This stunning cake is perfect for a birthday. The different flavours complement each other to create a delicious dessert: luscious strawberry, sweet vanilla and rich chocolate.

To ensure the brownie base is not frozen, the cake is assembled just before it is served. The warm ganache is also designed to aid in this. By pouring it once the cake has been sliced and plated up, there is still a delicious contrast between warm and cold.

For a truly delectable dessert, follow the tips below;

Ensure the chocolate pieces you stir through the brownie batter are about chocolate chip size. As the cake is not warmed before is it eaten, larger pieces would just form lumps in your brownie. They are also very difficult to cut through if having it frozen the next day!
Refreeze the strawberry ice cream layer before creating the vanilla ice cream layer on top. This prevents the flavours from mixing so the layers are more defined.
Use the same cake tin for the brownie and forming the ice cream layers. This means they will definitely have the same diameter.
Use milk chocolate for the ganache if you would prefer. The chocolate ganache can be very dark which isn’t everyone’s preference.
Read the entire method before beginning so you know roughly when you’ll be completing each stage.

Difficulty: A little effort
Time: 2 hours + cooling and freezing
Serves: 10

Ingredients:

300g dark chocolate – half of which should be chopped into small pieces, or use chocolate chips. The other half should simply be in chunks.
125g butter
1 egg
100g caster sugar
50g self raising flour
750ml strawberry ice cream
750ml vanilla ice cream
150ml double cream
100g dark chocolate

First, make the brownie.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius. Grease and line an 8 inch round cake tin with greaseproof paper.
Place 150g of the dark chocolate chunks and the butter in a heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water until melted. Leave to cool slightly.
In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and sugar until fluffy. Stir through the cooled chocolate mixture.
Fold through the flour and 150g of small chocolate pieces before turning into the prepared tin.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes – the brownie should still be soft but cooked through. Leave to cool in the tin.
Remove from the tin and store in an airtight container until ready to assemble the cake.
Next, make the ice cream layers.
Take the strawberry ice cream out of the freezer to soften. In the cleaned cake tin, make a smooth layer of the ice cream. Work quickly so that the ice cream doesn’t melt entirely.
Place the cake tin in the freezer for 20 minutes before making the second layer.
This time, take the vanilla ice cream out of the freezer to soften. Make a second ice cream layer, working quickly to prevent the strawberry ice cream from melting.
Place back in the freezer until read to serve.
Make the ganache just before serving.
Break up the chocolate and place in a heatproof jug.
Heat the cream in a small saucepan, stirring continuously. Once bubbling, pour it over the chocolate and start whisking.
Continue whisking until a smooth, glossy sauce is has formed.
To assemble, place the brownie on a cake stand or other serving dish. Take the ice cream layers out of the freezer. Use a spatula to separate them from the sides of the cake tin.
Turn the ice cream layers upside down on top of the brownie. Use a spatula to gently separate the ice cream from the base of the cake tin. Smooth the sides of the ice cream with a spatula.
Slice and serve with the ganache on the side for pouring.

She was wonderful