Blueberry Buttermilk Sorbet & White Chocolate Mud Cake

I'm so predictable. The weather finally starts cooling down in Sydney, and suddenly I have the biggest ice cream cravings ever. Generally I can't talk myself into making a batch of ice cream because I know I'll have to wait at least another day before I can eat it. And it's a total b*tch to photograph. I hate taking photos of things that melt! There's so much time spent trying to get a nice scoop into a cold dish, then the rush to snap a photo before the whole thing turns into a sticky puddle. It always ends with a grumpy me in the middle of a horrible mess. (This is the same reason why I don't do souffles.)

This weekend I decided I needed a cold dessert. But it just so happens that this was the easiest and quickest frozen dessert recipe I have ever, ever made. Blueberry Buttermilk Sorbet - three ingredients, mixed into a bowl and stuck into the ice cream maker. It was that easy. Okay, I might have cheated a little, rather than making a sugar syrup I used a blueberry drink concentrate that i picked up from IKEA a while back. It worked great, and look at that amazing colour! Of course, I could have made something similar by heating sugar, water and fresh blueberries, but the cordial was so darn convenient.

Since the sorbet was already churning away happily after 2 minutes of prep, I still had the motivation to whip something up to match it with. White chocolate mud cake sounded like the perfect treat to go with my tangy berry sorbet. I found this great recipe on Exclusively Food, which was meant to go with a sour cream icing so it seemed like the perfect cake to go with a buttermilk sorbet. This dense, rich cake is just the kind of thing you want to eat with a scoop of something cold and sour.

I've never had buttermilk in a frozen dessert before, but it didn't surprise me that it was faaaaantastic. Buttermilk is a should be called SUPERmilk. It makes everything better! Pancakes, cakes, cookies, scones, salad dressing, and now sorbet. It gave the sorbet a light creaminess with a slight tang, but wasn't anywhere near as rich and heavy as a cream-based dessert. And the blueberry flavour was just the thing to add to it, though any berry would have worked great. Originally I wanted to make it strawberry buttermilk flavoured but I couldn't be bothered to drag myself down to the store to buy them. But don't let my laziness stop you from exploring the possibilities :) OOH you could even cook the cake as a thin layer in a sheet pan, and make a ice cream sandwich out of it. Pretty!

Blueberry Buttermilk Sorbet
(serves between 6-10)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1 cup blueberry drink concentrate (alternatively, heat 1 1/2 cups of water with 1 cup of sugar and about a cup of blueberries, or other berries until the sugar dissolves, then just bring to the boil and strain)
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Note: I used these measurements since I only had that amount of buttermilk left, feel free to double or increase amount of each ingredient accordingly

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and stir until combined. Chill thoroughly and then churn according to your ice cream maker's manufacturing instructions. Freeze in an airtight container overnight.

White Chocolate Mud Cake
(recipe from Exclusively Food, serves 16)
300g white chocolate
200g butter
250ml (1 cup) milk
165g (3/4 cup) caster sugar
2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
100g (2/3 cup) self-raising flour
150g (1 cup) plain flour

Preheat oven to 160 degrees Celsius (NOT Fahrenheit.) (145 degrees Celsius fan-forced). Grease a 20cm square cake pan and line the base and sides of the pan with baking paper.

Place chocolate, butter, milk and sugar in a large saucepan over low heat, stirring frequently. Remove from heat when chocolate and butter have melted, and stir mixture until completely smooth. Allow mixture to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. Add vanilla and eggs to chocolate mixture and stir until well combined.

Stir flours together in a large bowl. Add one cup of chocolate mixture to the flour and stir until a smooth paste forms. Repeat with another cup of the chocolate mixture.Add remaining chocolate mixture and stir until mixture is smooth. This gradual method of combining the wet and dry ingredients helps prevent lumps.

Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes. When the cake is ready, a fine-bladed knife inserted into the centre of the cake should come out without any batter attached. Loosely cover cake with greaseproof paper or a clean tea towel and allow it to cool to room temperature in pan. Store cake in an airtight container in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before serving. The cake is suitable to freeze. Serve cake with sorbet.

Annnddd...just to prove what a sticky, melty mess everything ends up in when I take photos of frozen desserts...

Oops.