Spumoni Ice Cream Princess Cake

Korena of Korena in the Kitchen was our May Daring Bakers’ host and she delighted us with this beautiful Swedish Prinsesstårta!

This month, I went way outside the box on the Daring Bakers challenge because I was pressed for time. The original princess cake is fabulous, but involves making sponge cake, custard, whipped cream and rolling marzipan before layering it all into a stunning dessert.  My half-witted Spumoni Princess Cake is made of [eggless] cherry speckled sugar cookie dough and is filled with pistachio ice cream, (but no...I didn't make the ice cream myself). 

I thought poured fondant was a great low maintenance idea for a topping, which as many of you probably know, was a risky plan because it goes on very warm and things got a little melty. So my pink layers of sorbet, cherry preserve, whipped cream and cookie dough got a bit muddled.  I was surprised to find that the cake took more than a day to freeze up properly for clean slicing.  It's likely that to freeze the cake for a couple days so it's really solid, then to pour the fondant would have been better...though I have no time to test the theory!

Not a bad tasting cake, though, my 12 year old did "innocently" point out that it looks like "the measles" with its gruesome flesh tone and red spots.  

Well...the idea is off to a good start! And here's some info about making ice cream cakes for you...

• This cake is built in a plastic lined bowl.  The outer dough is pressed by hand into the bowl, then the cake is filled layer by layer.
• It is necessary to freeze each layer before the next goes in or things get soupy and messy.  The photo at the top of the post shows that my layers are cracked and crooked because I filled them when the under layers were still soft.
• So, while it's easy to make an ice cream princess cake, it's also a bit of a waiting game.
• Don't do what I did and try to cover your barely frozen cake in warm poured fondant.  Either freeze it super solid before adding the fondant, or use something that won't melt the cake as it goes on (such as the rolled marzipan that Korena suggests).
• Plan for a full day or two in the freezer before it's ready to slice.

I ran out of poured fondant before I could get another layer on.  2 layers would have been nice because the finish would have been opaque white with less cookie dough showing through.  For an even better Princess Cake idea, you can find Korena's original challenge post here!

Spumoni Ice Cream Princess Cake

Cherry Chip Sugar Cookie Dough 
(egg-less for consuming raw)

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons milk or cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 tsp baking soda
8 maraschino cherries, minced

Cream together butter and sugar for 2 minutes on high using an electric mixer.  Add milk or cream and vanilla and beat for one minute more.  Add flour, cream of tartar and baking soda and mix on low until combined and crumbly.  Using a wooden spoon, stir in minced cherries.  The liquid from the cherries should bring the dough together.  Add a little milk if needed to bring it together.


Cake Assembly

Press half of the cookie dough 1/4 inch thick into a plastic lined bowl.  Fill the bowl half way full of softened pistachio ice cream.  Freeze solid.  Roll cookie dough between two floured sheets of parchment paper about 1/4 inch thick and press it in over the ice cream.  Layer cherry sorbet or cherry ice cream, whipped cream and cherry preserves, freezing between layers, until you reach the top of the bowl.  For one last layer, roll cookie dough between two floured sheets of parchment paper and cover the top of the bowl.  Trim edges and freeze solid for at least a day.    

Now, I had a heck of a time getting my cake out of the bowl.  I rubbed a warm cloth around the outside of the bowl and had to pry it out with the tip of an offset spatula.  Be sure to leave a lot of overhanging plastic so you can get a grip on it and yank it out of there.  Then carefully remove the plastic wrap.

I covered my cake in poured fondant, which is risky because it goes on warm (much warmer than I expected) and melts things up a bit.  Instead, maybe use store bought rolled marzipan or fondant.  Or make your own marzipan like Karina did!  Garnish your Spumoni Cake with whipped cream, crushed pistachios and maraschino cherries.


Here's the recipe for poured fondant, in case you want to use it on this cake, or another non-frozen treat...

Poured Fondant
From Sprinkle Bakes.

1/2 cup water
2 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup honey

Stir all ingredients together in a saucepan and over high heat. Insert a candy thermometer into the mixture and bring to a boil. Boil until the mixture reaches 238F (this doesn't take long at all). Immediately pour the syrup into a food processor fitted with a steel blade. 

Let mixture stand uncovered in the food processor until the temperature cools to 140F; about 25-30 minutes. Attach the lid and process for 5 minutes or until the liquid is pale and opaque. Immediately pour fondant over cupcakes or cake. Let stand until completely cooled.

Enjoy!