The Daring Bakers’ Challenge – Chocolate Swiss Swirl Cake with "Liquored Up" Cherry Vanilla Ice Cream!

For custard for ice cream:
In a medium mixing bowl, beat the sugar into the eggs until thick and pale yellow. Beat in the flour and salt and set aside.

Bring the 1 2/3 cups of heavy cream and skim milk mixture to a simmer in a medium heavy saucepan. Slowly beat the hot milk into the eggs and sugar. Pour the entire mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Stir constantly with a whisk until the custard thickens slightly (it should coat the back of a spoon). Do not let the mixture boil or you will have scrambled eggs.

Pour the hot custard through a strainer into a large, clean bowl. Allow the custard to cool slightly. Add the cream and vanilla. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate until well chilled or overnight. I prefer to let mine chill overnight.

For cherries for ice cream:
Combine cherries and sugar in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook on low to medium heat for about 8 minutes or until soft. (The liquid should be thick and you should have about 1/2 cup or slightly more.) Strain the cherries and set the liquid aside. Add the lemon juice and Kirsch to the liquid. Cool.

Add 1/2 cup of the liquid to the chilled custard mixture, reserving the rest of the liquid. Stir well to combine. Freeze in your ice cream maker, according to manufacturer’s directions. When the ice cream is at the soft-serve stage, add the cherries. Freeze for an additional 5 minutes or until cherries are combined and ice cream has returned to soft-serve stage. Remove the ice cream form the freezer, transferring to a container. Freeze until almost firm (several hours).

* Be sure to take the extra liquid that has gathered from the cherries and add it to any of the other liquid reserved from earlier. You will want to use this to drizzle on the cake.

For cake:
Heat over to 350 degrees. Generously grease (not oil) bottom only of a 15×10-inch jelly roll pan; line with parchment paper and grease again. Combine first four ingredients; set aside. In small bowl, beat egg whites until foamy. Gradually add 1/2 of sugar, beating continuously until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

In large bowl, beat egg yolks until thick and lemon-colored. Add remaining sugar and vanilla; beat until very thick. Stir in water. Add flour mixture gradually, folding into egg mixture after each addition. Gently fold in beaten egg whites. Spread batter into prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 18 to 22 minutes or until top springs back when lightly touched in center.

Remove pan from oven. Loosen edges; immediately turn onto towel dusted with powdered sugar. Starting at narrow end, roll up cake in towel; place on rack to cool completely. In the meantime, prepare the whipped cream.

For whipped cream:
In a large bowl, add the cream, sugar and vanilla and beat till very thick. Use right away to fill chocolate cake roll.

For assembly:
Carefully unroll cake. Spread sweetened whipped cream evenly over chocolate cake roll, coming to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Carefully roll the cake and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Store seam side down. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Line a medium sized bowl with plastic wrap. Remove the cake roll from the refrigerator. Carefully slice cake into slices. (Mine were about 3/4 inch thick and I had leftovers). Place the slices around the inside of the bowl, as desired. Remove the ice cream from the freezer and spread evenly over the cake slices in the bowl. Cover the dish with plastic wrap and freeze several hours, or until ice cream is firm.

To unmold, turn bowl upside down over a serving plate. Warm up the bowl with your hands. The cake should loosen from the bowl. Remove the plastic wrap. Cut into slices and serve them drizzled with Kirsch flavored cherry juice.