Mama Conti loved to cook and amassed a considerable collection of recipes, mostly hand written and kept on torn off bits of paper. Some of which we’ve decided to share on a regular basis so feel free to try them at home!

Salted Caramel & Chocolate Ice Cream Cake.

Ingredients

For the cake:

       Weigh 3 large eggs.

Use the same weight Self Raising Flour, butter (or magerine for a lighter cake) and sugar.

2 x Tablespoons of boiling water.

Finest Cocoa Powder to taste (but not too much as it can get bitter)

For the filling:

       225g icing sugar

       115g butter

125ml double cream

       ½ - 1 tsp sea salt

To assemble:

       1 litre of Conti’s Traditional or Vanilla ice cream

       2 cups Salted Caramel popcorn (Optional decoration)

Method

       Preheat the oven to 350F/180C.

Grease and line two 9 inch cake tins.

      Cream together the butter, eggs and sugar until pale and fluffy.

Sieve in the flour and whisk until smooth.

Add the boiling water and mix in.

Dust in the cocoa powder to taste.

  Mix well to get a smooth consistency. Line two 9” cake tims with greaseproof paper and then scrape the mixture into your cake tins. Don’t push the mixture to the edges or it could burn. Don’t worry, It will spread itself out in the oven.

       Bake the cake for 30 minutes or until the top springs back when touched lightly. Or, insert a skewer and if it comes out clean the cake is ready.

Turn the two sponges onto a rack to cool completely. Then chill in the fridge for a few hours or, preferably overnight - it’s easier to assemble when cool.

Filling       

To make fillling, place the sugar into a medium saucepan with a splash of water and place over a medium heat. Try not to stir the mixture.

Cook until the sugar melts, then boil until the mixture turns a dark amber colour, about 5-7 minutes.

Remove the caramel from the heat, and very carefully add the cream and butter.

The mixture will bubble up furiously, but leave it to calm down, once cooler, place it back on the heat and stir until everything is melted and mixed together. Add salt, to taste. Leave the sauce to cool completely, and then chill in the fridge.

Take the ice cream out of the fridge and let it soften (about 15mins).

Place the bottom layer of the cake back into the tin, scoop in the ice cream, and add dollops of the chilled caramel. Use about half of the filling mixture. When all the ice cream has been added, press the top layer of sponge on top of it. Add the top layer of cake, very lightly press down Cover the cake with cling film or a beeswax wrap. Leave it for a minimum of five hours or, prefeerably put in the freeaer overnight to set.

Heat the remaining caramel, and place the popcorn (if using) into a mixing bowl.

When you're ready to serve the cake, pour over half the caramel, and toss with the popcorn.

Take out the now frozen cake and place it on a serving plate. If using, pile the popcorn on top and drizzle over the rest of the caramel sauce.

You can also add choclate dipped strawberries, for that extra bit of luxury!

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