Open Your Heart Ice Cream Cake

Ingredients:

Assembly

• 1/4 cup fine pink and red sprinkles
• Heart-shaped blondies with crumbs, recipe below
• 2 liters of vanilla ice cream

Heart-shaped blondie

• 165 g unsalted butter
• 1.5 cups granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon red gel food coloring
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 and 1/4 cups premium flour
• 1.5 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• Special equipment: a small heart-shaped cookie cutter with straight edges

Preparation:

1. Line a loaf pan with plastic wrap, leaving enough overhang on all sides to cover the dessert. In a medium bowl, combine the colored sprinkles with 1/2 cup of blondie crumbs (Step 10). Set aside.
2. Soften 0.5 cups of ice cream and spread it in an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan. Freeze until the ice cream layer is set, about 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, place 12 blondie hearts in a row and press them together as tightly as possible.
4. Soften the remaining ice cream until smooth. Remove the pan from the freezer and spoon another 1/2 cup of softened ice cream into the bottom. Carefully place a row of cookies, rounded edges down, on the ice cream in the center of the pan. Leave a 1/2-inch gap between each end of the cookie row and the sides of the pan.
5. Spread the remaining softened ice cream around a row of hearts, filling the pan to the top. Work carefully to keep the cookies pressed tightly together. Sprinkle the crumb mixture and colored sprinkles evenly over the ice cream. Cover the cake with the overhanging plastic wrap. Freeze until completely set, about 4 hours.
6. Invert the pan to remove the ice cream cake. Remove the film and discard. Slice the ice cream cake like a loaf of bread, revealing the heart hidden inside. Serve immediately.

7. Heart-shaped blondie

   
   Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Place the sugar in a larger bowl, add the butter, and stir. Cool to room temperature. Stir in the red food coloring, vanilla extract, and eggs.
   
   In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the wet mixture and knead until smooth (do not overmix).
8. Preheat oven to 175°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
9. Transfer the batter to the prepared baking sheet and spread it into an even layer. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top of the batter, then place the inverted baking sheet on top. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Cool the blondies slightly on the baking sheet, then transfer them to a wire rack. Cool completely.
10. Using a small, straight-edged, heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut 12 hearts from the blondie. The hearts should be 1 cm thick. Crumble the remaining cake.