Christmas Cassata Ice Cream Bombe

/ December 25, 2014

Let’s be honest: Christmas pudding is not everybody’s first choice for dessert. But it just looks amazing, sitting there in its sheer indulgence – a traditional English Christmas on one plate. Let’s keep the looks, I thought, and work on the flavour and texture …

Cassata ice cream bomb 1 For my fusion-ice bomb I went all Italian: cassata ice cream bombs hail from Sicily, and they are in themselves a twist on the traditional cassata cake. In keeping with the dark surface of the pudding, I started with a layer of dark chocolate ice cream, followed by a layer of the traditional pistachio ice cream. For the centre, I created a cassata ice cream out of custard ice cream with a hint of vanilla, adding mixed peel soaked in Amaretto. That’s as Christmassy as it gets. I used three pyrex bowls (14, 16 and 21cm diameter) to make a 2l bombe that will – hopefully – feed a crowd. You need at least two days to prepare this dish, or more if you are using an ice cream machine where the bowl has to be frozen for 18 hours or more beforehand. My machine comes with two bowls, which I can freeze and use alternatively.Cassata ice cream bomb open 1 The chocolate ice cream and the pistachio mix need to develop their flavour – prepare the mix the day before and leave it in the fridge overnight before moving it into the ice cream machine. I soaked the peel in the amaretto overnight, too. Fill the chocolate ice cream into the largest bowl, then put the middle-sized bowl on top of the mix and push it down until the chocolate ice cream is level with the rim of the two bowls. Cover with cling film and freeze for around 2 hours.Ice cream bombe chocolate layer When the pistachio ice cream is in the ice cream machine, remove the inner bowl by filling it with hot water. Once you have removed it, even out the surface of the hollow and pop it back into the freezer until the ice cream is ready. Simply fill the finished ice cream into the hollow and place the smallest bowl inside, pressing it down until the surface is level. Freeze and repeat for the cassata ice cream in the middle. Each layer needs around 3 hours to settle before you can fill in the next, but in order to create very neat lines I suggest you remove the inner bowl, even out the surface and let it freeze for half an hour before adding the next layer.Cassata ice cream bomb For the Christmas pudding decoration I used whipped cream, still a little soft, which I poured over the top where it froze. A few leaves of holly and some frozen red currants later, I had my fake Christmas pudding bomb:Cassata ice cream bomb detail Needless to say, for a non-christmas bomb I would have used some chopped pistachios and mixed peels instead of the holly and berries. If I have lost you half way through these instructions, don’t dismiss it altogether: each of the following ice cream flavours is a work of art in itself: easy to make and even easier to eat on its own. Just add a cone.

Chocolate Ice Cream

  • 4 egg yolks
  • 25g icing sugar
  • 125g dark chocolate (70%), broken up into small pieces
  • 1 tbs cocoa powder
  • 250ml milk
  • 250ml whipping cream
  • 80g caster sugar

Heat the milk and cream until it is beginning to simmer; remove from the hob. Whisk the egg yolks and icing sugar until white and creamy (an electric whisk will come in very handy). Add it into the hot milk-cream mix, together with the remaining sugar and the chocolate, and keep whisking. Once the chocolate is dissolved, place the pot into a large bowl filled with cold water and keep whisking. Once it is cold, cover and place in the fridge overnight. Whisk it for a few minutes before filling it into your ice cream maker.

Pistachio Ice Cream (after Linda Tubby)

  • 160g pistachio nuts,
  • 150g caster sugar
  • 350ml milk
  • 350ml whipping cream

Heat the oven to 200C and place the pistachio nuts on a flat tray. Roast for 10 minutes, regularly shaking the tray to turn the nuts. Leave them to cool a little and enjoy the glorious scent. If you like your pistachio ice cream with bits, keep some nuts aside to add at the end. Heat the milk and the cream over a medium heat until it begins to simmer; remove from the hob. In a food processor, grind the pistachios with the sugar to a fine powder.Add some of the milk and keep grinding. Keep adding and grinding until the milk has been used up. Pour the mix into a clean bowl and leave to macerate, ideally overnight, in the fridge. If you want your pistachio gelato completely smooth you can press it through a fine-meshed sieve before filling the mix into your ice cream machine. Otherwise add any remaining pistachios (coarsely chopped) and follow the instructions of your machine.

Make sure no ice cream is wasted!

Make sure no ice cream is wasted!

Cassata Ice Cream (using Linda Tubby‘s Custard Ice Cream recipe)

  • 200g mixed peel
  • 50g dried berries
  • 2cl Amaretto (an almond liqueur, sweet and slightly bitter, to give it a little je ne sais quoi …)
  • 300ml whipping cream
  • 700ml milk
  • 8 egg yolks
  • 180g caster sugar
  • 20g vanilla sugar
  • 3 tbs dried milk powder

Chop the mixed peel and the dried berries very finely, add the alcohol and leave overnight in a closed container. Heat the milk and the cream over a medium heat until it begins to simmer; remove from the hob. Whisk the egg yolks and the sugar until white and creamy (an electric whisk will come in very handy). Add it into the hot milk-cream mix and keep whisking. Place the pot into a large bowl filled with cold water and keep whisking until it has fully cooled down.

Add the peel and the berries and place the mix into the fridge – as it contains alcohol it will need to be very cold before you put it into the ice cream machine. But even then you will need to keep it in the freezer for a few hours before serving it.Cassata ice cream bomb open 2
Cassata ice cream bomb 2Have a very Merry Christmas! 

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38 thoughts on “Christmas Cassata Ice Cream Bombe”

  10. It’s absolutely stunning and to a fellow ice cream lover it does look like the PERFECT Christmas dessert! Absolutely marking it for next year! YUM!!!!

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    • It was available in Germany when I was little, you could order it and it came in a round mould which you had to bring back after you were finished! The fashion now is for the more American style ice cream, frozen yoghurt with sprinkles and the likes. The cassata ice cream itself was a revelation, but the bombe was a real hit 😉

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  13. I absolutely love cassata cake and your version is stunning, Ginger! Mmm… the “twist” on a classic, the flavors the beauty… this cake has it all. Lovely. 🙂

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  14. Cassata- I don’t believe it! Like you, I have best memories from my childhood- and then it vanished totally. Since a few years back my favorite sicilian restaurant here serves Cassata, very very good indeed- but I bet your bomb will beat it!

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    • Lucky you – we have so few Italian ice cream parlours here! We used to go to an ice cream parlour just across from the station in Schorndorf, but I just can’t remember the name. It was such a highlight of my childhood 🙂

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  16. Pingback: Latte Macchiato Ice Cream | Ginger&Bread

  17. Haha I’m going reaaaally slowly backwards through my Bloglovin’ feed… this looks amazing!! I’d never heard of these before Christmas Day, when my mum stuck one on the table alongside a *proper* Christmas pudding (which I am really, very much not a fan of). She used bought ice cream (as ever, I am seriously impressed by your commitment to making every last bit of everything from scratch!) but it was absolutely delicious. Although the chocolate outer bit was really thick and rather hard work to crack!!

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  18. Hey!
    UH-MAZING! I love it! ❤ I think this will be my favorite recipe from your page from now on! I will definitely make it for my boyfriend's birthday in June (he'd never betray me – unless it's because of ice cream:-D)! He will think I am a godess and all because of you and your recipe!
    Can't keep my mouth shut looking at the pictures – genius!

    Have a baketastic baking day,
    Your Backdirndl
    https://backdirndl4you.wordpress.com/

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