Cherry Chocolate Ice Cream Bombe Cake

You will also need 3 pans: a 6-quart Dutch oven, a 4-quart sauce pan and a 2-quart saucepan. The pans should fit inside one another. Selecting compatible flavors of ice cream is important.

Place cherry ice cream in the refrigerator for 90 minutes. During that time, line the inside of the Dutch oven with plastic wrap.

When cherry ice cream is scoopable, spoon it out of the containers and fill the bottom of the Dutch oven. Even it out. Take the 4-quart saucepan and plunge it down into the ice cream until ice cream comes up the side of the saucepan. The saucepan should stick out above the Dutch oven by about 2 inches. Fold plastic wrap back over the saucepan, so no ice cream is exposed. Place Dutch oven in freezer. Allow ice cream to firm, which will be several hours. It can be left overnight.

About 90 minutes before the next step, place the chocolate ice cream in the refrigerator. When the choclate ice cream is spoonable, remove the bombe from the freezer. Open up plastic wrap. Remove the inner sauce pan by pouring about 2 inches of hot water into the bottom of the saucepan. Use the saucepan handle to twist it and remove it from the Dutch oven.

Spoon the softened chocolate ice cream into the ice cream cavity. Even out the surface of the chocolate ice cream. Plunge the 2-quart saucepan into the chocolate ice cream until it comes up around the sides of the saucepan, even with the frozen cherry layer. The saucepan should stick up about 2 inches over the top of the frozen molded ice cream. Use plastic wrap to cover over the exposed ice cream. Return the Dutch oven to the freezer. Leave the bombe in the freezer until it is firm.

When ice cream in the bombe is firm, place the last flavor ice cream in the refrigerator. Leave until it is spoonable, about 90 minutes. Remove the bombe from the freezer, and open up the plastic wrap. Pour about 1 to 2 inches of hot water into the saucepan. Grasp the saucepan handle and twist it to remove the saucepan from the bombe. Spoon in the French vanilla ice cream and mix with desired stir-ins. I used mini chocolate chipes, grated milk chocolate, dried cherries and chopped glace cherries. Mix them in. Add enough stir-ins so this ice cream is level with the other layers. This will make the bottom of the bombe smooth when it is removed from the Dutch oven. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until smooth.

Have a serving plate ready, one that is freezer safe. You can also use a 12-inch corrugated paper cake round with a waxed top for this. Before serving, remove the Dutch oven from the freezer and set it in about 2 inches of hot water. Pull on plastic wrap to see if it is loosening in the pan. When the wrap is mpoving a little, about 30 seconds, place plate over the bottom of the oven, and flip it over so the ice cream rests on the plate. Quickly remove the plastic wrap and smooth the outside of the bombe, so no lines from the plastic wrap remain. Return the bombe to the freezer.

Optional: Once the exterior is frozen, it can be decorated with buttercream icing if desired. Return the bombe to the freezer until serving time. After about 1/2 hour, cover the bombe with plastic wrap until serving.

To serve, remove bombe from freezer. Unwrap. Present at table (do birthday candles, etc.). Using a heavy knife, cut the bomnbe in half. Then cut one of the halves in half again. Cut slices from the 2 cut quarters, then freeze the remaining bombe. Pass the fudge sauce and whipping cream (a favorite with children), and the assorted sprinkles. Just a thought: If you serve the bombe with donut holes, you can offer your guests ‘”a piece of ice cream and a scoop of cake.”