Neapolitan Ice Cream Bombe

When I gave this to my mate Ewan for Christmas, he said "I feel like God has descended and offered us Jesus in food form." Receiving praise that high from Ewan is something to be pretty proud of, so I feel I'm totally justified in sharing this recipe with you. Also, this dessert tastes so much better if you make it using your own ice cream - so check out my recipe here!

Do note, this recipe was for one large Bombe, but I made two small ones, so the pictures are not accurate.

You'll need

Bombe:

- 3 eggs

- 90g of caster sugar, warmed

- 75g self raising flour

- 15g cocoa powder

- 3 tablespoons brandy or coffee liqueur

- 300ml strawberry ice cream

- 600ml vanilla ice cream

- 300ml chocolate ice cream

- 400g of cherries or berries (I used glacé cherries)

Decoration:

- 120g butter

- 120g icing sugar

- Capful vanilla essence

- 60g desiccated coconut

Preheat the oven to 220 degrees Celsius and lightly grease and line a 33 x 23cm Swiss roll pan.

First, beat together the eggs and caster sugar on a high speed with an electric mixer until it gets rather thick and pale coloured.

Sift in the flour and cocoa powder. With a large metal spoon, fold the mixture together until well combined.

Pour into the prepared pan, and smooth the mixture until it's even. Then pop in the oven and bake for 10 minutes (it should bounce back if you press it lightly with a finger)

Turn it out onto a wire rack and let it cool completely. Pop the strawberry ice cream into the fridge to let it soften.

When the cake is cool, cut out a large circle that just fits inside the bowl you are going to use as a mold. Line the bowl with cling wrap.

Then cut pieces of cake to use to line the bowl. I used triangles because I had a smaller bowl, but I think that rectangles would probably work just fine for a larger bowl. Brush the pieces of cake with brandy or liqueur and line the bowl. Don't worry if there are some small gaps.

Spoon the strawberry ice cream onto the cake, making sure it's even. Scatter your berries on top. Place in the freezer for about 20 minutes for it to freeze slightly.

Repeat the previous step, using vanilla ice cream..

And cover the lot with the chocolate ice cream. Before you put it in the freezer, place the large base piece you set aside before on top, making sure it's sort of sticking to the chocolate ice cream. Then, cover the bowl with cling wrap and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours - I left mine over night.

- 4 HOURS (OR MORE) LATER -

Heat the coconut in a dry frying pan until it's lightly browned, stirring constantly. (Note, this does happen surprisingly quickly - be careful not to burn it! You just want a very light tinge of colour.)

Beat together the softened butter, icing sugar and vanilla essence.

Bring the Bombe out of the freezer, and turn it out onto your serving plate, removing the cling wrap.

In sections, spread on the frosting, and immediately stick the coconut on. (You have to work in sections and quickly because the frosting will freeze - if you don't get the coconut on fast enough, it won't stick!)

When you've applied all the frosting and coconut, decorate with remaining berries (if you want to put any on the top, you'll have to stick them using some frosting)

And there you go! Unfortunately, due to my bombes being so small, they didn't cut very well so I can't really show you the lovely inside - but you get the idea. This dessert is surprisingly light and absolutely perfect for a summer Christmas!