New Year’s Eve dinner parties at the mansion last for two days. The first night is a joyful gathering between close friends. Everyone is on their best behavior. 12 grown-ups and few kids dining like royalty. Come next afternoon, things get ugly. The vultures are back at the table for a leftover lunch party. No plates, no silverware, no rules, no mercy. The first pair of claws grabs the drumstick. The weak are left with scraps of stuffing and maybe a few slices of carrots. They eat at the kids table with their head down.
So, jokes aside, what is the perfect dessert that will feed this group for two days? In our case, it was a double batch of Toblerone milk chocolate ice cream bombe sitting on top of a pistachio brownie, covered with a quarter pound of chopped pistachios. Also known as “The Ice Cream Bombe Cake”!
Now, first some snapshots from the party and then we will go into the details of the ice cream bombe cake!
ICE CREAM BOMBE CAKE ASSEMBLY:
ICE CREAM BOMBE CAKE
Ingredients
- 2 – 2.5 quarts of milk chocolate ice cream (recipe below)
- Pistachio brownie (recipe below)
- 1/4 pound pistachios, chopped roughly (unsalted, shelled & skinned)
Method
- Prepare the milk chocolate ice cream according to the recipe below and pour into a 4-quart mixing bowl. Cover with parchment paper (press it firmly on the top layer) and then cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer.
- Prepare the pistachio brownie according to the recipe below. When the brownie reaches room temperature, take the ice cream out of the freezer, uncover and let stand at room temperature until the top melts a bit. Place the brownie upside down (shave the sides to fit as necessary) press firmly, cover with plastic wrap and chill in the freezer for 2 more hours.
- An hour before serving, pour in hot water in a mixing bowl that is larger than your ice cream bowl and place the bowl in the hot water for 10-15 seconds. Run a knife around the edge of the brownie and unmold over a serving platter. Cover with roughly-chopped pistachios, cover loosely with aluminum foil and return to the freezer for another hour.
Toblerone Milk Chocolate Ice Cream Recipe
(recipe adapted from Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz)
Ingredients
Yields 2 – 2.5 quarts. Feel free to halve the recipe as this is a double batch.
- 17 ounces milk chocolate (I used Toblerone)
- 4 cups heavy cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1+1/3 cups granulated sugar
- 7 egg yolks
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 ounces pistachios (unsalted, shelled & skinned)
Method
- Melt chocolate and cream over a baine-marie.
- In a small pot over medium heat, stir milk and sugar just until the sugar dissolves.
- In a medium pot, whisk together egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the yolks while whisking constantly. Place over medium heat, add cornstarch and stir until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.
- Pour the custard through a strainer into the milk chocolate mixture, add the vanilla extract and the pistachios and stir until cool over an ice bath.
- Chill the mixture thoroughly (I did overnight), then freeze it in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (If you don’t own an ice cream machine, here’s how to prepare ice cream without one).
PISTACHIO BROWNIE
Yields one 9-inch round brownie
Ingredients
- 10 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped
- 1 stick (1/2 cup) of butter
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup (5 oz) hazelnuts, blanched & toasted
- 1/2 cup (2.5 oz) pistachios (unsalted, shelled & skinned)
- 3 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
Method
- Center a rack in the oven and preheat your oven to 350F.
- Line the bottom of a 9-inch round pan with parchment paper, butter the sides of the pan and set aside.
- Place the toasted hazelnuts into a food processor and process until finely ground.
- Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl over simmering water and let cool for 5 minutes.
- Add sugar and whisk until combined.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and whisk until combined.
- Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Fold in flour, followed by ground hazelnuts and salt.
- Pour the mixture into the baking pan, sprinkle pistachio over the top and bake for 35 minutes.
- Let cool to room temperature.
- To remove, run a blunt knife between the brownie and sides of the pan.
can I come to next years do?!
WOW. What a beautiful cake. Your pictures (and your pooch) are just so lovely! Happy new year to you!
+Jessie
a.k.a. The Hungry Mouse
Amazing food and amazing ice cream bomb cake!
Ralph is beautiful!
Absolutely gorgeous presentation, all of it (including Ralph!). I’m looking forward to the pomegranate sorbet post!
Looks like quite a feast and a wonderful way to celebrate the new year!
What do I need to do to get an invitation next year?!
wow that looks fantastic and like an awful lot of work. but after stalking your blog a bit, i cant figure out what this mansion is! you work or live at a mansion?? when i hear mansion i think of an NBC daytime drama where the whole town lives in an incestuous mansion up on the hill until the grandfather gets murdered! …or something along those lines 🙂
What a great looking dessert!
