Chocolate Malt Ice Cream Cup Pies

Last weekend my brother had us all over for a barbecue for the 24th of July. The 24th of July is a state holiday in Utah called Pioneer Day. It is similar to the 4th of July in that there are fireworks and barbecues. My contribution to this barbecue was dessert. I wanted to make something easy that didn't require utensils or even a plate. I came across a recipe in sunset magazine for a malted milk ball ice cream pie and decided this would be the perfect dessert to make for the barbecue, only in cup pie form to eliminate the needs for plates and forks. The cup pies were a huge success! Although I will say they are a but tricky to travel with and are best eaten as soon as they come out of the freezer so they don't have much of a chance to melt.


Chocolate Malt Ice Cream Cup Pies 
Crust
20 Lorna Doone Shortbread Cookies (if using another brand of shortbread cookie, use 5 ounces)
1 tablespoon Unsalted Butter, melted
1 cup Malted Milk Balls, crushed

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with baking liners. Grind cookies into crumbs using a food processor, then stir in melted butter until combined. Distribute mixture evenly among cups. Press crumbs to form a crust in to bottom of each cup. Bake for 7 minutes. Once baked remove from oven and allow crusts to cool completely. When cooled, sprinkle a layer of crushed malted milk balls over the crusts. Reserve the leftover crushed malted milk balls to top cup pies.

Ice Cream 
2 1/2 cups Chocolate Ice Cream, slightly softened
2/3 cup Malted Milk Powder

Mix together the ice cream and malt powder until smooth. Pour ice cream into cups until they are 3/4 of the way full, then freeze for at least 3 hours. (Note: you will probably have some ice cream left over, which I would recommend eating while waiting for the cup pies to freeze :)

Ganache 
3 ounces Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1/4 cup Whipping Cream

Heat whipping cream to just a boil then pour over chocolate chips. Allow mixture to sit for two minutes, then stir until smooth. Allow ganache to cool. Pour the ganache over the tops of the frozen cup pies then return to the freezer to allow ganache to set, about 15 minutes.

Whipping Cream
1/2 cup Whipping Cream
1-2 teaspoons Granulated Sugar, depending on taste

Whip cream and sugar, then top cup pies with whipped cream and the remainder of the crushed malted milk balls. Serve immediately or freeze until ready to serve.

Recipe adapted from Sunset Magazine, June 2011

This post is linked with Everyday Sisters Sharing 

Southern Banana Pudding Cake

I have to admit this cake was not the prettiest cake, in fact it was a bit messy but its deliciousness more than made up for its lack of aesthetics. With all the pudding, bananas and whipping cream between the layers the assembly process was a bit tricky. If you'd rather, you could make this cake a two layer cake instead of cutting the layers into four. I think this cake would be perfect for a backyard picnic or barbecue because it tastes just like the classic southern banana pudding only in cake form.

Vanilla Butter Cake 
2 Large Eggs, Separated
1 3/4 cup Cake Flour, Sifted
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, Softened
1 cup Granulated Sugar, Divided
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
1/2 cup Milk
1/8 teaspoon Cream of Tartar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray two 8 inch round cake pans with baking spray then line with parchment. Separate egg yolks from egg whites then allow them to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. In a medium sized bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, set aside until needed. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the butter until smooth, then add 3/4 cup of sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating well after each addition and scrapping down the sides and bottom of the bowl as needed. Beat in the vanilla. On low speed add 1/4 of the flour mixture then 1/3 of  the milk and continue alternating between the two, ending with the flour. Transfer batter to a medium bowl and clean the bowl of the electric mixer. In the clean bowl of an electric mixer beat egg whites until foamy then beat in the cream of tartar until soft peaks form then beat in the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar until stiff peaks form. Gently fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the batter, once incorporated fold in the rest of the egg whites until just combined, careful not to over mix.  Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cake pans. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until cake tester comes out clean. Cool cakes in pan on a wire rack.

Recipe slightly adapted from Joy of Baking

Vanilla Pudding
1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
1/4 cup Corn Starch
1/8 teaspoon Salt
2 3/4 cup Milk
2 tablespoons Unsalted Butter
2 teaspoons Vanilla

In a medium sized sauce pan whisk together all of the dry ingredients. Gradually stir in the milk and cook over medium to medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil. Let boil for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Remove from heat and stir in the butter and vanilla. To cool quickly make an ice bath, put pan in ice bath stirring constantly until steam subsides. Then transfer pudding to a shallow dish place plastic wrap right on top of pudding to prevent skin from forming and refrigerate until needed.

This recipe is from my mom :)

Whipped Cream Frosting 
8 ounces Cream Cheese, Room Temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
2 cups Whipping Cream

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment beat together the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed until smooth. Continue beating and slowly add the cream. Mix until whipped cream frosting holds a stiff peak.

Recipe from slightly adapted from All Recipes

Order & Assembly
First prepare the cakes, while cakes are baking make the pudding. Make the frosting just before you are ready to assemble the cakes. To assemble first remove the fully cooled cake from the pan and cut each layer in half. On the first layer create a boarder using the whipped cream frosting to prevent to pudding from leaking out. Next, top the layer with about 1/4 inch of the pudding, then top that with a layer of bananas (I used 4 medium sized bananas for the entire cake), then top the bananas with a very thin layer of the whipped cream frosting then add the next layer and repeat. Once you add the final layer frost the entire cake with the remaining whipped cream frosting. Put the cake in the refrigerate immediately to set for at least two hours.