The lovely and talented food bloggers Helen & Billie of Mia Kouppa have done it again with their holiday dessert recipe and have kindly let us share it with you all!
Mia Kouppa: We can barely contain our excitement! It was during one of our recent phone conversations, which tend to cover everything from what we’re watching on Netflix to why we are wired to love bread as much as we do, that we came up with the idea for a melomakarona ice cream cake. This recipe came to us as we were talking about our melomakarona cheesecake, and we were wondering if we could ever create another dessert to rival that one! We were so excited by the possibility of this ice cream cake that the next day we baked up a huge batch of frozen tyropitakia to make space in our freezer, bought the ice cream, and set to recipe developing.
Incredible melomakarona ice cream cake with chocolate fudge and whipped cream topping
Believe it or not, this is the first ice cream cake that either of us has ever made. We love ice cream cake, but always imagined it to be too complicated to make. How wrong we were! So long as you use store-bought ice cream, (which we did), making this melomakarona ice cream cake is pretty simple. All you need are the melomakarona, some time, and patience to ensure that you allow the cake to freeze well enough to serve. Oh, and freezer space. You need that too!
What are the ingredients of ice cream cake?
Recipes will of course vary, but for our melomakarona ice cream cake you will need:
Melomakarona
Butter
Ice cream
Whipping cream
Chocolate chips
Corn syrup
Powdered sugar
Does ice cream cake have actual cake in it?
Some recipes definitely do, but our melomakarona ice cream cake uses crumbled melomakarona cookies instead of cake.
How to make melomakarona
If you come from a Greek family, or have Greek neighbours, friends or co-workers, chances are you have enough melomakarona in your house to make this ice cream cake. Melomakarona are a traditional Greek honey soaked cookie that are made at Christmas time. They are absolutely delicious and it really isn’t the holidays without them. You will need 20 melomakarona to make this ice cream cake, and they should already be honey soaked and topped with nuts (and sesame seeds like ours are).
If you don’t have melomakarona handy to make this ice cream cake, you have few options:
Find yourself a Greek family that still have plenty of melomakarona and ask for some.
Visit a Greek bakery and purchase them.
Use our recipe to make a batch of melomakarona; you can easily half the recipe if desired. Trust us, this dessert is good enough to warrant making the cookies just to be able to make the ice cream cake! Find our melomakarona recipe here.
What ice cream is best for ice cream cake?
When cooking with wine, you should always use wine that you would be happy to drink. Same with making an ice cream cake; use ice cream that you would be happy to eat a plain bowl of. For this ice cream cake you will need plain vanilla ice cream that you will soften for about 10 minutes before mixing with some crumbled up melomakarona.
How long does it take to freeze an ice cream cake?
We suggest that you allow your ice cream cake to freeze for at least 6 hours before serving it, and longer is of course fine. Cover it loosely with plastic wrap while in your freezer, and thaw it for about 10 minutes before serving.
How long can ice cream cake be stored?
Ice cream cake is best when stored well covered and eaten within 4 – 5 days. It will still be fine after that, but the repeated thawing and refreezing (if you are eating a bit at a time) can lead to some freezer burn.
The best pan to use for an ice cream cake
Most definitely it is a springform pan! The ring release on a spring form pan allows you to easily serve and then refreeze the cake after you cut the pieces you need.
Melomakarona Ice Cream Cake
Melomakarona Ice Cream Cake Recipe
An incredible melomakarona ice cream cake with chocolate fudge and whipped cream topping.
Prep Time 40 mins
Cook Time10 mins
Freezing time 6 hrs
Total Time 6 hrs 30 mins
Course: Dessert
Servings: 12 servings
Author: Mia Kouppa
Equipment
9 inch springform pan
2 large pieces of aluminum foil
Blender or food processor
Stand mixer
Whisk
Ingredients
20 melomakarona cookies, divided See Recipe Notes
¼ cup (60 grams) melted butter, unsalted
270 grams milk chocolate chips
3 tbsp (45 mL) light corn syrup
2 liters vanilla ice cream
1 ½ cups (375 mL) whipping cream, divided
1 tbsp (8 grams) icing sugar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare your springform pan by brushing some melted butter across the bottom.
Place 7 melomakarona into your blender or food processor and blend until you end up with a fine crumb. Transfer to a bowl and add in the ¼ cup (60 grams) melted butter. Use a fork to mix well and then transfer to your springform pan. Press down with the back of a spoon or your hands until you have a smooth cake bottom.
Bake the crust in the middle rack of your oven for 8 – 10 minutes, then allow to cool completely. You can place your springform pan in the freezer to speed up the cooling process.
About 10 minutes before you need it, set the ice cream out to soften.
Cut 2 large pieces of aluminum foil, larger than the bottom of the spring form pan. Wrap the outside of your pan tightly so that the seam between your pan bottom and the pan ring is completely and securely covered with foil. This is simply to prevent any ice cream which begins to melt as you are assembling your ice cream cake from leaking through the seam.
Place an additional 7 melomakarona into your blender or food process and blend until you end up with a fine crumb. Set aside.
Prepare the chocolate fudge layer: Place your chocolate chips and corn syrup in a heat proof bowl. Set aside. In a small pot, heat ½ cup (125 mL) of whipping cream until it just begins to boil then pour it over the chocolate chips. Allow to sit for 2 – 3 minutes and then whisk until smooth.
Break 4 melomakarona into chunks and add them to the bowl of your stand mixer along with the ice cream. Beat on low speed until smooth.
Transfer ½ of the ice cream mixture to your springform pan. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula.
Sprinkle the prepared melomakarona crumb over the top of the ice cream, covering the surface entirely. Press the melomakarona crumb slightly into the ice cream. Then, carefully pour the chocolate fudge over the top of the crumb and spread to coat evenly.
Top with the remaining ice cream. Smooth out the top and transfer to freezer immediately.
Whip the remaining cream (1 cup or 250 mL) and the icing sugar together until stiff peaks form. Remove the ice cream cake from the freezer and use a piping bag to decorate the top of your cake with whipped cream, and the remaining melomakarona.
Return your ice cream cake to the freezer and allow it to freeze completely for at least 6 hours before serving.
To serve, allow cake to thaw at room temperature for about 5 – 10 minutes before cutting pieces. Return any uneaten cake to the freezer.