Works for Me Wednesday Christmas

I have a few tried and true recipes that I can reliably turn out without fear. I inherited this recipe from my mom. I spent years hearing her talk about how easy it is. And she is right. I looks complicated and difficult, but if you follow the steps it is a snap.

We usually make this at Christmas but it is good at other times. It has a winter and a summer version.

Ice Cream Roll

3 eggs (1/2-2/3 cup)
1/3 cup water
1 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1tsp vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa
1/4 gallon peppermint ice cream

Beat eggs until thick and lemony (5-10 minutes) Beat in sugar then blend in water and vanilla. Gradually add dry ingredients, beat till smooth. Line a jelly roll pan (11x 15 inch) with wax paper, pour in cake. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes. Sprinkle kitchen towel with powdered sugar. When the cake comes out flip it over onto the towel, then peel off wax paper carefully, and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Roll cake up from one end. Let cake cool for at least an hour. Unroll, spread with peppermint icecream. Reroll and freeze. This a great thing to make ahead and have ready. Stores nicely in the freezer for a while. I wrap it in foil and then put in a ziplock if I want to save it for over a week. I usually get about eight slices per cake. To serve, it looks good to drizzle chocolate syrup on the plate and then put the cake on it garnishing it with whip cream. It looks nice with the chocolate cake swirl and pink peppermint ice cream


It takes half of a half gallon box. So I usually make two cakes at a time. The square package works easiest, you can slice off thin slices to lay on the cake. I used about six slices of ice cream per cake. I usually only mix up one cake batter at a time, and bake one at a time. The most important step is beating the eggs. If you don't beat them enough, the cake is not spongy it is flat.

In the spring and summer, I leave out the cocoa and substitute cool whip or whipped cream and 2 cups sliced strawberries. It is fabulous.

If you can't find peppermint ice cream you can use mint chocolate chip. This is a great dessert for those heavy holiday meals, the mint is a nice taste and it isn't heavy. It also has the added bonus of looking fancy and difficult but it really isn't hard. If I can make it then anyone can do this. I promise.


Go check out Rocks in My Dryer for more works for me tips.