Spiced fruit and mascarpone ice cream sandwiches
- Published: 6 Nov 23
- Updated: 18 Mar 24
These festive ice cream sandwiches are inspired by our popular Christmassy spiced fruit and mascarpone semifreddo recipe. The sponge is kept light and flavourful with ground almonds and espresso powder, but it’s sturdy enough to hold the fruit-and-nut-studded ice cream within. An absolute delight of a thing to have on hand in the freezer.
- Serves 9-12
- Hands-on time 30 min, plus at least 12 hours freezing. Oven time 20-25 min
Ingredients
- 250g mixed dried fruit and nuts (we used dried cranberries, tropical fruit mix, glacé cherries and pistachios), roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp mixed peel
- 150ml muscat dessert wine or other sweet wine
- 3 medium free-range eggs, separated
- 100g caster sugar
- 300ml double cream
- Large pinch each ground cinnamon, freshly grated nutmeg and ground allspice
- 150g mascarpone
For the cake
- 180g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra to grease
- 180g light soft brown sugar
- 2 medium free-range eggs
- 80g ground almonds
- 100g self-raising flour
- 1 tbsp espresso powder
- 20ml whole milk
Specialist kit
- 20cm square cake tin, greased and lined
Method
- Heat the oven to 160°C fan/gas 4. Put all the cake ingredients in a large bowl. Using an electric hand mixer, beat everything until smooth and just combined. Pour the mixture into the tin and bake for 20-25 minutes until risen, golden and springy to the touch.
- Meanwhile, put the dried fruit and nuts, mixed peel and muscat in a small pan and simmer over a medium heat for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and set aside to plump up the fruit and cool completely.
- Turn out the cake onto a wire rack to cool completely. Cut in half horizontally using a large serrated knife to create 2 layers. Give the cake tin a clean, then line the base and sides with baking paper. Sit the first layer of cake inside, cut side up.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar with an electric hand mixer for 2-3 minutes until they’ve increased in volume and turned the colour of rich cream. Add the cream, spices and mascarpone, then whip to soft, billowy peaks.
- In a separate, spotlessly clean bowl and using clean beaters, whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt to stiff peaks that won’t flop over when you lift out the beaters. Gently fold 2 tbsp of the egg whites into the cream mix using a balloon whisk, then gently fold in the remaining egg whites in 3 additions.
- When the mixture is smooth and light, gently fold in the fruit and muscat, ensuring the fruit is evenly distributed. Try not to knock the air out of the mixture. Transfer the mixture to the cake tin, then sit the second layer of cake on top, cut-side down. Cover with baking paper and put in the freezer for at least 12 hours.
- Half an hour before you want to serve, transfer the tin to the fridge. Just before serving, peel away the baking paper on top, then invert onto a serving plate and peel off the rest of the baking paper. Cut into squares or rectangles with a hot sharp knife (dip it in hot water, then dry it between cuts) to serve.
- Recipe from November 2023 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 597kcals
- Fat
- 43g fat
- Protein
- 8.6g
- Carbohydrates
- 41g (34g sugars)
- Fibre
- 2.3g
- Salt
- 0.2g
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