You've got to love a dessert whose name is also the adjective to use in praise of it: This bombe is bomb. So bomb in fact that it can take on just about a million variations. But no matter your ice cream flavors or topping combos, there are a few steps you should follow to ensure the perfect bombe. Senior associate food editor Claire Saffitz walks through the steps to ice cream success:
There's so much amazing store-bought ice cream available now that unless you're hellbent on creating your signature custom flavors, there's just no point in making your own. Buy ice cream you like to eat, and get creative with the flavor combos you come up with (or borrow a few of ours below).
Don't bother scooping out of the container: Slice your ice cream pints in half directly through the packaging. Peel away the carton, then cut ice cream into pieces and transfer to a bowl. Stir the ice cream with a spatula until smooth and the consistency of thick cake batter.
Rather than the more traditional bombe made of concentric circles of ice cream, we opted for fat, marbled ribbons made of three kinds of ice cream swirled together. To get the same look, err on the side of under-mixing when folding together your trio of ice creams. Most of the swirling action will happen when you're scraping the ice cream mixture into your mold anyway—so put down the spatula.
The more ice cream you've got, the more time it needs to freeze up properly so it won't melt into a puddly mess the second it comes out of the freezer. Prep the ice cream mold at least a day (and up to a week) ahead so it can refreeze overnight. Once it freezes solid, you can either remove the bombe to a plate, keeping it tightly wrapped, or you can leave it in the bowl until you're ready to decorate.
This is a great time to introduce a salty element like crushed pretzels or nuts. While you can make the ice cream bombe itself ahead of time, avoid decorating it more than a couple of hours before serving, or else the toppings could get soggy.
It's time to show off all that hard work! Run a knife under hot water and wipe dry on a towel before cutting into the bombe. Rinse and dry the knife between slices for the cleanest cuts.
The Ice Creams: Black cherry + almond + chocolate
The Coating: Crumbled chocolate wafer cookies + toasted sliced almonds + cherry on top
The Ice Creams: Vanilla + orange sherbet + raspberry sorbet
The Coating: Crumbled vanilla wafers + toasted unsweetened coconut flakes
The Ice Creams: Chocolate + banana + peanut butter
The Coating: Chopped peanut butter cups + crushed banana chips + flaky sea salt
Making your own bombe? Show us by using the #BAreaders hashtag!