The Simplest Cake Ever!

Well, maybe not a cake in its literal sense, but more like bread- 'breake' if you will. And this is an ice cream cake in the truest sense of the word.

The inspiration for this recipe comes from A Well-Seasoned Life: Ice-Cream Bread recipe. Kim there notes that the cake isn't sweet enough so I made a few tweaks. Also, I didn't have self-rising flour, so I made my own. Instructions for all of them will follow.

But first, I must explain this obscene delay. I have been considering options for postgrad, and I finally settled on a distance learning course from Symbiosis, Pune. Needless to say, a decision of such importance has drained me of much energy and the process of applying has taken out the rest. Now, with other matters taken care of, I can get back to what I do best. Find inspiration everywhere.

At this point, I shall stop rambling and tell you about the recipe. The inspiration came from www.stumbleupon.com. Anyone curious about new things MUST sign up here! So here are the measurements:

This recipe makes for four large muffins. Or you could bake it all together like I did.

3/4 cups       All Purpose Flour (or Maida)

1 Teaspoon  Baking Powder

A pinch        Salt

1 cup           Any ice cream you like,thawed

1/4 cup        Sugar, preferably caster sugar

Thats it!

I used tutti-frutti ice cream as it has been lying in my freezer for a while now. But the possibilities are endless- imagine chocolate, or peanut butter ice cream. Maybe you can even try a sundae cake with half of two complementing flavours. Let me know how it goes!

In a clean and dry bowl, mix together the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder. Now you must do this thoroughly, as this is our substitute for self rising flour. I added the sugar to make it sweet enough for my taste. A little less or more shouldn't hurt.

Then, allow the ice cream of choice to thaw for about 30 minutes. Mix the ice cream well with the flour till you get a uniform batter. The batter will be quite thick- maybe like loose cookie dough.Spread this out onto a single cake mould (I did that) or drop it into muffin cups and fill them about three-fourths. This recipe doesn't rise much.

Place the mold into a cold oven (do not preheat). Bake for 40-45 minutes if you are using a single cake mould, or lesser if you are using muffin tins. Check from 30 minutes onwards.

Let them cool and enjoy the coolest version of ice cream ever!

Since this recipe is made from things we usually have, like flour and leftover ice cream, it is a great quick fix for midnight cravings as well. Here's how it looks- using a cold oven gives it a nice crust that is about 2mm thick.

And sorry about that picture quality! Will use the husband's phone next time.

Today's dose of philosophy:
There is nothing in life that is a waste. Just like leftover ice cream that makes great cakes,  most of the incidents in our past ensure that we have something to cherish and rebuild upon in our futures. So, never think of anything as baggage- something that was once desired but holds no relevance now. Go ahead and make cakes out of it!