Fried Ice Cream Layer Cake

By vealam

This confection (from the bottom-up) begins with a moist cinnamon cake layer. It's topped with a layer of vanilla ice cream and both layers are coated in a generous amount of dulce de leche. Crushed cornflakes and brown sugar are "fried" in a skillet with butter for a crunchy coating. It's finished with drizzled honey, whipped cream and cherries on top, which is how it was always served at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Ingredients

• VANILLA ICE CREAM LAYER:
• 1/2 gallon prepared vanilla ice cream
• CINNAMON CAKE LAYER:
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup full fat vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 cup full fat sour cream
• 1/2 tablespoon ground (powdered) cinnamon
• TOPPINGS/ASSEMBLY:
• 3/4 cup (6 oz.) unsalted butter
• 1 cup (7 oz.) packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups (about 8 oz.) crushed corn flakes
• 13.4 oz. can dulce de leche
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 1/2 cups whipped cream
• 14-16 maraschino cherries

Preparation

Step 1

VANILLA ICE CREAM LAYER:
1. Allow ice cream to soften slightly at room temperature. Pour ice cream into a large bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer at medium speed until smooth and consistent. Visual cue: it should be very thick like a milkshake.
2. Line a 9x2-inch round cake pan with plastic wrap so that it overhangs all sides of the pan. Pour in vanilla ice cream and smooth with a rubber spatula. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap over the ice cream and transfer the pan to the freezer. Let chill until completely frozen, about 2 hours or overnight (preferred).
CINNAMON CAKE LAYER:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a 9-inch round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment.
2. Beat together sugar and butter until lightened. Add the eggs one at a time, then increase mixer speed to high for two minutes or until batter is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, salt, baking powder and soda; beat for another minute and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Stir together yogurt and sour cream in a small bowl. Beginning and ending with flour, alternately add the flour and yogurt mixture. Beat well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add cinnamon. Beat again briefly.
4. Spoon batter into the pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the cake springs back when pressed in the center. Let cake cool in the pan for 10 minutes; turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cover and transfer cake to the freezer; allow to chill until very firm about 1 hour.
TOPPINGS/ASSEMBLY:
1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir; raise heat to medium-high. Stir occasionally. When mixture begins to bubble add crushed cornflakes and salt. Mix/mash ingredients together using a spatula. Fry topping for 5-6 minutes until mixture is lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from heat and spread mixture on a large baking sheet to cool completely, 30 minutes to 1 hour.
2. Remove the cinnamon cake layer from the freezer and frost the edges with some of the dulce de leche. Holding the cake with a hand on each flat side, roll the edges of the cake in the fried topping until well covered. Place the cake on a serving platter and cover the top with more dulce de leche.
3. Remove the frozen ice cream layer from the freezer and unwrap. Now for the messy part – if you have food service plastic gloves, I suggest you put them on now, or use two zip-top bags to cover each hand. Pick up the disc of ice cream and roll the edges in the fried topping (as before with the cake, but do not coat the sides of the ice cream with dulce de leche yet); do this repeatedly until the edges are completely embedded with flakes. Place the ice cream layer on top of the cake layer. Use the remaining dulce de leche to frost the sides of the cake and the sides of the ice cream layer, filling in any gaps between the two (do not frost the top of the cake with dulce de leche). Hold the frosted cake (still on the serving plate) over the baking sheet of fried topping and press handfuls of the topping onto the sides of the cake.
4. Drizzle a little honey over the cake and press a handful of fried topping onto the top of the cake. Drizzle more honey and repeat with another handful of topping. Repeat until all the fried topping is heaped on top of the cake. End with a final drizzling of honey. The edge of the serving platter will most likely be covered in fried topping at this point, so brush away the excess and tidy around the edges of the plate with a damp paper towel.
5. Place whipped cream in a piping bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe rosettes of cream around the top edge of the cake. Top each rosette with a maraschino cherry.
6. Keep frozen until time to serve. Allow cake to soften slightly before slicing into pieces. Freeze leftovers.