Mocha Melted Ice-Cream Cake with Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting

Alex and I are both business analysts on the same product team and although we almost never work together on projects, we're still very much a team. When I'm stuck on an issue, he is always there to help me work through whatever it is.
When Alex told me his birthday was coming up, I couldn't wait to make him something special. He said he didn't want anything too fussy, but something basic. I also managed to pry out of him that he wanted something made of cake, preferably chocolate, and maybe something with some coffee flavor.

I knew there would be a slew of recipes to choose from but this one really intrigued me. I really wanted to make a cake using melted ice cream! I decided to add a few mini chocolate chips to the batter, just for some extra chocolatey goodness. Be sure to use a premium brand ice cream so you're sure to yield two full cups and the quality of ingredients are top notch.

This cake had a very interesting texture. Alex said it sort of tasted "cold and creamy" and it was hard not to agree. I want to make this again but with a different flavored ice cream, like Cherry Garcia. 

As for the frosting, it's a definite keeper. It tasted really chocolately and created this Magic Shell like coating on the outside of the cake. Everyone at worked really liked it too.

Incredible Melted Ice-Cream Cake
Yield: Cake: approximately 16 servings Frosting: 1 1/2 cups

by Anne Byrn

Cake
1 package (18.25 ounces) plain white cake mix (one without pudding in the mix!)
2 cups melted high quality, full-fat ice cream, your choice of flavor (I used Häagen-Dazs coffee)
1 tablespoon instant coffee or espresso powder
3 large eggs, at room temperature
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips


Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Lightly mist a 12-cup Bundt pan with vegetable oil spray, then dust with flour. Shake out the excess flour. Set the pan aside. (Or just use Pam with Flour - I love this stuff!)

Place the cake mix, melted ice cream, instant coffee, and eggs in a large mixing bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on low speed for 1 minute. Stop the machine and scrape down the sides of the bowl with the rubber spatula. Increase the mixer speed to medium and beat 2 minutes more, scraping the sides down again if needed. The batter should look thick and well blended. Add chocolate chips and mix just until it's best combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing the top with the rubber spatula. Place the pan in the oven.

Bake the cake until it springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan, 38 to 42 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. Run a long, sharp knife around the edge of the cake and invert it onto a small rack, then invert it again onto a second rack so that the cake is right side up to complete cooling, 30 minutes more.

Meanwhile prepare the Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting: Slide the cake onto a serving platter and pour the warm frosting over the cake (you will have a little extra). Let it stand for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Chocolate Marshmallow Frosting
2 cups confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
6 large marshmallows or 3/4 cup marshmallow fluff
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1/4 cup whole milk or whipping cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Sift the sugar and cocoa powder together into a large mixing bowl.

Set aside. Place the marshmallows, butter, and milk/cream in a medium-size heavy saucepan over low heat. Stir until the marshmallows are melted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Pour the confectioners' sugar and cocoa mixture over the marshmallow mixture. Add the vanilla and stir until the frosting is smooth and satiny.

Use at once to frost the top of the cake of your choice.For the garnish, I used marshmallow fluff to "glue" on chocolate covered coffee beans.