Looking for the ultimate party pud? Emelia Jackson’s retro ice-cream cake is the bombe
This showstopping summer celebration cake delivers plenty of bang but is much easier to make than it looks.
The comeback dessert trend of 2023 has to be the bombe Alaska, and with good reason. This retro classic might look intimidating, but it’s deceptively simple. Start with your cake of choice – I like a simple store-bought sponge (it won’t freeze all the way through, so it is a pleasure to eat). Then layer on the no-churn ice-cream. And finally, cover the lot with glossy billows of meringue and quickly toast it to burnished gold.
Technique of the month: Easy no-churn ice-cream
This no-churn ice-cream works through the aeration of the cream, giving that perfectly smooth (ice crystal free!) texture that we all aspire to when making ice-cream. The sweetened condensed milk gives it sweetness but also, a good structural base – the ice-cream “stretch” that usually comes from an anglaise (custard) base.
It is so easy, and can be customised with any flavours you like. Essentially, the base is one part sweetened condensed milk to two parts whipped thickened cream. I’ve folded chopped strawberries through but don’t let that flavour suggestion limit you – you could replace the strawberries with any fruit you love, switch it out for a spoonful or two of Milo, malt powder or pistachio cream, swirl through some lemon curd or add a shot or two of coffee.
Ingredients
No-churn strawberry ice-cream
500g fresh strawberries
50g caster sugar
800g thickened cream
1 x 400g can sweetened condensed milk
2 tsp vanilla bean paste
Swiss meringue
4 egg whites
200g caster sugar
To assemble
store-bought sponge or cake of your choice
Method
Step 1
Place the strawberries and caster sugar in a bowl and, using the back of a fork, crush them together so that you have pieces of strawberry of varying sizes and some of the juices are beginning to run out. Allow this to macerate while you make the ice-cream base.
Step 2
To make the ice-cream, whip the cream in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks have formed. Be careful not to overwork this as we don’t want the ice-cream to become grainy.
Step 3
Once the cream has stiffened, fold through the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Finally, ripple through the macerated strawberries.
Step 4
Line a large bowl (about 24cm) with cling film and pour in the ice-cream mixture. Place in the freezer and freeze for at least 12 hours or overnight.
Step 5
To make the Swiss meringue, combine the egg whites and sugar in a glass, ceramic or stainless steel bowl (I like to use the bowl of my stand mixer) and place it over a saucepan of water. Bring the water to the boil and stir the egg whites constantly until the sugar has completely dissolved. Once dissolved, whisk the egg whites until stiff. Transfer the meringue into a piping bag fitted with a 1cm round nozzle.
Step 6
Remove the ice-cream from the freezer and remove it from the bowl by pulling up on the edges of the cling film. Invert the ice-cream onto the cake base, and peel away the layers of cling film (you might need to trim the ice-cream to match the size of the cake base, or vice versa).
Step 7
Place the bombe onto a serving platter and pipe meringue peaks all over the ice-cream and cake, covering the entire dessert. At this stage, you can return the whole dessert to the freezer until you’re ready to serve.
Step 8
To serve, gently toast the meringue with a blowtorch (or pop it under the hot grill for 1 to 2 minutes) until it is toasty and roasty. Serve immediately.
Tips
- I use a sponge cake as the base. It’s light to eat so doesn’t compete with the textures of the ice-cream and meringue, and more importantly, it thaws quickly so you won’t be eating frozen cake when serving. A cake base about 2cm thick is perfect.
- Be careful not to over-whip the cream for the ice-cream base. This will result in a grainy texture. The goal? A firm peak that has no signs of curdling.
- As the ice-cream is simply based on ratios (1:2 condensed milk to whipped cream), you can scale this to your liking – halving, doubling, tripling or even quadrupling the recipe as needed.
- Swiss meringue may look intimidating but only requires one extra step to ensure the egg whites are fully cooked. Simply heat the egg whites and sugar over a bain-marie (water bath) until the sugar is completely dissolved (or a sugar thermometer reads 70C), then whip until the meringue is light and marshmallowy.
- To make individual bombes, look for a silicone 12-hole half-dome mould tray at baking or cookware shops and cut 12 individual cake rounds to fit.
- You can make the ice-cream bombe well in advance for stress-free entertaining – keep it in the freezer until ready and torch it just before serving.
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