A few weeks ago, roaming the endless aisles of the mammoth Fancy Food show in Washington, D.C., I stopped at the booth for Chozen, a premium ice cream with flavors inspired by the Jewish holidays: matzo crunch, apples and honey, chocolate gelt.
“Who would have the nerve or the chutzpah to put matzo in ice cream?” Chozen co-founder and CEO Meredith Fisher told me. “Jews like to kvetch, but who can kvetch about ice cream?”
Take the mango ice cream out of the freezer to soften slightly. Put a 9-inch spring form cake pan in the freezer to chill.
Chop the crystallized ginger and dried mango into small pieces while the mango ice cream softens. When the ice cream is ready to be scooped, take the cake pan out of the freezer. Working quickly, scoop all the mango ice cream into the cake pan and flatten it with your hands using a small spatula. Be careful not to leave any gaps on the side. Sprinkle the dried ginger and mango over the ice cream and press it in. Make sure that each piece is pressed in or you will have trouble with the next layer of ice cream. Return the cake pan to the freezer to harden, for least 20 minutes.
When the mango ice cream is stiff again, take out the vanilla ice cream and let it soften slightly. Take the cake pan out of the freezer, scoop the vanilla ice cream into it, and smooth the top. This will be the bottom layer (the cake is inverted) so the top doesn’t have to be perfectly smooth. Return the cake to the freezer for a couple of hours to harden before serving.
Fill a bowl wide enough to fit the cake pan with very hot water. Take the cake out of the freezer and carefully submerge the sides of the pan in the hot water. Hold it there for about 15 seconds, then dry the pan off, run a knife around the inside, and invert the cake onto a serving plate. If you are not serving the cake right away, return it to the freezer.
When you are ready to serve the cake, spoon the fruit preserves over the top, starting in the center and moving in concentric circles out to the edge. Let the puree or preserves spill over and down the sides of the cake. Scatter the berries or mango over the top of the cake.
Mango Ice Cream Cake, with ideas from Steve Herrell
The intense flavor of dried mango slices and preserved ginger only enhances the flavor. Whichever ice cream you try, work as quickly as possible when making this cake. Once the ice cream melts, it doesn’t refreeze properly.