Makes 12 servings

INGREDIENTS

1 (10 3/4-ounce) loaf-shaped sponge cake or angel food cake

1/3 cup kirsch or Cointreau liqueur

2 teaspoons light corn syrup

About 1 pint strawberry sorbet slightly softened

1/3 cup strawberry preserves

About 1 quart (3 1/3 cups) strawberry ice cream

5 Tablespoons coarse almond praline or chopped roasted unsalted almonds

Fresh strawberries for garnish

Slice the cake lengthwise into 6 even slices. Blend 1/2 cup water, the Cointreau, and the corn syrup together. Lay the cake slices out on a baking sheet and sprinkle evenly with the Cointreau mixture. Spread 4 of the slices evenly with 4 tablespoons of the preserves (1 tablespoon for each layer). Set the remaining preserves aside. Using a pancake turner to lift the cake slices, place a jam covered cake slice on a plate; repeat with another slice. Top each slice with 3/4 cup sorbet, smoothing it out with your fingertips. Top each of the sorbet-covered cake slices with another cake slice, jam side up. Freeze the 2 sorbet and cake “sandwiches.”

When the sorbet has hardened (at least 3 hours later), place a 2 1/2-foot piece of foil on a work surface. Soften 1 1/4 cups of the ice cream very slightly. Working very quickly, spread half the ice cream over the jam on 1 sorbet “sandwich.” (I slice the ice cream, then position it on the layers and spread it with my fingertips.) Repeat with the other sandwich. Sandwich the layers together with the 2 portions of ice cream facing each other in the center of the arrangement. There will be 1 thick ribbion of ice cream in the center of the layers. Center the cake, with the layers running vertically, over the foil. Trim the final 2 cake layers to fit the top of the cake. Set aside. Bring the foil up around the cake to form a nice compact rectangle. Freeze the cake about 1 hour or more.

Top the final cake layers with the remaining preserves. Remove the cake from the freezer and spread 3/4 cup ice cream smoothly over the top. Top the cake with the remaining cake layers, jam side down. Wrap the cake again and freeze until firm. When the cake is firm, place it on a platter and frost with about 1 1/2 cups ice cream. Pat the praline onto the sides of the cake. Just before serving the cake, decorate with the fresh berries.

From Frozen Delights by Linda Bumm