Chocolate-Banded Ice Cream Torte (TWD)

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie (TWD) recipe was chosen by Amy of Food, Family and Fun: the Chocolate-Banded Ice Cream Torte. Dorie calls it her version of a "grown up ice cream cake." It's layers of raspberry ice cream, sandwiched between rich and creamy chocolate ganache. To me, it's not so much an ice cream cake (which usually has actual cake layers in it), but more of a fancy way to serve ice cream with fudgey chocolate sauce.


I knew right away that I wanted to make mini tortes. I don't have mini springform pans, though, so I wasn't quite sure how. There were a few ideas I saw mentioned - lining a pan with plastic wrap or parchment, using paper baking molds, etc. In the end, I decided to use my molten chocolate cake specialty pan:


It was as close to a mini springform pan that I could get (and I'm always happen to find another use for it). My only other problem was that it only it makes 6 mini tortes and I knew I would need a few more because Dorie states her recipe yields eight servings. So I decided to use 8 ounce ceramic ramekins for the rest. Since my ramekins are shallow, I was only able to get 3 layers in those instead of 5. The presentation isn't as elegant in the ramekins, but it's still just as tasty :)


The recipe is rather simple. Puree some raspberries in your food processor. Then add a quart of your favorite vanilla ice cream and pulse until well combined. Layer with chocolate ganache, half of the ice cream, another layer of ganache, the rest of the ice cream, and follow with a final layer of ganache.


There's a lot of down time with this recipe while you're waiting for each layer to freeze, so you'll want to set aside several hours for it. The hardest part of this recipe for me was getting over my fear of raw eggs. The chocolate ganache has eight - yes eight - raw eggs in it! I suppose that if after 200+ TWD Bakers consumed this with no reports of death, it must be okay, right? ;) (If you're still fearful of using the raw eggs in this recipe, just get some pasteurized eggs.)


This torte is simple, yet elegant. It's perfect for entertaining because you can make it in advance (and it can be kept in the freezer for up to 1 month). Of course the possibilities are endless with this torte, as you can use any ice cream flavor you wish.

If you are going to make the mini tortes like I did, here are the measurements I used: the ganache layers were 1/8 cup each and the ice cream layers were 1/4 cup. For the ramekins, the ganache layers were 1/4 cup each and the ice cream layer was 1/2 cup. I probably won't go to the trouble of using a springform pan in the future, because I was perfectly happy with how these turned out in the ramekins.

Thanks again to Amy for choosing the Chocolate-Banded Ice Cream Torte. I'll definitely be making it again. If you would like the recipe for this torte, you can find it here on Amy's blog. Make sure you visit the TWD Blog Roll to see how everyone else enjoyed this lovely ice cream treat.

*Note: I made one change to this recipe - I used semisweet chocolate instead of bittersweet. For recipe tips, click here.