If you’re searching for a no-fuss, showstopping dessert idea, look no further than your freezer. An ice cream bombe, or bombe glacée if you’d like to honor the dish’s French-y roots, is an icy spectacle made by layering ice cream or sherbet in a mold, then freezing and unmolding it to be a graphic ice cream cake of sorts. It’s a fancy retro treat that’s easy to recreate at home and perfect for large-format summer entertaining. Customize these ideas by swapping in difference ice cream and/or sherbet flavors, if you’d like.
Photo: Courtesy of Erin Phraner.
Striped Sherbet Bombe
Serves: 10-12
Ingredients:
3 cups lemon sherbet, softened
3 cups orange sherbet, softened
3 cups raspberry sherbet, softened
1 cup fresh raspberries
Advertisem*ntADVERTIsem*nT
Pack the lemon sherbet into a 6 to 10-cup pan* using an offset spatula; smooth the top in an even layer. Transfer pan to the freezer; freeze 30 minutes or until sherbet is firm. Place orange sherbet on top and freeze at least another 30 minutes and then again for raspberry layer. Freeze for an addition 2 hours or until very hard.
Place raspberries on a rimmed baking sheet and freeze 30 minutes or until icy.
To un-mold sherbet, dip the pan up to the rim in warm water and invert onto a flat plate or cake stand (tap the top to release, if needed). Garnish with the frozen raspberries.
*We used an 8-inch brioche pan to give this colorblocked bombe its fabulous fluted appearance. Don’t have a brioche pan? A Bundt pan will work just as well (or a deep bowl, if you’re really in a pinch). Remember: A 6-cup Bundt pan will make a tall bombe; a 10-cup Bundt pan will make one that’s wider and shorter.
Photo: Courtesy of Erin Phraner.
Mocha Ice Cream Bombe
Chocolate lovers, this one’s for you! We layered dark chocolate and coffee ice cream to create the nested look of this super-rich bombe, then cloaked the whole thing in our version of Magic Shell. Skip the coffee ice cream and go for another layer of chocolate if you’d like to be a purist (just pick one that’s a different color — maybe milk or white chocolate).
Ingredients:
2 to 3 pints dark chocolate ice cream, softened
1 to 2 pints coffee ice cream, softened
1 (12-oz.) bag bittersweet chocolate chips
1 stick salted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup vegetable oil, plus more for brushing
Shaved chocolate and/or finely ground coffee beans, for sprinkling
Advertisem*ntADVERTIsem*nT
Freeze an 8-inch bowl until very cold; brush with vegetable oil and line with plastic wrap, leaving a 3-inch overhang. Put the chocolate ice cream in the bowl and pack it tightly using a spatula. Freeze 30 minutes or until ice cream is hard.
Spread the coffee ice cream in the hole and on top of the chocolate ice cream. Freeze at least 2 hours or until hard.
Put the chocolate chips, butter and vegetable oil in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave for 30 second intervals for 1 to 2 minutes or until melted and combined, stirring as you go; let cool slightly. Invert the bombe onto a parchment-lined baking sheet; remove the plastic wrap. Spread the chocolate sauce over the bombe to coat. Freeze 15 minutes or until set completely. Transfer to platter and sprinkle with shaved chocolate and/or finely grated coffee beans, if desired.
Photo: Courtesy of Erin Phraner.
Strawberry Shortcake Baked Alaska
We combined strawberry and vanilla ice cream to recreate the flavors of strawberry shortcake in this old-school frozen dessert. We used store-bought pound cake for our base but, if you’re fancy, by all means make a cake from scratch.
Ingredients:
1 pound cake, cut into 1-inch-thick slices
2 pints strawberry ice cream, softened
2 pints vanilla ice cream, softened
4 large egg whites
1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 granulated sugar
Cut the pound cake slices into 3-inch rounds using a circle-shaped cookie cutter. Arrange on a parchment-lined baking sheet; set aside.
Using a spatula, pack strawberry ice cream into a round ice cream scoop (about 3-inch diameter) to fill half way. Pack the remaining space with vanilla ice cream; press and release onto a cake round to make a small domed baked Alaska shape. Repeat with remaining ice cream and cake rounds. Freeze at least 2 hour or until hard.
Advertisem*ntADVERTIsem*nT
To make meringue topping, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with a mixer fitted with the whisk attachment on medium-high speed until foamy. Gradually beat in the sugar, one tablespoon at a time. Increase the mixer speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form, about 5 minutes.
Remove the tray of cakes from the freeze and cover each completely with the meringue, swirling with the back of a spoon. Freeze at least 3 more hours.
Preheat the oven to 500˚. Bake the cakes until the meringue peaks are golden, about 4 minutes.
