The Arctic Roll is back. This cake and ice-cream concoction was the Ben and Jerry’s treat of the 80’s. It prempted the Vienetta and was that little bit of luxury when times were tight. It was the Sunday best and had a similar mystique to baked alaska. At the height of its popularity, more than twenty five miles of Arctic Rolls were sold every month in the UK alone. The original arctic roll is essentially vanilla ice cream wrapped in a thin layer of sponge cake to form a roll and bound together with a layer of sweet sauce.
The current recession and consumers demand for all things retro has meant that Birdseye have finally been able to revive this 80’s classic after its fall from favour in the 90’s. Of course times have changed and though a nice idea, the original arctic roll may not live up to our high expectations. Food writer Nigel Slater has even described it as tasting of “frozen carpet”. But, before we all dismiss the Arctic roll again, I decided to recreate my own version of the chocolate arctic roll, just to see if I could revive some of that 80’s magic and mystique
Here’s how:
Cake
– 3 medium eggs
– 125g caster sugar
– 100g plain flour
– 25g cocoa powder
Interior
– 4 slices of ice-cream from a block (approx. 1.5 inches thick)
– 4 tablespoons of Nutella (More if you prefer it extra chocolaty)
About two hours in advance of making the arctic roll, slice up the ice-cream into slices that are approx. 1.5 inches thick. Place each slice on a large strip of baking paper about three times the size of the ice-cream. Wrap the ice cream in the paper and squeeze lightly into a roll. The warmth of your hand should soften the ice-cream. Keeping the ice cream in the paper, gently roll in on the work surface, to make the edges smooth. Next, tighten the edges like a sausage to help it form into the shape of a roll. Put the ice-cream roll straight back into the freezer for at least 2 hours. Repeat the same process for the other three pieces of ice-cream.
Next, preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a 33 x 23 cm Swiss roll tin with butter or vegetable oil and line with baking paper. Place the eggs and the sugar into a large bowl. Whisk using an electric hand mixer for about 5 minutes, just until the mixture is thick enough to leave a trail when the whisk is lifted. Next, sift in the flour and cocoa and 1 tablespoon of hot water into the egg mix. Using a large slotted spoon, gently fold in the flour and water in a figure of eight motion.
Pour into the tin, and spread the mixture evenly. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The cake should be risen and just firm. Put a large sheet of baking paper onto a clear work surface. Turn the cake out onto the paper. Carefully peel off the baking paper. Cover the cake with a clean sheet of baking paper and a damp clean tea towel.
Once the cake has cooled a little, remove the tea towel and top layer of baking paper and trim off the crisp edges with a sharp knife. Then cut the cake in half lengthways to make 2 long strips. Spread each half with softened nutella. Take one of the ice-cream rolls out of the freezer and remove the paper. Make each roll one at a time, waiting until the last minute to remove the ice-cream rolls from the freezer. Place the ice cream on top of the nutella and gently roll the cake as you would a Swiss roll, using the baking paper underneath to squeeze gently. You should get two rolls out of each half. Serve immediately with a strawberry coulis. Or you can make all four, wrap in clean baking paper, put them straight back in the freezer and leave for an hour before serving.
