Well, here it is Labor Day, which must mean it's September, and that means I'm behind in telling all of you about Martha's Cake of the Month for August: Peaches and Cream Ice Cream Cake. I must admit that I procrastinated quite a bit on this one... I was so busy earlier in the month, that I put it off until the last week of August. I read through the recipe, and it seemed fairly straightforward: make the cake, mix ripe peaches into vanilla ice cream, and make layers with the cake, vanilla ice cream, and peach sorbet. It also sounded really delicious - I *love* peaches, and I'm always a bit sad that their season is so short-lived.
So, last week I went out to gather the ingredients to get baking - what I needed from the list was pretty simple: buttermilk, ripe peaches, and 2 types of peach sorbet (2 kinds so that the layers look different). I had no luck finding any peach sorbet at my usual stops: Trader Joe's and Vons. I went to Ralph's to look with still no luck. I went to Lassen's (a local health/natural food chain) and still could not find a single variety of peach sorbet, let alone 2! I began to get frustrated, because I had exhausted all of my local grocery stores. I called Lazy Acres (a gourmet/natural food store) in Santa Barbara, thinking I could bribe Jerry into stopping there on his way home from work if they had it... but, they didn't. I did a web search for peach sorbet and found loads of recipes, and also found that Haagen Dazs makes one that sounds wonderful. Unfortunately, no one seems to carry it! My last and final attempt was to call Whole Foods in Thousand Oaks. I wasn't crazy about the idea, but I figured I could make the drive if it meant I could get the sorbet to make this silly cake. Whole Foods came up empty handed as well.
At this point, I was thoroughly frustrated. I knew I had procrastinated, but I still intended on coming through and making this silly cake! None of the local ice cream shops were any help either... Coldstone Creamery, Marble Slab, Ben & Jerry's, Baskin Robbins - no peach sorbet! At the back of my mind was the thought that I could always make the sorbet myself, but the thought of making 2 types of sorbet, mixing the ice cream, and baking the cake was a bit insane - especially with a budding new online shop to keep up! So, to make this terribly long story come to an end, I had to forfeit on the August cake. I can't tell you how it tasted or what it was like to bake and layer, but I can tell you that I think it's pretty insane that I couldn't find one of the main ingredients - especially when I live in a region where specialty and gourmet ingredients are readily available.
Happily, I can send you to 2 other folks who did conquer the cake, and you can read what they have to say about the August debacle: sweet little treat and lattistar.
Ah, at least you gave it the old college try! It's pretty typical of Martha to include ingredients that nobody can get! Hope the September cake is less frustrating.
Posted by: Mariko | September 04, 2006 at 10:41 AM
What an ordeal! They sell the Haagen Dazs peach sorbet at my local plain old not gourmet grocery store. You should have asked me, I would have sent you some. ;)
Posted by: persephone | September 04, 2006 at 12:31 PM
How frustrating, but I must say I'm so jealous of your "usual" grocery stops. I was out in CA working last spring and fell in love with Von's and Trader Joe's. We have nothing like Von's in the Twin Cities and Trader Joe's are new on the scene here, so still sparse.
Posted by: Jane | September 04, 2006 at 01:10 PM
I had a similar ordeal this weekend with one of Martha's peach pie recipes. I looked everywhere for creme fraiche and was unable to find it. After looking online, I learned that you can make your own by letting buttermilk and whipping cream do their business together for about 24-36 hours. No thanks. I made a peach and blueberry tart from the wonderful cookbook Once Upon a Tart and it turned out wonderful, so I am happy.
Posted by: Melissa | September 04, 2006 at 01:19 PM
who knew peach sorbet could be such a bear to find?? wow--good for you for trying so hard, though!! (i'd have forfeited, too)
Posted by: molly | September 05, 2006 at 05:55 AM
How bizarre. I don't blame you for not wanting to make the sorbet yourself. There just reaches a limit, you know?!
Posted by: Scribbles & Bits | September 05, 2006 at 10:39 AM