Fennel (no not funnel) Cake

[rmfinn]

Hi all. I'm new to the forums but have a question for all of you. Years ago, I had the most amazing dessert at a place called Rhapsody in Chicago. It's a spot where people go before the symphony.

The dessert I had was fennel upside down cake with black liquorice ice cream. The cake was perfect, delicious, moist, and the fennel still has bite (in flavor and texture), needless to say, I was stunned. The ice cream was silky and rich, absolutely delicious but I what I remember most about it was its color. It was actually a charcoal gray color. Charcoal gray ice cream. Can you believe it?!? The whole thing was a feast for the senses.

I've often considered trying to recreate it but viewed the prospect of that as being particularly daunting. But lately, I find that cake creeping into my thoughts again. So, I ask, what might be the best way to prepare fennel for this. Would it be enough to just place it in the cake pan and proceed as you would with a pineapple upside down cake?

[baroness]

Welcome!

I would bruise some fennel or anise seeds with a mortar and pestle to add to the cake batter, and perhaps add a bit of anisette or the like to amplify the fennel flavor. In my experience, cooked fennel (the vegetable) is very mild.

[ludja]

This sounds like such an interesting dessert...

I like the baroness' suggestions for amping up the anise flavor in the cake. I think I would probably start with a pineapple upside down cake recipe. I wonder if the fennel needs any pre-preparation or if it would just slowly cook and caramelize as with pineapple. (I'm guessing the latter.)

I wonder if the dusky gray licorice ice cream gets its color from melted licorice candies as in this recipe: click

This recipe is purported to produce a black ice cream but maybe cutting back a bit on the candies will produce a dark gray.

Hope you report back on this and also, welcom to eGullet forums!

[rmfinn]

Welcome!

I would bruise some fennel or anise seeds with a mortar and pestle to add to the cake batter, and perhaps add a bit of anisette or the like to amplify the fennel flavor. In my experience, cooked fennel (the vegetable) is very mild.

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Thanks for this suggestion and for your welcome to egullet. This sounds like a nice idea and almost something I'd like to try in a muffin or other type of cake. I think I will try a couple of versions and try the methods you suggest in one of them to amp up the fennel flavor.

[rmfinn]

This sounds like such an interesting dessert...

I like the baroness' suggestions for amping up the anise flavor in the cake.  I think I would probably start with a pineapple upside down cake recipe.  I wonder if the fennel needs any pre-preparation or if it would just slowly cook and caramelize as with pineapple. (I'm guessing the latter.)

I wonder if the dusky gray licorice ice cream gets its color from melted licorice candies as in this recipe: click

This recipe is purported to produce a black ice cream but maybe cutting back a bit on the candies will produce a dark gray.

Hope you report back on this and also, welcom to eGullet forums! 

←

I have a nice pineapple upside down cake recipe that I was planning to modify. I really do want to see if the fennel with just carmelize nicely and impart a subtle flavor. I'm really excited about this.

Thank you for the link to the ice cream recipe. I often thought that they must have melted black liquorice. I have never made ice cream before and don't own an ice cream maker, but this may motivate me to take the leap. I will definitely let you know.

Thanks again for the link.

[ludja]

My simple Donvier (frozen insert, hand crank) ice cream maker is one of my favorite purchases for the kitchen. So easy to make so many interesting ice creams!

Good luck with your experimentation and let us know; I'd really be interested in this dessert as well.

I was inspired to replicate an unusual ice cream dessert once after a splendid dessert at the now defunct Pastis in San Francisco. The dessert was a flourless or nearly flourless slice of chocolate cake served with a oval of Thail basil ice cream covered with shards of dark chocolate...

Another was a parfait of tangerine granita and yogurt sorbet inspired from a meal from Kokkari in SF.

So many possibilities. A fun book to look at *after* you get your ice cream maker ( ) is Emily Luchetti's recent "A Passion for Ice Cream". She has many wonderful ice cream/sorbet recipes in there and in many interesting plated desserts.