LAVENDER HONEY ICE CREAM AND DEVIL'S FOOD CAKE

Ice cream cake makes everyone happy, always. I know this because even at the offices I have worked at in the past, ice cream cake was not the default, but the unequivocal choice. Carly, who was then a story editor at the production company I interned at, shares her birthday with me. And as the days dwindled down to June 18th, I began to wonder if I should bring something special in. At this point in my internship, it became expected that at least twice a week I would bring in a baked good that I had prepared that morning. I got into arguments with an exec there, who would try to get me to confess that these treats were not my own, and that I had bought them and was trying to pass them off as mine just to get him on my good side. “No dice,” I would reply. “Oh yeah? Then how did you get this wrapper on this muffin?”

Needless to say, the men in this office were not domestically inclined (though really really cool).

As the 18th grew closer I asked Carly what her favorite kind of cake was (I kept my fingers crossed for Devil’s Food Cake with Seven Minute Frosting), instead she winked conspiratorially, “We do something special for birthdays.”

Hmmmm….with my curiosity piqued I began to wonder what this meant: piñatas? Body shots? Kidnapping me at 6 am and taking me to IHOP for a birthday breakfast in my pajamas? The waiting killed me.

A creative executive unsubtley asked if I was allergic to nuts. “Uhhh…no?” When the conversation ended abruptly there, with no follow-up as to how she was allergic to nuts, or offering me a peanut, or something to explain the randomness of this question, I figured something birthday-related was afoot.

And when the big day arrived, a delicious, coffee-heath-bar-caramel-laden ice cream cake was devoured as quickly and unceremoniously as if a pack of sugar-deprived, chubby fingered fifth graders had gotten to it. Even the top executive had a little melted ice cream drip off his slacks. These were my kind of people. I couldn’t think of a better place to work for eight months for free. Ah, melty-ice cream colored memories of the way we were…

So, as a sort of homage to those ice cream cake days, here’s my “grown up” version, with Lavender-Honey Ice Cream (which does not taste like a soap bar, you unbelievers) and Devil’s Food Cake. The whole thing is covered in dark chocolate ganache and decorated with candied violets and pansies. Enjoy!

For Ice Cream:

1 tablespoon dried lavender
1 tablespoon honey
½ cup sugar
2 egg yolks
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk

Over medium heat, bring 1 cup of heavy cream, lavender, sugar, and honey to a simmer. Separately, beat the two egg yolks lightly in a medium sized bowl. If you want, strain the cream mixture to remove the lavender flowers. Add a 1/4 cup of the simmered cream mixture to the egg yolks and mix. This is to temper the eggs and prevent them from curdling when added to the whole mixture. Add a bit more and mix, then add the entire egg mixture to the simmered cream. Stir with a whisk until the mixture forms a thin custard, about 5 to 10 minutes (or it reaches about 175 on a thermometer). Take off heat and add the remaining milk and heavy cream. Stir, then chill in the fridge.

Once the mixture is completely chilled, add the milk and stir in. Add the mixture to your ice cream machine and chill accordingly.

For Devil’s Food Cake:

4 oz butter
2 oz squares unsweetened chocolate
2 cups white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup water
2¼ cups all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease two 9 inch round pans.

Melt the butter with the chocolate. Set aside to cool slightly.

Cream together the sugar and the eggs until a pale yellow. Add the chocolate mixture to the eggs by pouring it in slowly while beating at medium speed. This is to ensure s smooth mixture, rather than scrambling the eggs. Add 1 cup warm water and blend well. Don't worry the mixture is supposed to be very liquid.

Whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt. Add this mixture to the chocolate mixture and blend well.

Mix together the vinegar and the milk and stir into the chocolate batter. It sounds weird but it curdles the milk slightly and gives it an extremely moist, rich texture. Pour into prepared pans.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

For Ganache:

4 oz bitter-sweet chocolate
1/3 cup heavy cream

Directions:

Over a double boiler, melt the chocolate then add the cream in 3 batches, so as to fully incorporate it. Set aside to cool.

For Candied Flowers:
1 egg white, plus a teaspoon of water
1 cup superfine sugar

Edible flowers, washed and dried

Directions:

If you plan on eating them, buy organic flowers. Otherwise, you can do what I did and sketchily steal a handful of pansies from a neighbor's yard.

With a small paint brush, paint the petals of the flowers, front and back, with the egg white mixture. Sprinkle the flower with superfine sugar, coating the entire surface, and set aside on a wire rack. Continue process with all of the flowers. Cover with plastic wrap and allow to set over night (or for 12 hours). Use to decorate.

Directions for Assembly:
Once the cakes are completely cool, place one in a springform pan and cover with a 1 ½ inch layer of ice cream. Add the second layer of cake, plus an additional 1 ½ inch layer of ice cream. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until completely hard. When hard remove the cake from the freezer and cover with the cooled ganache. If the cake starts to melt, pop it in the freezer for a few minutes, and then continue. Decorate with candied flowers. Enjoy!