Unchurned Ice Cream Cake Raspberry/Orange Flower Sauce
I would not use a food processor or blender to make the crumbs. This recipe uses a lot of bowls, and there’s no need to add another thing to wash. I also don’t really think it’s necessary to sift the powdered sugar—another thing to wash. I would recommend just using the rolling pin and mixing the crumbs, sugar, and butter in the pan you freeze it in.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups honey-type graham cracker crumbs (from about 8 1/2 panes of graham crackers)
- 2 tablespoons sifted confectioners' sugar
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- for the filling:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 large eggs, separated
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 5 ounces cream cheese
- 3 ounces crème fraîche
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 pinch salt
- blueberries or raspberries, for garnish, if desired
- 12 ounces fresh raspberries
- 1/3 cup granulated raw sugar
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoons orange flower water
Directions
- To crush the graham crackers, I place them in a sturdy ziplock bag, leaving the zipper open about 2 inches to allow air to escape, and crush the crackers with a rolling pin.
- Lightly grease an 8-inch square Pyrex pan (or line a metal pan with parchment paper so that it hangs over two of the sides). Place coarsely crushed cracker crumbs in a blender or food processor and process until finely ground. Re-measure to make sure you have 1 1/2 cups of crumbs.
- Add confectioners' sugar to container with crumbs and process until combined, then drizzle in butter and process further until combined. Empty into pan (reserve some crumbs for decorating the top of the cake, if desired).
- Pat crumbs into pan, tamping down edges. You can press the bottom of a metal measuring cup over the crust to smooth it further.
- For the filling:
- In a chilled bowl with chilled beaters and hand-held mixer, whip cream just until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat egg yolks until foamy; pour in sugar, beating to incorporate, then add cream cheese, crème fraîche, and vanilla and beat until well blended; .
- In a clean bowl with clean beaters, beat egg whites with salt just until stiff peaks form. Scrape egg whites and whipped cream into the bowl with the cream cheese. Gently fold with a rubber or silicone spatula until combined but still billowy.
- Scrape cream mixture into crumb crust. Swirl decoratively with spatula. Sprinkle with any reserved graham cracker crumbs, if desired. Stretch plastic wrap carefully over cake to avoid having it touch the filling (affix it firmly to far end of pan, stretch tightly up and over, then seal on near side and lateral sides). Cover plastic tightly with a sheet of aluminum foil, then place in freezer several hours or overnight.
- Remove from freezer a few minutes before serving to allow to soften slightly. Cut into squares with a sharp knife and serve on chilled plates, garnished with berries if desired.
- For the raspberry sauce: Set a strainer over a bowl. Combine raspberries, water and sugar in a heavy saucepan. Bring to the boil, stirring, lower heat, and simmer, crushing berries lightly, until slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Empty the pot into the strainer and press down hard on the solids, scraping the bottom of the strainer several times to make sure you get as much of the seedless purée as possible into the bowl. Decant into a clean, heatproof container. Stir in the orange flower water. Cover and refrigerate when cool.
