Semi homemade is a devil/angel concept. Sometimes the chemical preservatives used in mixes can be drawn out in the baking process and ruin the final taste. Other times it can improve an otherwise so, so dessert. One particular thing that I do steer away from and that is cake "enhancers"- it seems as if they enhance the shelf life of the cake, but add a chemical taste.
This cake was very light in texture, not like most bundt cakes which are closer to a pound cake. The chocolate chips with the melted espresso ice cream is a classic flavor combination that most coffee drinkers cannot ignore. Again, I posed as the purist and did not frost this cake. You can click over to Dozen Flours if you are interested in making the chocolate marshmallow frosting.
Also, if you want to create your own flavor combination with the ice cream, just be sure that you get a plain flavored ice cream. Do not use ice cream that is already laden with a secondary flavor (fudge swirl, caramel swirl, rocky road, etc) Strawberry or pistachio would be good, adding chopped white chocolate.
Espresso Cream Cake
courtesy of Dozen Flours
Ingredients
2/3 cup mini choc chips
2 cups melted ice cream (I used Hagen Dazs coffee)
1 package white cake mix (make sure no pudding in mix)
1 tbs instant coffee or espresso powder
3 eggs
Prepare 12 cup bundt pan or tube pan by greasing all of the inside and dusting with flour. Make sure that all crevasses are covered. As shown by the picture, my cake top has places where you can see the flour, however, I would rather have the floured edges than a cake that sticks to the pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat together all ingredients except chocolate chips. The first session should be on low for one minute and then second session (after scraping down sides) should be on medium speed for 2 minutes. Set aside.
In a small bowl, mix 1 tbs of flour with the mini chocolate chips. This will make sure that your chips do not sink to the bottom of the pan. Fold chips into batter.
Pour mixture into prepared pan and place in oven. I used a 10 cup pan and the cake took exactly 30 minutes. The original recipe stated 38-42 minutes, but bake for 30 and then use toothpick test, adding an additional 5 minutes after each test if needed.
Once the cake is finished baking, set pan on wire rack to cool for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you should see that the edges have separated from the pan. If not, run a knife around edges and then invert pan on cooling rack so the cake is right side up. It should take 30 minutes to completely cool.
You can leave the cake plain or, if desired frost or dust with confectioners sugar.