Grandma's Black Forest Cake Ice Cream

When I was little, my grandmother used to make a lot of things: soft sculpture murals, cookies shaped like Santa, an Easter ham carved into the shape of a bunny...this is only a small listing of her accomplishments. She was quite a talented woman, my late grandmother, and my parents suggest this is where I get my artistic talent.

What does Grandma Schlegel have to do with this ice cream blog? The inspiration I found from her Black Forest Cake: chocolate cake with canned cherries and whipped cream.

When I got a sample of Amy's Organic Cake in the mail, I thought of a perfect way to use the cake...Black Forest Ice Cream. I have always been a fan of Bruce Weinstein's Chocolate Cherry Ice Cream recipe, so I churned up a batch of this and added crumbled Amy's Organic Chocolate Cake to the mix in the last five minutes of churning. I probably used about a cup of crumbs, which left me with a good amount of cake just to eat on my own, so I really could have my cake and eat it too!

While Amy's Cake was moist and delicious on it's own (see Tina's post from last week) it also blended in wonderfully with the ice cream and saved me from making a chocolate cake.

While I would make this ice cream again in an instant -- it was one of my favorites from I Scream 2009 -- I would also serve this cake on it's own. Both it's presentation and taste, texture, and moistness put it on my "emergency guests" list of foods -- that's assuming 1. I don't eat it first and 2. I remember to take it out of the freezer in time!

Organic ice cream and cake...a natural combination

Cake and ice cream...the perfect duo and on a warm end of summer day even better. Oh and even better that Bethany was along to try it too!

Now who would have thought a premade frozen cake would even be worth opening but let me tell you that Amy's Organic Orange Cake was so surprisingly moist and yummy. It had a great orange flavor that was not too overwhelming but perfectly refreshing and light. I am a baker (well, was pre-two kids!) and freshly baked cake is a must but my mind has been changed by this little vegan cake. Yes it comes in a box but when you open it, the cake is nestled in a sweet little cardboard cake liner that looks like it just came out of the bakery or your own oven. I give Amy's kudos for stepping up on the packaging...it goes a long way especially when you are trying to disguise it as your own!

Well I guess I have to move on cause this is an ice 

cream blog right?! So the topper of it all was Green & Black's Organic Chocolate Ice Cream. I had no clue who Green & Black was but come to find out they are amongst the elite of award-winning chocolate makers. Made from bittersweet dark chocolate and fresh organic cream its no wonder this ice cream was so smooth and rich. (But i do have to admit that both Bethany and I thought it seemed icy at first but it was just the top layer...think this one was in the freezer for a bit). With that said not sure I put it above my favorite Ben & Jerry's Chocolate but it is really good and has the organic factor working for it. 

All in all...love the combination of orange and chocolate and also love the fact that they are both all natural. Both Amy's and Green & Black's obviously are natural winners here. Next time I think I might have to try making my own ice cream with Green & Black chocolate. If anything its a good excuse to try the chocolate!