So, you’re throwing a dinner party and want a dessert that won’t require an oven because the temperature outside is roughly the same as the surface of the sun, but will also delight your guests and make them clap and squeal with glee? Something that will satisfy the 50s housewife in you but will also be easy enough for the 21st century woman (OR MAN!) that was brought up on Kraft macaroni & cheese and Little Debbie snack cakes?
ICE CREAM BOOOMMMMMBE!
Here’s how to do it:1) You put on your vintage 1950s apron and put on some great 50s music. My favorite for getting in the mood is Esqivel (thanks Shane!), but Harry Belefonte works great, too. Seriously, this is probably the most important step. And while the cat eye glasses and pearl necklace aren’t required, they sure do make it more realistic and authentic. And fun. So does the martini.
2) Go to the store and pick out 3 or more flavors of ice cream and/or sherbet. I’m not going to tell you what kind, because you know what you like. Experiment. I just hope you’re smart enough to realize that Reese’s peanut butter ice cream probably won’t be super awesome paired with orange mango sherbet. But whatever. It’s going in your face hole, not mine. The outside flavor is the one you need the most of, so you might want more than one container. I chose three flavors: A) Cherry Vanilla, B) Chocolate and C) Banana Split. OK, so my 6 year old picked them out, but I think she did a damn good job.
Then pick your favorite big ass bowl, one that can handle freezing and thawing without the possibility of breaking. I used my vintage yellow Pyrex mixing bowl because it’s awesome. Oh, and because those types of bowls don’t have a flat interior bottom so they make a nice half-ball shaped mold for your bombe. But you can use a Jell-O mold, a bundt cake pan, some aluminum foil shaped into a makeshift bowl… whatever.
3) Take flavor A and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes or so and put your bowl in the freezer. Oh, and put your other flavors in the freezer, ya dingus. Don’t leave them on the counter. After your ice cream has had time to UNIFORMLY thaw (that’s why you thaw in the fridge instead of the countertop), you take your frozen bowl and smear the ice cream around the bowl leaving a cozy little ice cream nest in the middle. You can put Saran Wrap or wax paper down and set a smaller bowl in there to shape it, but I just used my damn hands.
4) Put the bowl in the freezer and get your second flavor into the fridge. Wait until B is soft and A is hard. Then just repeat the last step with flavor B.
5) Stick that bitch back in the freezer and, you got it, put flavor C in the fridge. I decided to use C as a “crust” that covered the whole bottom instead of nesting it in the other two flavors. But you do what you want. It’s your fucking bombe. Then just spread the last flavor on.
6) Smooth the whole thing out with wax paper. (I had trouble with the ice cream sticking to my spoons no matter what material it was made of, so I did most of this with my hands and paper and Saran Wrap.)
7) Now stick it in the freezer for several hours or overnight.
8) When your bombe is good and hard and ready (EH?), take it out of the freezer and put the whole bowl in a bigger bowl partially filled with hot water for a few seconds to loosen it from the mold. Then take it out of the water, dry the outside of the bowl and put a plate or serving tray or whatever you plan on serving it from over it and invert the whole deal. Lift up the mold, then stick it (the ice cream, not the empty bowl, dummy) back in the freezer so it doesn’t melt all over the damn place.
(Oh, and once it’s out you can decorate with berries, sprinkles, that weird chocolate Magic Shell shit, whipped cream, coffee grounds… I just left it plain because… well… I forgot to buy decoraty stuff. Whatever. It was still beautiful.)
AND…
I used my gramma’s crystal pedestal cake plate because it’s gorgeous. But any old plate will work.
Then you cut into it aaaaaand… TA DA!
Yes we used Hello Kitty and Thomas the Train plates because we ran out of nice ones. SO WHAT.
Here’s a pic of my (second) slice.
Then, if you have leftovers, you just put the cake plate cover over your bombe and save it for another day.
This is where using a fancy serving plate is nice because it will look lovely on your counter top until you can enjoy your treat later.
Best part? Even if you really fuck it up and your layers don’t look nice, it’s still fucking ice cream and your guests will love it because it’s FUCKING ICE CREAM and it’s 103 degrees outside.
My bombe was the bomb.
