The party is over, and the cake was a success!
For his birthday this year, Derek planned "Epic Meat Time" - a bunch of guys, each bringing some kind of meat to share, hanging out at our place. It was pretty spectacular; our counters were lined with everything from homemade jerky, to pulled pork, to chicken satay, to steaks the size of my head. And they ate it all! Crazy.
I usually make Derek an ice cream cake, and I decided this year to put my new ice cream maker to good use. In honour of the party, I put together a maple-bacon ice cream cake, with a pecan crust and maple caramel drizzled over the top, sprinkled with candied bacon. I figured that even if it was a little more weird than delicious, it was worth the contribution to the party.
I started with a pecan crust (I used the Joy of Cooking recipe), and then scooped David Lebovitz's candied bacon ice cream for the first layer, pressing it into the pan and smoothing it with a spatula. I was pleasantly surprised by this recipe; the base is amazing enough to stand as its own ice cream recipe, and the candied bacon really complements the brown sugar and cinnamon-rum flavours. It's not my personal favourite, but Derek loves it.
I let the first layer set in the freezer for about an hour and then added the maple ice cream (also by David Lebovitz). It'd really like to try this with walnuts; maple walnut is one of my favourite flavours, and this is a lovely maple ice cream. I had just churned it today, so I let this layer chill a little bit longer, about 2 hours, before removing the cake from the springform pan.
Usually I make ice cream cakes DQ-style, with an oreo crust and a filling of oreo crumbs and chewy hot fudge filling. I didn't want to overpower the flavours and textures for this cake, so I decided to just drizzle the top with a maple caramel sauce and garnish with candied bacon. The first batch of the caramel sauce thickened really quickly and went grainy, so I made a second batch, reducing the cooking time, adding a tiny bit of light corn syrup to keep it smooth, and making sure not to stir too much or scrape out the pot at the end.
By the way, if you haven't had the good fortune to experience the goodness of candied bacon, it is magical. You take nice, thick bacon and sprinkle it with brown sugar, and put it in the oven, and it goes from this:
to this! I wasn't sure this would be a good idea - candy and meat? - but trust me, this is delicious:
The end result doesn't look spectacular, but it went fast! Derek says it threw a hush over the room as everyone ate. There is one piece left in the freezer for Derek to enjoy tomorrow. Happy birthday, love!
3 comments:
Did you get a picture of it sliced? I'm curious to see the inside! What an interesting idea. I never would've thought bacon in ice cream or a cake. :)
You are the best wife in the world. Seriously. If something (God forbid) ever happens to Marc and Derek, will you be my back up? ;)
Audrey - I wasn't there when they served it, and none of the guys thought to take a picture!
Leah - I will make you a cake anytime. :)
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