CAKE AND ICE CREAM GIFTS

serves 18

Cakes:
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large eggs, separated
2 cups sugar

Filling:
3 cups whipping cream
1 1/2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 1/2 tablespoons grated lemon peel
4 1/2 cups strawberry ice cream, softened slightly

Ganache:
2 1/2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup light corn syrup
2 pounds bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup Cognac or brandy

Ribbon Icing:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
5 tablespoons water

Strawberry Sauce:
2 pounds srawberries, cleaned and sliced
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup orange juice
Mix in a blender until smooth. Strain to remove seeds. Refrigerate.
For cakes:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour two 8-inch square baking pans. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into bowl.
Bring milk and butter to simmer. Remove from heat; cover to keep hot. Beat yolks and 1 cup sugar in large bowl until pale.
Using clean dry beaters, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.
Beat dry ingredients into yolks alternately with hot milk mixture, beginning and ending with dry ingredients.
Fold in whites in 3 additions. Divide batter between baking pans.
Bake cakes until tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool in pans 10 minutes. Turn out onto floured kitchen towels. Cool. Cut each cake horizontally into 3 equal layers.
For Filling:
Mix cream, sugar, lemon juice and lemon peel until sugar dissolves. Freeze lemon cream until slightly firm but still soft enough to spread. About 2 hours.
Line 2 clean 8-inch square baking pans with plastic, overlapping sides. Place one cake layer in each prepared pan.
Spread 2 1/4 cups strawberry ice cream over each.
Top with second layer. Spread 2 1/4 cups lemon cream over each.
Top with third cake layer, cut side down. Cover and freeze cakes overnight.
Turn 1 cake out onto baking sheet. Peel off plastic. Trim cake edges. Cut cake into nine 2 1/2-inch squares; place in freezer.
Repeat with remaining cake.
For Ganache:
Bring cream and corn syrup to simmer in large saucepan. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until melted. Stir in Cognac.
Cool until thickened slightly but still pourable.
Remove 3 cakes from freezer and place on wire rack set over baking sheet.
Pour 1/3 cup ganache all at once over top of 1 cake. Working quickly, spread ganache over sides. Repeat with remaining 2 cakes.
Return to baking sheet in freezer. Glaze remaining cakes, 3 at a time. Freeze until glaze is firm, about 1 hour.
For Ribbon Icing:
Whisk powdered sugar and 5 tablespoons water to blend. Transfer to pastry bag fitted with small plain tip. Remove 1 baking sheet from freezer.
Pipe icing over top of each cake, forming bow. Return to freezer. Repeat with cakes on second baking sheet.
Freeze until icing sets, about 30 minutes. (Can be made 1 week ahead. Cover with plastic; keep frozen).
Place one cake on each plate. Pour some of the strawbery sauce around each cake and serve, passing remaining sauce separately.