Glad I could help : )
I love to read your posts! what a delightful way to end the day!
OMG! You’re photos are so lovely… Wish I were there! I must say, I really admire you! Bonne Année….. Leesa
Looks like an amazing feast!
Beautiful pictures and fantastic food!
about muffins – I really think muffins and cupcakes is the same :))
You should auction off an invitation to next year’s party! I’d pay not a small amount to snuggle with that pooch myself.
Wow Cenk as the statement eat dessert first, this is lovely sweet bomb is right to do it!
Perfect photos and I wish You a Fantastic Year!
Gera .:. sweetsfoods
MsGourmet – Helen suggested that I hold an auction for next year’s party and I think she’s a genius. I’ll let you know once I finalize the details 🙂
Jessie – Thank you!
Meg – Thanks! Ralph says hi!
Heidi – Thank you! It’s coming up soon..
patsyk – With Ralph and David
Amanda – You need to win the auction! I think I’m going to be a rich man in 2010!
mallory elise – 🙂 I visit the mansion so very often that I feel like I live there, but I don’t. Here’s an introduction. Also, take a look at this category for Mansion related posts (most of them feature Ralph).
David – Everyone at the mansion says THANK YOU!
Joumana – Thank you.
Leesa – Glad you liked the photos. Bonne Année!
Verochka – Thanks!
helen – You are a genius!!! 1 more year before I get filthy rich (thanks to you).
What a spread! Happy new year to you and your family!
What an absolutely gorgeous spread. I can’t imagine being on the preparation *or* the receiving end of all that food! I hope I’ll have a reason some day to make that bombe.
(I have to know, though, where did those amazing napkins in the second picture come from?)
Wow…what an amazing spread! I especially love the dessert!
Nice looking cake! Thanks for sharing this great meal with us.
Greetings from Copenhagen
Cenk your New-year looks fantastic! You can never have to much Turkey 🙂
Your blog is truly inspiring and I love your mix of turkish/ mediteranean / american quisine!
Your Ice cream bomb cake is totally my taste! I do a similar bomb layered with a light chocolate sponge with a riccotta and whipcream filling with chopped chocolate and cherries covered with chocolate and slivered almonds!
Keep up your amazing bloog! It brightens up this horribly cold january.
* Fahad
What an amazing cake! Brownies, pistachios, and ice cream…perfect! I loved all your photos Cenk…lovely looking gathering 🙂 All the best in 2009!!!
What a wonderful feast!
Wow! That bomb looks da bomb! I can’t wait also for the recipe for your corn quiche in hashbrown crust, yum!
love looking at your posts! Your food looks delicious, especially this dessert. what a treat for this dreary winter day in Canada!Keep up the great work and all the best for2009.
Mrs Ergül, My Sweet & Saucy, Lucy, joey, Maya, mindy, rita – Thank you all!
Tina – They’re from Ikea. Hard to believe, huh?
Fahad Saeed – Thanks a lot for your nice words 🙂 A soup recipe is in the works. So I hope that warms your horribly cold January days.
I very very much enjoyed reading this post!!! It was so amusing, and as usual- you are great with words!! The flour / loukoum cookies are so intriguing. If I dont find a recipe for those, I will have to give it a guessing-go at home and experiment around a little!!
I enjoyed reading this post..nice pictures too..love the desserts especially the “ice cream bomb cake” it looks delicious..thanks for sharing it..
restaurant refrigeration
What a scrumptious meal! The bomb cake looks amazing!
This looks beautiful, Cenk. I plan on making la bombe! Also, I am dying to make Turkish Delight from scratch.
Do you have any recommendations on a Turkish cookbook or other resource that might have a good recipe?
Rachel – I have never tried making Turkish Delight from scratch. There is a recipe for it in Claire Clark’s book “Indulge“. Judging from other recipes I’ve tried from the book, I’m sure it’ll turn out great.
Your dog is so adorable & the food looks wonderful! Is your dog mixed at all?
Lili – It was my friends’ dog. 100% Golden. Unfortunately, he passed away a year ago.
Cenk sen Türk sün galiba 🙂 google bi resim aramasında buldum burayı, başarılar dilerim 🙂
As a food lover and baker at heart who has recently moved to Istanbul, Cenk’s blog has inspired me in the kitchen and the led me in the right direction in the city. One question though-where can I find real cream here-not the “krem” from a carton made with oil? So i can try this wonderful recipe and more…thanks!
Yasmine – Thanks! If you’re referring to heavy cream, you should buy krema, which has %35 milk fat. I prefer Pınar brand.