Coloured, layered, mixed, ice cream cakes are available in an infinite number of combinations to satisfy all palates during the summer months.
Posted at 11:00 a.m.
Summer or winter, Sandra Maffini makes sure to always have frozen cakes in her freezer. Because the co-owner of Hartley Glaces et Chocolats has countless customers who celebrate birthdays with one of her elegant frozen creations.
After a hearty meal, an ice cream cake is the ideal dessert, in his opinion, since it is very light; but it is especially very refreshing when it starts to get hot.
No matter where you place your order, you need to plan at least 48 hours in advance — especially for custom cakes — because preparing a frozen dessert requires following a succession of steps. “An iced cake is generally a layering of ice cream flavors,” explains Alexandre Deslauriers, co-owner of Les Givrés. We soften the ice cream, make a layer, freeze and repeat the operation.
PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Vegan Bomb iced cake, Frosted
You can also choose to mix different flavors of sorbets or ice creams rather than layering them — as the owner of Péché Glacé, Kathleen Bourgeois, does for her Tourbillon de sorbets cake. In this case, everything is a question of temperature, since it is necessary to prevent the ice from amalgamating.
But the secret to a good ice cream cake undoubtedly begins with quality ice cream, because the challenge is to maintain the texture of the ice cream when the time comes to work it before refreezing it. “I know that my ice cream can be softened easily without losing too much texture because my texture is already really good at the start. Otherwise, you will end up with something less pleasant in your mouth; it’s going to look like a popsicle, you’re going to feel the needles of ice cream,” says Alexandre Deslauriers.
PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The owner of Péché Glacé, Kathleen Bourgeois, puts the finishing touches on her chocolate, raspberry and hazelnut ice cream cake.
Once you get to the final stage of decorating, it’s best to be well prepared and quick to get it done before the ice cream starts to melt, advises Sandra Maffini. And to make sure you serve your frozen cake in the best conditions, you trust the recommendations of the artisan; while some ice creams and sorbets will need to rest for a quarter of an hour at room temperature in order to reach the ideal tasting temperature, others will have to be taken out at the last minute.
Three addresses to discover
Frozen Sin
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PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
The vanilla ice cream cake, chocolate-hazelnut praline and raspberry, from Péché Glacé, with iced macaroons
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PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Iced cake Tourbillon of sorbets, from Péché Glacé
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PHOTO CATHERINE LEFEBVRE, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Chocolate, raspberry and hazelnut iced cake, from Péché Glacé
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Kathleen Bourgeois has been preparing gelato and sorbets on the Plateau Mont-Royal for 17 years — a passion discovered when she was a student, while working in an Italian café… in Australia! It was her gluttony that then pushed her to go to Italy, where she “learned with the best”, to finally fulfill her dream in Montreal. Her frozen cakes are prepared with a vanilla sponge cake and topped with decadent frozen macaroons, whose flavors change with the taste of the day. You can choose the combination of your choice among the twenty homemade gelato and sorbets or let yourself be tempted by his creations, including the very popular Tourbillon de sorbets, which combines four equally refreshing flavors (lemon, mango, blackcurrant, raspberry).
1843 Mont-Royal Avenue East, Montreal
The Frosties
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PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Vegan Bomb iced cake, Frosted
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PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
The frozen cake Just Sorbet, Givrés
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PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
Iced cake Frost yourself the strawberry, Frosted
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PHOTO FRANÇOIS ROY, THE PRESS
The iced cake It’s not going round, Frosted
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Since opening their first boutique in 2011, the co-owners of Les Givrés have come a long way. In addition to their three branches in Vieux-Rosemont, Villeray and Hochelaga, Les Givrés is the only artisan ice cream maker to have carved out a place for itself in the distribution market — in grocery stores as well as in restaurants. Among its beautifully named ice cream cakes are the coveted Bombe Végane (made from vegan ice cream prepared with oat drink), but also the classics Juste du sorbet (lemon, mango, raspberry), Givre-toi la strawberry and It’s not turning round (chocolate, caramel and vanilla).
2730 Masson Street, Montreal
334 de Castelnau East, Montreal
3681 Ontario Street East, Montreal
Hartley Ice Cream and Chocolates
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The raspberry and chocolate iced cake, from Hartley Glaces et Chocolats
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The mango and raspberry iced cake, from Hartley Glaces et Chocolats
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PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
The pear and caramel iced cake, from Hartley Glaces et Chocolats
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This Saint-Lambert institution had been established for 40 years when Thierry Daigneault and his wife Sandra Maffini took over the business a few years ago. The new co-owner makes up to 50 flavors of ice cream with natural ingredients, no artificial flavors or colors. And all the combinations are possible, from his creations of the week, to imagine an ice cream cake to his taste. The base is an almond dacquoise, gluten-free, which goes wonderfully with very popular pairings such as pear and cardamom or passion fruit and blackcurrant. But the must-have of the house, the one she always makes sure to have behind the counter because of her great popularity, remains her half-raspberry sorbet half-chocolate ice cream cake.
474 Victoria St., St. Lambert