To celebrate our friend Badtz-Maru’s birthday month we're making a cookies n’ cream ice cream cake that you can share with your friends and family. If you’ve never had a homemade ice cream cake, you’re in for a sweet treat!
You can find more recipes like this from The Hello Kitty Baking Book: Recipes for Cookies, Cupcakes, Pies and More by Michele Chen Chock. Available online at Barnes and Noble: https://bit.ly/2VaJAZi
Now let’s get started!
Tips: Give yourself plenty of time to make this cake—the components need to be frozen overnight before assembly.
Ingredients:
Chocolate cake:
· 7/8 cups all-purpose flour 1 cups sugar
· 6 tbsp cups cocoa powder
· 1 tsp baking soda
· 1/2 tsp baking powder
· 1/2 tsp salt
· 1/4 cup whole milk
· 1⁄4 cup vegetable oil
· 1 eggs, room temperature 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
· 1⁄4 cup hot coffee 1⁄4 cup hot water
Cookies ’n’ cream ice cream:
· cookies ’n’ cream ice cream
· 3⁄4 cup sugar
· 4 egg yolks, room temperature
· 1 cup whole milk
· 2 cups heavy cream
· Pinch salt
· 8 chocolate wafer cookies, roughly chopped
Tips: If you don’t have an ice cream maker—or need a shortcut—use 4 to 5 cups of any flavor store-bought ice cream instead of homemade.
Frosting:
· 1 8-ounce package (1 cup) cream cheese, room temperature
· 1⁄2 cup sugar
· 2 tsp vanilla extract
· Pinch salt
· 2 cups heavy cream, cold
· 5 tbsp cocoa powder, sifted
· Black and yellow gel-based food coloring
Tips: You will need small and medium star piping tips (such as Wilton #16 and #21) and a small round piping tip (such as Wilton #2).
To make the cake:
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour an 8-inch round cake pan, or coat with baking spray. Line with parchment paper.
Sift flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. Whisk until combined. In another bowl, lightly whisk milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry in three batches, whisking after each. Add hot coffee and water and stir until combined, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.
Add batter into the 8-inch cake pan and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cake cool completely. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
To make the ice cream:
In a large bowl, whisk sugar and egg yolks until mixture is pale and creamy. In a medium saucepan, combine milk, heavy cream, and salt, warming over medium heat. Do not allow to boil.
While whisking the egg and sugar mixture, slowly ladle in the hot milk and cream mixture, a cup at a time. Then pour the entire mixture into the saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula. (Tip: Do not let the mixture come to a boil, which will curdle the eggs.) Keep stirring until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Strain mixture into a large glass bowl and let it come to room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and let custard chill in the refrigerator overnight.
Line 8-inch round cake pan with plastic wrap. Churn custard in an ice cream maker for 25 to 30 minutes, until it resembles soft-serve. Fold in the chopped chocolate wafer cookies. Pour the ice cream evenly into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with an offset spatula. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze overnight.
To make the frosting:
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and salt on medium-high speed until creamy. Reduce speed to low and slowly add heavy cream, mixing until incorporated, then increase speed to medium-high and mix until stiff peaks form. Place 1 cup of the frosting in the refrigerator. Add cocoa powder to the remaining frosting and whip on medium speed until incorporated, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Let's assemble the cake:
Unwrap the frozen cake layer and place on a cake board. Unwrap the frozen ice cream layer and place on top of the cake layer. Return to the freezer to harden for at least 1 hour.
Working as quickly as possible so that the ice cream doesn’t melt, cover top and sides of cake with chocolate frosting, smoothing it with an offset spatula.
Let's decorate the cake:
Fit a piping bag with a medium star tip and fill with chocolate frosting. Pipe a shell border on the top and bottom perimeter of the cake.
How to Pipe a Shell Boarder:
1. Fit piping bag with a star tip (such as Wilton #21). Squeeze bag hard to let the frosting fan out of the tip.
2. Lift the tip slightly up and away, then down, while gently releasing pressure to form a point. Stop squeezing and lift the tip away.
3. Start the next shell at the tail of the previous shell. Continue piping shells all the way around, stopping at the first shell.
Return cake to the freezer.
Transfer 1⁄2 cup of the 1 cup reserved white frosting to a small bowl and tint it with black food coloring (for Badtz-Maru face). Transfer another 1⁄4 cup of the reserved frosting to a bowl and tint it yellow (for Badtz-Maru beak). Leave the remaining 1⁄4 cup of reserved frosting white (for Badtz-Maru’s eyes). Fit three piping bags with couplers and fill each with one color of frosting.
Using a toothpick and a paper template (if desired), draw Badtz-Maru onto the top of the cake.
Tip: You can use this Badtz-Maru template.
Use black frosting and a small round tip to pipe the outline of the face, the black parts of the eyes, and the line of the beak. Use white frosting and a small round tip to outline and fill in the whites of the eyes. Use yellow frosting and a small round tip to outline and fill in the beak.
Switch to a small star tip and black frosting and fill in the face with stars.
How to Create Piping Stars:
1. Fit piping bag with a star tip (such as Wilton #16). Hold the piping bag perpendicular to the cake surface. Squeeze gently to force out the frosting.
2. Stop squeezing, then gently lift the piping bag straight up and away.
3. Continue piping stars next to one another to fill the entire area.
Freeze cake uncovered for up to 3 days. Let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.
This recipe makes one 8-inch ice cream cake.
Recipe from: The Hello Kitty Baking book: Recipes for Cookies, Cupcakes, Pies and More" By: Michele Chen Chock
