Today's my hubby's birthday! Last year, we were in California for his birthday, where his mom had made a nice big chocolate cake to celebrate. Because we both miss her, and I know how much he LOVES chocolate cake, I put one together from scratch this weekend, as well as some of our homemade ice cream.I found the recipe for Hershey's "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake on line (here). I was a little nervous as I haven't make cake from scratch in a VERY long time. But the cake was amazingly moist, it was super easy to make, and they aren't kidding about "perfect" part either. We are SO making this one again!
The vanilla ice cream was a new recipe. The one we've used in the past was a no-cook option. This time, we wanted to see how the cooked version tasted. We used the recipe in the KitchenAid booklet that came along with our ice cream attachment. Basically, you heat 2-1/2 cups of half-n-half to almost boiling; set aside. Blend 1 c. of sugar and 8 egg yolks in the mixer until it starts to thicken, then slowly add the heated half-n-half and continue blending for a few minutes. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and while stirring constantly, bring it back up to almost boiling. Next pour the mixture into a large bowl, stir in 3 tsp of vanilla, 1/2 tsp of salt, and 2-1/2 c. heavy cream. We refrigerated it overnight to get the mixture nice and cold and then whipped it up with our super-cool, ultra-mega mixer the next morning.
So how does it compare to the no-cook option? It's definitely creamer but otherwise, the taste is very similar. I'm not sure if I could tell the difference unless they were side-by-side. Actually, that's not a bad idea.... Anyway, it's totally delicious, but we're not sure it's worth all the effort and an entire 8 egg yolks. I may need to have another few bowls to make a truly educated decision...
Then of course there's the amazing combination of homemade chocolate cake AND vanilla ice cream for the birthday boy's dessert. Mmmm! Was I really using boxed cake mixes all those years. Silly me!
Happy (perfectly chocolate) Birthday, Dave!
9 comments:
Happy Birthday to your hubby!
That cake & ice cream look absolutely divine! *salivating*
Happy birthday to your husband!
What a great birthday he must have had with homemade cake AND ice cream. I'd be a happy camper that's for sure. So if you are ever in the Mid-Missouri area with a baking jones...... ;-)
Nothing is better than cakes made from scratch. And they really aren't much more work, are they?
We're making ice cream for 4th of July with a borrowed ice cream maker. Though I do lust after your Kitchen Aid one. I'll have to come back and use your recipe.
I'm salivating too. The cake looks so delicious! And who can say no to icecream?
It really was easy and let's just say, I've been eating cake for dinner. Who needs balance? :)
This week is killing me! First, I needed my spoon for GB's jam and now I need a freakin' fork for this CAKE! Chocolate cake from scratch is my weakness and what a nice person you are for going to all that trouble.
I have a cuisinart icecream maker hiding in a box in my basement which I think I will break out this weekend, just because of that picture. It makes two kinds at a time (my mom gave it to me as a gift, she knows I have many mouths to feed!) so I can make two batches of ice cream. Thanks for the idea! I wonder if I can do an all-local ice cream???
Wow, that looks outstanding. Nice work.
whoa whoa whoa -- wait -- there's an ice cream attachment for the Kitchen Aid?
OMFG - I have to go find one!!!
eco 'burban mom - oh, yeah. Whip that puppy out and start cranking out that ice cream, girl! Yum! Cuisinart is such a good brand. I'll bet it makes wonderful ice cream!
ilex - thanks!
jennconspiracy - I totally cracked up when I saw your comment! Yep! There sure is an ice cream attachment. We just happened to borrow it from a friend a few months ago because he said it made ice cream and I wanted to try to do something homemade for another birthday party. After one try, we were totally hooked. In fact, everyone at the party raved about how good the ice cream was. Definitely worth looking into!
Post a Comment