Ice cake

In our imagination, iced cakes are often associated with Norwegian omelettes combining sponge cake, vanilla ice cream and deliciously flambéed meringue, a slightly old-fashioned but irresistible hot-cold sensation. And with good reason: the paternity of this dessert dates back to the end of the 18th century and is attributed to the Earl of Rumford (1753-1814), according to the Grand Larousse gastronomique. Since then, pastry chefs and ice-cream makers have continued to combine their skills, creating a multitude of ice-cream cakes where ice cream doesn't always have its place. Let's discover them...

• "Frozen Kougelhopf, Maison Ferber, Niedermorschwihr (68)

60 years and not a wrinkle for this iced kougelhopf imagined by Christine Ferber's father in 1963. The secret? A custard rich in fresh cream, beaten to make the ice cream, to which are added grapes macerated in a kirsch produced especially for Maison Ferber by the Metté distillery in Ribeauvillé. "I always propose this recipe, and the ice cream is placed in metal molds in the shape of a kougelhopf. To give it the golden color of traditional brioche, I sprinkle it with cocoa powder, then add a roasted white almond on each slice." A must-try at least once in your life!

18, rue des Trois-Épis, 68230 Niedermorschwihr.

www.christineferber.com

• Cake glacé "Le Citronnier", Nicolas Bernardé, La Garenne-Colombes (92)

When the weather's nice, "Cakissime", Bernardé's signature delicacy, gets an ice-cream version. "For this new collection, I wanted to combine the tangy freshness of a yellow lemon sorbet with the roundness of an island vanilla ice cream, combined with an almond dacquoise cookie. " A frozen dessert imagined as a pastry in the shape of a giant Eskimo wrapped in a white chocolate shell sprinkled with hazelnut chips. In a nod to lemon tart, the chef adds a final touch of crunchy meringue and a few quenelles of light vanilla cream. Put it on your gourmet to-do list!

2, place de la Liberté, 92250 La Garenne-Colombes.

www.nicolas-bernarde.com

• "Le Merveilleux", Martine Lambert, Deauville (14)

Since 1977, Martine Lambert has been delighting generations of gourmets. Her first creations were square "portable" ice creams, prepared in stainless steel molds and then decorated with delicate finishes. In the 2000s, she imagined her first ice-cream cakes mounted in circles as one would in a pastry shop. " The idea behind these round cakes was to offer something festive and easy to share," says her son François. "Le Succulent paved the way, followed by Merveilleux in 2006, a light French meringue-based entremets to round out the vivacity of a raspberry sorbet made from fresh fruit. Timeless!

76, rue Eugène-Colas, 14800 Deauville.

www.martine-lambert.com

• "L'Exotique, Frédéric Comyn, Sceaux (92)

Frédéric Comyn has designed a half-pastry, half-ice cream entremets combining milk chocolate, mango and coconut. "Rather than an ice cream, I imagined an icy ganache montée that gives the sensation of ice cream, but whose texture is extremely supple."As if assembling a tart, the ganache montée is placed on an almond-coconut streuzel and topped with a mango-coconut confit, the whole covered with a vanilla-scented milk chocolate glaze. An original creation that lets us discover frozen desserts in a different way... without ice cream. And don't forget to try our lemon and raspberry tarts... with ice cream, of course!

49, rue Houdan, 92330 Sceaux.

www.patisseriecolbert.fr

• "Chocolate pear charlotte, Maison Raugi, Bastia

In Bastia, the charlotte is interpreted in an iced version, as the sun beats down. An all-chocolate charlotte cooled by a Haute-Provence pear sorbet. "I imagined this dessert for summer. The intensity of the chocolate is provided by a Grand Cru origin Ghana 70% cocoa from Vincent Guerlais for the ice cream, the creamy chocolate-caramel and the ganache. I add the fragrance and freshness of a pear sorbet", a version reminiscent of the gourmet Belle-Hélène pear. You can almost hear the sweet sound of chocolate marrying the fleshy sides of the fruit!

2 bis, rue Chanoine-Colombani, 20200 Bastia.

www.raugi.fr