Chocolate Valentino and Cinnamon Ice Cream

Back in the fall, I came across http://www.tastespotting.com/ and it quickly became one of those sites that I had to check every day. I love looking at pictures of food, and that's exactly what that site is...beautifully taken pictures of any type of food you can imagine. While on the site, I kept seeing "Daring Bakers" pictures and was intrigued. Finally last month I decided to join up, and my first challenge was Chocolate Valentino (Flourless Chocolate Cake) and homemade ice cream. It was a great challenge, perfect for Valentines Day.

The February 2009 challenge is hosted by Wendy of WMPE's blog and Dharm of Dad ~ Baker & Chef.We have chosen a Chocolate Valentino cake by Chef Wan; a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Dharm and a Vanilla Ice Cream recipe from Wendy as the challenge.

Chocolate Valentino
1 lb semi-sweet chocolate, rough chopped (I used chocolate chips)
1/2 cup plus 2 tbs. unsalted butter
5 large eggs, separated
-Place your chocolate and butter in a double boiler and melt, stirring often.
-Place egg yolks in one mixing bowl, whites in another. Whip up whites until stiff peaks form, but do not over mix (the result will be a dry cake.)
-With the same beater, beat the egg yolks together. Add to cooled chocolate.
-Fold 1/3 egg whites into the chocolate mixture, and then the remaining 2/3. Mix until no white shows, but be careful not to deflate.
-Pour batter into a prepared pan (3/4 full) and bake in a preheated 375 degree oven. Bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer reaches 140 degrees (cake top will look like a brownie, and a cake tester will appear wet.)
-Cool for 10 minutes and then unmold.

Cinnamon Ice Cream
1 c. white sugar
2 c. heavy cream (divided)
1/2 c. milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. cinnamon

In a saucepan, stir together sugar, 1 c. heavy cream, and milk. When the mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat and temper eggs. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and stir in remaining heavy cream. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat and add in vanilla and cinnamon.

At this point, I was too lazy to try to get my ice cream maker out of our storage shed (to be honest, I don't think I could of gotten it out,) so I chose to go the longer, non-ice cream maker route. I placed the mixture in a shallow dish, and put it in the freezer. Every 30-45 minutes I stirred it, making sure that the edges were scraped. The end result was awesome; super creamy.

The cake was incredibly chocolaty and a little on the bitter side. By itself, I didn't care for it. When I paired it with whipped chocolate ganache and the cinnamon ice cream, it was unbelievable. SO GOOD.

All in all, my first challenge with the Daring Bakers was quite successful! I am really looking forward to the next challenge!