Brownie Espresso Ice Cream Cake

For the ice cream:
In a medium saucepan, combine milk, heavy cream, half of the sugar and the salt. Bring mixture to a simmer and stir and heat until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.

Whisk egg yolks and remaining half of the sugar in a medium bowl until pale, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in half of the warm cream mixture, mix until blended. Stir yolk mixture into the remaining cream mixture that’s still in the saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat a wooden spoon, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Strain custard into another medium bowl. Equally divide the custard into two bowls. Mix the vanilla into one bowl and the espresso powder into the other. Let both bowls cool by placing them in a large bowl of ice water, or chill in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally.

Separately process both flavours of custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer each mixture into an airtight container and place in the freezer to chill, at least 4 hours. (I made the vanilla ice cream the day before. Then I put the cleaned ice cream maker bowl back into the freezer to chill, and churned the espresso ice cream the day I assembled the cake.)

For the brownie base:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease an 8-inch spring form pan, and line bottom with parchment paper.

Melt butter and chocolate in a bowl set over a pot of simmering water (make sure the bowl doesn’t touch the water; or use a double boiler if you have one). Remove the melted mixture from heat and stir in sugar, vanilla and salt. Add eggs one at a time, whisk until well combined. Stir in flour and whisk until mixture is smooth.

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smooth the top and bake for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes up with some moist crumbs, but no wet batter. Remove from oven and set dish on a rack Let it cool completely.

Remove the outside of the spring from pan, slice the brownie round horizontally to level the brownie. Put the outside of the spring form pan back in place. Reserve the brownie crumbs and top.

If you make the ice cream the day before, you need to remove the espresso ice cream from the freezer to let it soften. Otherwise, churn your espresso custard in the ice cream maker, and spread the softened espresso ice cream mixture over the brownie base. Place the pan in the freezer to firm up, at least 30 minutes.

Remove vanilla ice cream from the freezer to let it soften. Fold in the brownie crumbs. Spread the vanilla ice cream over the firm espresso ice cream layer. Place pan back in freezer to chill.

For the ganache:
Place the chocolate, heavy cream and corn syrup in a medium heatproof bowl over a pot of simmering water. Stir the mixture using a wooden spoon until melted and smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove bowl from heat. Let it cool to room temperature. If it starts to set, microwave 5 to 10 seconds to make it pourable.

Remove cakes from the freezer. Place a hot towel around the outside of the spring form for 30 seconds. Release the ring of the spring form pan.

Pour the ganache over the top of the cake. Use an offset spatula to gently but quickly push the ganache over the sides of the cake to create the dripping effect.

Store in the freezer. Before serving, leave the cake at room temperature for 10 minutes for easy slicing.