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For the third entry in my continuing series of attempts at recreating some of the recipes from the Coles Christmas Magazine, I’ve turned a little sweeter. I’ve already claimed victory over Christmas Cocktails, and had a crack at the crackling, but now it’s time to move on to dessert and probably the most visually challenging recipe I’ve attempted.

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Choc-mint ice-cream slice

• SERVES 8 • PREPARATION 20 MINS • FREEZING 5 HRS
750ml Coles Vanilla Ice Cream
200g pkt Coles Chocolate Mint Supremes, chopped
750ml chocolate ice-cream
1 cup frozen raspberries
Fresh or frozen raspberries, mint leaves and icing sugar, to serve.

Step 1 – Line a 6-cup capacity loaf tin with plastic wrap, then with non-stick baking paper. Scoop vanilla ice-cream into a large bowl and leave to soften slightly. Using a large metal spoon, mix through the biscuits.
Step 2 – Spoon mixture into the loaf tin, and press with the back of a spoon to smooth the surface. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours, until firm. Repeat with the chocolate ice-cream, mixing in the frozen raspberries, and spoon mixture on top of the already frozen loaf. Return to the freezer for at least 2 hours, or overnight.
Step 3 – Up to 1 hour before serving, chill a serving platter in freezer. Turn loaf onto it, and remove plastic and paper. Return to freezer until serving.
Step 4 – To serve, top dessert with fresh or frozen raspberries and mint leaves, dust with icing sugar and cut into slices.

You have to admit, that looks very impressive on the page and first impressions are important. Without even reading the ingredients or instructions of the recipe, I know it will taste awesome and be very difficult to perform.

Fear not – it was actually easier than it looks, and a bit of fun too. What’s not to like about it? Mashing up multiple ice cream flavours, throwing in some chocolate biscuits – I think even if you did this wrong, it would still turn out so right.

Side by side, perfect harmony - there's a metaphor here somewhere

The real hard bit is waiting for the concoction to set. Due to our schedules, we had the capacity to wait overnight, and because I wanted to give the dessert the full amount of time so that the end product would look as close to the magazine image as possible. I think the results though were impressive.

Melted a little bit when I tried to cut it to get a good cross section, and I did not bother with the garnishing on top. I am slightly disappointed that you could not see the full effect of the $2 Christmas themed serving plate though. Otherwise, I’m claiming yet another win in the appearance department (with a generous assist to my wife and mother-in-law on this one.)

Yes it is good, thanks for asking

Without a doubt the recipe also passed the taste test…for the most part. I’m not a fan of the raspberry and chocolate combination in this case. The raspberries were a little too tart or bitter perhaps, and I found myself trying to eat around them. My wife suggested substituting another form of chocolate for the berries instead – but then again, she is heavily pregnant and seems to suggest adding more chocolate regardless of the recipe or time of day.

The ingredients were agreeable to begin with, and the extra effort to serve them as suggested is well worth it. It’s a dish that looks a lot harder than it really is, and that will reward you even more by impressing any guests at the table.