My happy place...(involves hot fudge sauce)

If you think about it, we all have a happy place...someplace that makes us smile and where we feel relaxed and comfortable.  You probably have more than one happy place.  I know I do, and funny enough, one of my happy places is an ice cream shop...Ghirardelli's, to be exact (it might seem that way but this is not an advertisement), though I generally feel pretty contented in most ice cream parlors.

My homemade version of Ghirardelli's Treasure Island sundae: ice cream, hot fudge, and a brownie

I love the warm feel of Ghirardelli's ice cream shops when I step in the door - the aroma of hot fudge mingled with warm waffle cones in the air, not to mention brightly wrapped chocolates everywhere I turn.  It's my idea of heaven!  Maybe another part of the appeal is I associate them with vacation.  I tend to seek them out beforehand and if there's a Ghirardelli ice cream parlor somewhere we're vacationing (from San Francisco to Hawaii, Chicago to Florida, or Boston), I make a point to visit.

My favorite thing to get at Ghirardelli's is their Treasure Island sundae, a classic brownie sundae with ice cream and hot fudge sauce.  Ice cream and hot fudge sauce are my kryptonite...it's probably more about the hot fudge than even the ice cream but the two need each other, and what a perfect couple they make!  If I take one bite, I will not be able to stop.  Before I know it, I've eaten way more than I intended to, but I'm so happy.    

Homemade vanilla bean ice cream; Ghirardelli's hot fudge sauce recipe

So I thought it would be fun to re-create my favorite sundae at home (especially since there isn't a Ghirardelli ice cream shop near where I live).  I started with homemade vanilla bean ice cream, then I made Ghirardelli's hot fudge sauce (with my son), and finished it off with a batch of our favorite homemade cocoa brownies.

I was excited to try the Ghirardelli hot fudge sauce, wondering how it would compare with the miraculous concoction we get at the ice cream shop.  It isn't exactly the same as what you get fresh on site but I really like the discernible taste of the Ghirardelli 60% chocolate used in the sauce (it's one of my favorite chocolates to use for baking). I think it's much better than the jarred sauce you can buy from Ghirardelli.  In comparison, I think the homemade sauce is thicker, somewhat grittier, sweeter than the free-flowing sauce you get from the shop.  At a guess, I think that one involves cream whereas this recipe doesn't.

Though the hot fudge sauce may not the stuff of dreams on its own per se, the combination of the ice cream, the hot fudge, and the brownie made for a swoon-worthy combination.  My homespun version tasted so much like what we get at the Ghirardelli shop!  I did feel transported to one of those tables at Ghirardelli and I was definitely in a happy place...my husband and son, eating with me, were in the same happy place right alongside me!

A squirt of whipped cream, a sprinkle of nuts, and a cherry on top makes a brownie sundae all that much more appealing!

As we all know, so many of our memories involve food in some way.  One of mine goes back a couple of years ago, when we were in San Francisco during my birthday. I wanted to go to the Ghirardelli ice cream shop for a birthday treat.  We had visited the Ferry building and then walked...and walked...to the ice cream shop.  By the time we got there, we were exhausted and ravenous.  We ordered our treats and when they arrived at our table, my son and I threw ourselves on top of our Treasure Island sundae (not to mention the ice cream floats) with such ridiculous abandon and speed that I think we scared my husband.  My hubby took pictures of us chowing down on our sundae and it makes me laugh just thinking about it.  A small thing, a little moment, but something I think I'll remember years and years from now, with a smile on my face...

Baking with my "original" nephew - Chocolate Orbit Cake

It seems like yesterday when there were no children in our extended family.  Then, everyone started getting married and we had kids!  I had my son 7 years ago and now I count eight nephews and nieces all under the age of ten.  My brother has 3 boys  and a few days ago, I had my "original" nephew, the 9-year old and oldest, over to do a little baking (with a teeny bit of help from my own little one).

A miniature, 6-inch, version of the "Chocolate Orbit Cake" (the holes on the surface reminiscent of craters on the moon)

We made David Lebovitz's Chocolate Orbit Cake, also known as Chocolate Idiot Cake because he thinks just about anyone can make it without fail.  It's a recipe I've wanted to try given my love of chocolate - and this cake is all about the chocolate.

The cake batter couldn't be easier to whisk together but I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit that I almost fell into the category of "idiot" when I baked the batter in two 6-inch cake pans rather than one 9-inch springform pan and things went a bit off from there.

There's nothing wrong with the recipe itself and, in fact, the finished cake is delicious...as in deliciously chocolaty and smooth like rich ganache.  However, I followed the instructions from my copy of Ready for Dessert which said you could make the cake in either a springform or cake pan and while that might be true, do not try to flip the cake back right-side up (like I did with one) if you invert it from a cake pan like the recipe tells you to do.  Maybe it would work for you but the risk is disaster in the form of broken/stuck-to-the-plate cake.  So my advice is stick with a springform pan and you'll have no problems whatsoever.  Ironically, I actually used the slightly different quantities (a little less chocolate and butter) in the recipe posted online and assumed the instructions would be the same as the version in the book.  I now notice after the fact that the online recipe makes no mention of using a cake pan and simply tells you to go with a springform.  What can I say?  You live, you learn...

Like I mentioned, we made two small cakes, which took longer than I expected to set.  The cake bakes in a water bath, which the boys had nothing to do with.  Since I have burn marks on my arms from the handles of the roasting pan (checking on the cakes, not knowing when my minis would be done), I'm glad I kept them out of the way (the boys were busy playing a videogame at this point anyway).  So, when all was said and done, I kept the broken but still delicious cake (the one I attempted to turn right side up) while the other made its way to my nephew's house for his dad's (my brother's) upcoming birthday.  My brother's birthday seems to make me think of fudgy flourless chocolate cakes. 

This cake is very much like eating chocolate ganache.  With only chocolate, butter, eggs, and sugar as its ingredients, you can understand why.  It is rich, dense, moist, and full of dark chocolate flavor - all characteristics I like but consider yourselves forewarned if you are not looking for something decadent like this.  I used a combination of semisweet and bittersweet Callebaut chocolate; make sure you use a chocolate you enjoy eating because the chocolate flavor really comes through.  Because of its richness, a thin slice will suffice.  I find it really scrumptious all by itself but a scoop of vanilla ice cream (proudly homemade, in this case) is always very nice and I find that most people find it a necessity to balance out all that chocolate. 

Philadelphia-style (no egg) vanilla ice cream

One of the reasons I wanted to buy an ice cream machine was so I could make American, or what's called "Philadelphia-style", ice cream. 

Unlike French custard-base ice cream, Philadelpha-style ice cream has no eggs in it.  Because of that, you can quickly and easily whip up the ice cream base(no custard to cook) but I think it's harder to get a smooth, creamy result doing it by hand for the same reason.  But thanks to my new ice cream machine, I easily made my first batch of Philadelphia-style vanilla ice cream recently.

Without any egg yolks (leaving it white in color versus a distinct yellow hue in French vanilla ice cream), Philadelphia-style ice cream isn't quite as rich (which isn't such a bad thing in my book) and I think it also allows a more "clean", pure vanilla flavor to shine through.  Each style has its own merits.  Interestingly, I've never been a fan of "French vanilla" ice cream that you buy at the supermarket (I thought it was too rich) but I adored the homemade version.  Luckily, there's room for both kinds and I am a fan of diversity.

I had heard that homemade Philadelphia-style ice cream may be grainier than its French counterpart and more difficult to scoop as it hardens in the freezer.  I agree that the custard-base ice cream is smoother and creamier but my homemade Philly ice cream was definitely not hard and actually quite easy to scoop even after 2-3 days in the freezer (there was no more after that).  So I guess it boils down to this trade-off:  Philadelphia-style ice cream has an arguably stronger vanilla flavor but French vanilla is creamier, with more of a luscious mouth feel. 

If I had to pick a favorite...after making and tasting both versions made in the ice cream maker, I've decided (at least, for now) that Philadelphia edges out as my preference.

If you are a fan of true pure vanilla bean ice cream, I think it's best to enjoy a scoop or two of this all by itself.  The flavor is delicious but I have to admit I'm not much of a plain-vanilla type girl (when it comes to ice cream...although I wonder how "vanilla" became synomous with "plain" in the first place since the flavor is actually so complex and robust).  I'm a big fan of mix-in's, crunchy add-on's and chocolate thrown into the mix so I plan to play around with this vanilla base in the future.  Since I rarely eat vanilla ice cream all by itself, I made a few individual flourless chocolate cakes to go with it.  My favorite way to "deploy" vanilla ice cream is to have it with warm molten chocolate cake (I paired them up recently with a batch of French vanilla ice cream made in the machine.)