out of the cake ring. Gently peel off the 2 pieces of acetate and transfer the cake to a platter or cake stand and let it defrost in the fridge for a minimum of 3 hours. Slice into wedges and serve.
Wrap well with plastic before refrigerating. The cake will stay fresh for up to 5 days.
