Adding oodles of caramel to a basic coffee cake makes for an easy dessert to feed a crowd. If you don’t have an ice cream maker buy good quality ice cream instead of making your own.
Ingredients
- For the vanilla ice cream
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- 6 medium free-range eggs
- 120g/4¼oz caster sugar
- 250ml/9fl oz whole milk
- 250ml/9fl oz double cream
- 2 vanilla pods, split in half and seeds scraped out
- For the caramel and coffee cake
-
- 5 medium free-range eggs
- 150g/5½oz caster sugar
- 110g/4oz plain flour
- 2 tbsp coffee essence (such as Camp)
- 25g/1oz unsalted butter, melted
- 1 pineapple, peeled and cored and thinly sliced
- 300g/10½oz cream cheese
- 4 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 225g/8oz dulce de leche or canned caramel
- 100g/3½oz double cream, whipped
- icing sugar, for dusting serve
- For the caramel sauce
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- 110g/4oz dark soft brown sugar
- 110g/4oz unsalted butter
- 175ml/6fl oz double cream
Preparation method
- For the vanilla ice cream, whisk the yolks with half the caster sugar in a large bowl until thick and creamy.
- Place the milk, cream, the remaining caster sugar, vanilla seeds and vanilla pods in a pan and bring to the boil. Pour the hot milk into the whisked yolks and stir well.
- Return the mixture to the pan and cook over a very low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Set aside to cool, then refrigerate for at least one hour.
- Strain the mixture into an ice cream maker and churn until frozen, following the manufacturer’s instructions.
- For the caramel and coffee cake, preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4. Lightly grease and line the base of two 20cm/8in cake tins.
- Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a bowl for 4-5 minutes, or until thick and pale. Sift the flour into a separate bowl, then gently fold it into the egg and sugar mixture until just combined. Stir in the coffee essence and melted butter.
- Divide the mixture evenly between the two prepared cake tins.
- Place the tins onto a baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the cakes are risen and springy to the touch. Remove from the oven and allow to cool briefly before turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
- Lay the sliced pineapple on one of the cakes. Mix the cream cheese, icing sugar, maple syrup, caramel and double cream in a large mixing bowl and spread over the pineapple slices. Place the other cake on top and dust with icing sugar.
- For the caramel sauce, melt the sugar and butter in a saucepan set over a low heat. When liquid and combined stir in the cream.
- Serve the cake in slices with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a little sauce poured over.