I love mine with sponge cake homemade and I make a semi homemade Italian Spumoni Ice cream. Broiled meringue on top gives it a unique elegant flavor for this dessert.
Sponge Cake and Spumoni
You can use any type of cake you want here- this recipe is more a basic rule of thumb to make this style
dessert and the sky is the limit, whatever your heart desires!
I've used homemade sponge cake, store-bought pound cake, leftover slices of cupcakes without frosting!
Anything, any flavor, but it needs to be at least 1/2" thick. You can also use any flavors of ice cream to experiment, my favorite combinations are pistachio ice cream with chocolate cake and meringue.
Instructions:
Purchase a half gallon of store-bought favorite flavor ice cream.
Buy or make your favorite kind of cake in a loaf that will be easy to cut. ( For instance, using a 13x9 cake pan to bake in.) A loaf style should be cut in half first.
Slice your choice of cake into at least 1/2-inch thick slices using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut pound cake into 6 individual portions and place on or a parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Store-bought pound cake can be used or homemade sponge cake recipe click here
Place a large scoop of spumoni or your favorite ice cream on top of each cutout cake round. Freeze cake and ice cream until very hard, at least 1 hour.
While the ice cream freezes, make your meringue:
6 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
3 tablespoons sugar
Preheat the oven to broil and place a rack 8 inches from the top of the oven.
Beat with a mixer, using the whip attachment, on medium speed, beat together the egg whites and cream of tartar to soft peaks. Add the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Whip until the meringue has reached stiff peaks.
Remove the ice cream rounds from the freezer. Place cake ice cream mounds in ramekins or leave on cookie sheet. Quickly spread the meringue evenly over the ice cream, covering completely.
Place in the broiler and broil just until tops are browned about 2 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately.
A very easy simple but elegant dessert....enjoy!
Spumoni Ice cream Semi-Homemade
3 cups pistachio ice cream, softened
3 cups vanilla (or cherry vanilla) ice cream, softened
1 cup maraschino cherries, chopped
1/3 cup sliced almonds, chopped
2 tablespoons cherry brandy
1 teaspoon almond extract
A few specks pink food coloring
3 cups chocolate ice cream, softened
Line 9- by 5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap. Place a 12- by 8-inch piece of parchment paper into the pan, letting sides overhang the edges. Spread pistachio ice cream into a pan and smooth the top. Freeze until semi-frozen, about 20 minutes.
Stir vanilla ice cream, chopped cherries, almonds, brandy, and almond extract until combined. Stir in food coloring (if using) to desired shade of pink. Spread over pistachio ice cream. Freeze for 30 minutes, or until semi-firm.
Spread chocolate ice cream over cherry ice cream and smooth top. Wrap and freeze until completely solid, 3 to 4 hours. Remove from pan, remove wrap, and slice with a hot, wet, knife.