ICE alum and chef-instructor Penny Stankiewicz is known for her custom cakes at Sugar Couture in Brooklyn. Dr. Oz invited the pro cake artist to take on the latest social media trend in sweets: desserts that look like real dogs. See if Chef Penny's edible dog looks as real as her cake flowers and other optical illusions — this time, she's making art out of ice cream.
Molds
Dog-shaped molds can be purchased on Amazon or Etsy. Use an offset spatula to push the ice cream into the molds, and clean off the top completely. Then freeze. