Southern Bombe

Another one of the cookbooks I purchased recently was SprinkleBakes by Heather Baird.  I came across Heather’s blog when I was looking for red recipes to use up the extra food colouring purchased for My Best Friend’s Wedding Cake and I made the Red Spiral Biscuits, also featured in the book.

As I was flicking through the book when it arrived, one particular recipe stood out and I knew I had the perfect occasion to make it.  The recipe was for a Southern Bombe and the occasion was yet another September birthday celebration for two of my beautiful friends.

This is somewhat of a take on a Bombe Alaska, minus the meringue, with a red velvet roulade filled with mascarpone cheese, lined with sweetened whipped cream and a centre of creamy ice cream and chocolate ganache.  Honestly, how could I not make it?

This birthday dinner was on a Saturday night, and as I had to make the checker board cake for Sunday lunch, I started making this from Wednesday night.  First up was the buttermilk ice cream.

When a little show by the name of MasterChef started a few years ago, I came home one afternoon and hubby had a picture of the ice cream makers used on the show and emphasised how much we needed one.  We had clearly fallen for their marketing ploys as the ice cream maker was the first of many MasterChef inspired purchases in our house.

Since then, I have made ice cream a couple of times but have never been 100% happy with the result (mainly texture wise rather than flavour).  The ice cream for the Southern Bombe is a buttermilk ice cream and I got to the end and wasn’t really keen on the flavour.  Obviously the buttermilk was the main factor and I didn’t really like the “tang” to it.  Nonetheless I kept the ice cream to try with the other components before getting rid of it completely.

The next part I made was the red velvet cake on Friday night.  In hindsight, I should have either left this to the Saturday morning, or filled it on Friday night as there was a lot of cracking the cake which I think could have been prevented by not leaving it so long before filling it with the mascarpone.

First step is to whisk the eggs for 5 minutes until they are nice and fluffy.

Slowly add the sugar and then the oil and whisk well until combined.  Next add the buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla and red food colouring.  Switch to the paddle attachment and beat in the sifted sifted flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt, taking care not to deflate the eggs.

Pour the mixture into a lined swiss roll pan and bake for 15 minutes until cooked through.

In the meantime, sprinkle a clean tea towel with icing sugar.  Once the cake is cooked, immediately turn the cake onto the tea towel, remove the baking paper and roll the cake up within the tea towel to form its shape.  Leave to cool on a cooling rack, seam side down.

Saturday morning was full steam ahead and I started by making the mascarpone cheese filling.  The recipe didn’t call for mascarpone exactly just your standard cream cheese but I am not really a fan of “Philadelphia Cream Cheese” so opted for mascarpone instead.  This meant, I also removed the additional butter the recipe called for.

Beat the mascarpone, icing sugar and vanilla extract until well combined and the icing sugar has dissolved.

Unwrap the cake from the tea towel and place onto some baking paper.  Gently spread the mascarpone filling onto the cake between 1/2 and 1cm thick.  You may have some mascarpone left over so may I suggest Mancakes for breakfast?

Carefully roll the cake back up (this is the stage where mine cracked and came apart – better luck next time), wrap in cling wrap and put in the fridge until later.

Next I made the chocolate ganache by placing the broken up chocolate in a heat proof bowl, heating the cream to just below boiling point and then pouring it over the chocolate.  After about one minute, I stirred the chocolate and cream together until smooth and glossy.  This was set aside to cool.

For the sweetened whipped cream, simply whisk the cream until soft peaks form and then add the sugar and continue to whisk until it dissolves and stiff peaks are formed.

Now it was time to start the assembly.  Unwrap the roulade and slice off one of the ends to make it tidy.  Continue to cut slices between 1.5 and 2cm thick.

Line a large bowl with cling wrap and then place the slices of roulade on the inside of the bowl as close together as possible.  Once all the slices are done, and do not worry about the uneven finish at the top of the bowl as that will be dealt with later, spread the sweetened whipped cream to fill any gaps and provide a barrier to the ice cream.

Place the bowl in the freezer to firm up and remove the ice cream at the same time to allow it to soften.  I did test the buttermilk ice cream again with some of the cake but I still didn’t like the flavour so decided against using it in the dessert.  Instead I went for some store bought vanilla ice cream, Connoisseur to be precise (just quietly, it is the yummiest ice cream in my opinion especially their cookies and cream).

Once softened, remove the bowl from the freezer and spoon the ice cream into the bombe, leaving enough room for the ganache.  Put it back in the freezer for a few hours to set.

Transfer the ganache into the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk the ganache until it has at least doubled in volume.

Remove the bowl from the freezer and spread the ganache on the top.  Trim the excess cake to make all slices level for a neat finish.

Return to the freezer for a final 30 minutes.

To serve, turn the bombe out onto a platter or cake stand and carefully remove the cling wrap.  If you have some excess sweetened whipped cream you can do some piping in any gaps or along the bottom.  I must say I wasn’t that enthusiastic.

Allow the cake to sit for 10 minutes to soften before slicing.

You can serve it with more (yes more) whipped cream or as is.

One thing I will look at for next time is the chocolate ganache layer.  Although it was nice, it was a bit too hard after it was frozen so I might look at making it with my chocolate mousse next time, provided it isn’t too soft for it or just some chocolate ice cream.

Empty bowls… the sign of a good dessert!

Print Recipe

Southern Bombe

Adapted from the recipe in Sprinklebakes by Heather Baird

Course

Dessert

Servings

Ingredients

Red Velvet Cake

• 4 egg(s)
• 3/4 cup caster sugar
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp buttermilk
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp red food colouring
• 3/4 cup cake flour sifted
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• icing sugar for rolling the cake

Mascarpone Filling

• 375 g mascarpone cheese softened
• 1 cup icing sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Ice Cream

• 1 litre vanilla ice cream

Sweetened Whipped Cream

• 1 1/2 cups pure cream
• 3/4 cup caster sugar

Whipped Chocolate Ganache

• 255 g chocolate
• 1 cup pure cream

Course Dessert Servings Ingredients Red Velvet Cake 4 egg(s) 3/4 cup caster sugar 1 tbsp vegetable oil 2 tbsp buttermilk 1 tsp apple cider vinegar 1 tsp vanilla extract 2 tbsp red food colouring 3/4 cup cake flour sifted 1/4 cup cocoa powder 1 tsp baking powder icing sugar for rolling the cake Mascarpone Filling 375 g mascarpone cheese softened 1 cup icing sugar 1 tsp vanilla extract Ice Cream 1 litre vanilla ice cream Sweetened Whipped Cream 1 1/2 cups pure cream 3/4 cup caster sugar Whipped Chocolate Ganache 255 g chocolate 1 cup pure cream

Instructions

Red Velvet Cake

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Line a swiss roll pan with baking paper and spray with cooking oil.
2. In a stand mixer, whisk the eggs for 5 minutes (guided by a timer).
3. Add the sugar slowly, followed by the oil and whisk well. Add the remaining liquid ingredients (buttermilk, vinegar, vanilla extract and red food colouring), and whisk to combine.
4. Change to the paddle attachment.
5. Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt together and add to the liquid ingredients. Beat until well combined and you have a runny batter.
6. Pour the batter into the lined swiss roll pan and bake for 15 minutes, or until done.
7. Sprinkle a clean tea towel with icing sugar.
8. Once the cake is cooked, turn it out onto the clean tea towel and remove the baking paper. For a large roulade, roll the cake from the narrow end into the tea towl. For smaller slices, roll the cake from the longest side. Once rolled, place the cake on a cake rack to cool, seam side down.

Mascarpone Filling

1. Beat the mascarpone cheese, icing sugar and vanilla until the sugar has dissolved.
2. Carefully unroll the cake and transfer to a sheet of baking paper. Evenly spread the filling across the surface of the cake.
3. Using the baking paper, re-roll the cake to create the roulade. Cover in cling wrap and put in the fridge.

Sweetened Whipped Cream

1. Whisk the cream until soft peaks are formed then gradually add the sugar.
2. Continue to whisk until the sugar has dissolved and stiff peaks are formed.
3. Set aside, in the refrigerator, until ready to use.

Whipped Chocolate Ganache

1. Break up the chocolate into small pieces in a heat proof bowl.
2. Heat the cream in a small saucepan over a medium heat until it is just about to boil.
3. Pour the cream over the chocolate and let it sit for one minute.
4. When the chocolate has softened, whisk until smooth.
5. Set aside to cool slightly, but not set.
6. Transfer the ganache to the bowl of a stand mixer and whisk on a high speed until considerably lighter (approximately 5 minutes).

Assembly

1. Line a large mixing bowl with cling wrap, ensuring there is an overhang over the sides of the bowl for easy removal of the bombe.
2. Unwrap the roulade and cut slices between 1.5 and 2cm in width.
3. Line the bowl with the slices as close together as possible.
4. Cover the slices with the sweetened whipped cream, ensuring all gaps are filled.
5. Remove the ice cream from the freezer and place the bowl in the freezer for 30 minutes.
6. Once the ice cream has softened, remove the cake from the freezer and spoon the ice cream into the bowl, smoothing the top with a spatula.
7. Place the bowl back into the freezer for 2-4 hours to refreeze the ice cream.
8. Spread the whipped chocolate ganache on top, trim the excess cake away and put back in the freezer for another 30 minutes.
9. To serve, turn the cake out onto a cake stand or large platter. If desired, use any leftover sweetened whipped cream to pipe additional decorations onto the plate or any gaps on the outside of the cake. Cut into slices and serve.