Welcome to How To Cook That I am Ann Reardon Today after 100's of requests, I've heard
you, we are going to make a Fault in Our Stars cake.
And this one is an ice cream cake and the great thing about that is you can make it
up to a month ahead and keep it in the freezer so there's no stress right before your party.
The first thing we are going to do is make a soft ganache, to do that melt together you
cream and chocolate, you can do that in a microwave or over a double boiler.
I am using a mix of milk and dark chocolate which is how I like my ganache.
For all the recipe quantities go to this weeks recipe blog post on howtocookthat.net there
is a link in the description just below this video.
Keep stirring it until is is silky smooth.
Then place that in a plastic bag, seal it and spread the ganache out so that it will
cool down quickly.
To make this even more delicious choose 6 of your favourite chocolate bars and chop
them into small pieces.
I am using mars, boost and caramello.
I know you get different chocolate bars all over the world so you choose what you have
where you are.
I must confess I haven't seen the Fault in Our Stars movie, I think it would make me
cry too much.
Both of my husbands parents died from cancer.
And one of my immediate family members has just gone through surgery and chemo this year,
but they're doing really well but I just don't want to put myself through that movie right
now.
If you have chosen sticky caramel chocolates, pull the pieces apart so you don't just have
one big blob.
And what do you think did you cry when you read the book?
Did you cry when you went to the movie?
It's pretty sad.
Anyway next we of course want some ice cream, you can make your won or you can just buy
a big tub but we are going to need it to be softened.
You can leave it out for hours or microwave on high for 30 seconds.
Take out all the softened bits and then microwave it again.
We don't want it completely liquid and melted we just want it softened.
Once you have 3/4 of the ice cream your bowl then add you chocolates and stir them through
well.
Now take a container the shape you want your ice cream cake to be, round and tall looks
best and then pour it all in.
Grab the ganache that we made earlier, cut the corner off the bag and squirt some in.
Use a spatula to gently fold it through, if you over-mix it here you'll get chocolate
ice-cream which is not what we're after you want streaks of ganache in your slices.
Add some more ganache then add some extra ice cream on top and fold it through.
Adding this extra ice-cream helps keep the cake softer so it is going to be easier to
cut at the end.
Repeat that adding enough ice-cream to get it right to the top.
If you want to here you can add brownie or cake base, but I am opting to keep it all
ice cream.
Smooth the base off and then put that in the freezer to firm up for at least 4 hours, overnight
would be ideal.
While it is in the freezer we can make the decoration to go on top.
You'll need to print out the book cover and cut out the clouds.
If you go to this weeks recipe blog post I've actually put a pdf in the size I am using
here so you can print it out from there.
To make our clouds roll out some black fondant and cut around the template.
As always i suggest you buy black fondant rather than trying to make it so you don't
end up with grey.
Now for the white cut around the cloud shape but don't cut the top the exact shape cut
it like it out like it's a full cloud.
And did you know that the Fault in our Stars author John Green is actually youtuber?
He runs the youtube channel vlogbrothers with his brother Hank.
"OK Hank I just did all of those press interviews and now I'm going to the movie, look, look,
look, look that's the movie.
The reviews have been amazing and according to rotten tomatoes 93% of people who've seen
it liked it so just real quickly.
Yeeeeehsss".
The two of them are also behind a bunch of other youtube channels and they also started
vidcon these guys are busy.
Now mark just above where the cloud edge is so you've got a guide to where it has to go.
Then add the black could back on top.
For the words put some black and white fondant into two bowls and mix each with a little
bit of water, now you are not going to need much here.
But you do need to squash it down using the back of the spoon and keep doing that so that
you can get the fondant to mix with the water and get out all the lumps, because you need
it totally smooth for piping.
Place it into a plastic bag and push it all into one corner and twist the top so it doesn't
spill out.
Then cut off a tiny corner and check you can pipe a nice line like this.
Then starting with the white pipe on the question mark.
"It's a good life Hazel Grace, okay?"
"Okay" [music]
Then the Y, A, K and of course O. And then repeat that without the question
mark in the black onto the white cloud.
Now just leave that uncovered at room temperature to firm up.
Fill you sink with hot tap water and place your ice cream container into it.
We just want to melt a small layer on the outside so that we can get it out of the container.
Place some foil on the bench to make it easier to clean up the mess and tip over your container.
You are going to need to use a knife to create a small channel on one side so the air can
get in, otherwise you've got a vacuum and you won't be able to get it out.
Let the melted ice cream drip off the sides and then transfer it onto your serving plate
and put it back in the freezer to firm up that outside layer again that will take at
least an hour.
Now to make our tifios blue whip together your cream and blue food colouring.
You can also add a little icing sugar to sweeten it if you like.
Things taste less sweet when they are frozen so keep that in mind and make it a little
sweeter than you're after.
You don't want to over-whip your cream if you do it will start to turn to butter and
go lumpy, so whip it until it is just soft but holds its shape.
Pile 3/4 of the cream on top and then spread it so it goes over the sides and then smooth
it around the sides.
You need to work as quickly as you can here obviously or your ice cream is going to melt.
And then place the ice cream back into the freezer for an hour or so, so that that layer
can firm up and put the remaining cream in the fridge.
It doesn't matter if it not exactly perfect at this stage because we are going to add
the extra cream and smooth it in a minute.
Now that's firm on the outside we can spread some of the extra cream like I said over the
top and get a nice smooth cake shape.
I am using an icing comb to put a pattern around the edge of the cake, and you do that
just by placing it on the side, resting it on the base of the plate and spinning the
plate around.
If you don't have one you can just use a knife to put a pattern or leave it smooth it is
up to you.
Take the rest of your cream and put it into a piping bag fitted with a star shaped tip
and pipe around the edge.
Just squeeze, stop and pull up, squeeze, stop and pull up and keep that going the whole
way around.
Repeat that around the top edge too so you have a nice defined circle.
Then you guessed it put it back in the freezer to firm up again.
On party day take the cake out of the freezer, peel the non-stick baking paper off the back
of the fondant and place your logo on the top of the ice-cream cake in the middle.
If you are making your ice cream cakes ahead of time then make sure once the cream has
firmed up that you double coat it in plastic wrap so that it doesn't dry out.
To cut an ice-cream cake you will need two sharp knives and a jug of hot water, and you
have the two so you can swap one into the hot water while you are cutting with the other.
Cut out a slice and then serve it up.
You get the ice-cream mixed with these really nice chunks of chocolate ganache and chocolate
bars mixed all through it, it's very rich and decadent.
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and desserts.
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Have a great week and I'll see you on Friday.
[music: The Boat Song by youtube.com/setsailtv used with permission]