Hidden under a cake dome

Isn’t it funny how, sometimes, you notice something for the first time and then all of a sudden, it is all over the place? Either you spotted a new trend (in this case an old-fashioned dessert making a come-back), or you just go through life with blinkers on. Either way, I noticed a Christmas bombe in one of the local magazines (Tuis, December 2012, No. 103) a month or two ago and was fascinated. It looked delicious and easy to make (and I am a big fan of the “easy to make” stuff!).

Next thing you know, I noticed it on some of the Christmas shows on the cooking channels, heard the recipe being discussed on radio shows and even my friend Retha made one for their Christmas table. So, in what seemed to be the stars aligning, we had the lovely treat of my husband’s aunt Ria bringing her own version of a bombe over for lunch.

Different recipes exist, but you basically line a round pudding bowl with cling paper. After that, you line the bowl with slices of cake (panettone, swiss roll or even sponge cake, about 2 cm thick), pushing them down so that they do not overlap. Some recipes then tell you to brush a bit of jam on the cake. In the meantime, allow a 2 litre ice-cream to melt just enough so that you can sprinkle cherries and nuts of your choice (and if you want, glazed fruit and/or small pieces of nougat) into the ice-cream. Spread the ice-cream out over the cake and fill the bowl. Cover it with more cake to form a lid. Then cover the bowl tightly with cling film and put it in the freezer to set overnight.

When you are ready to eat it, turn the bombe onto a serving dish. Drizzle over melted chocolate so that it drips down the sides. Slice into wedges and serve!

As you can see from the photos, Ria used swiss roll, made the ice-cream filling with cream and icing sugar and added cherries and nuts. My friend Retha made a spicier version with panettone, and added preserved ginger, preserved watermelon, lemon peel and maraschino cherries into vanilla ice-cream. The point is that it seems that you can add whatever you fancy, plus the modern version of using cake and ice-cream seems so much easier than the traditional bombe glacée recipe that uses 32 egg yolks! (Yes, you read correctly, it is not a typing error. Thirty two!) I’ll probably make this next time I invite guests over, since I like the “little effort, lots of compliments” effect of this dessert!!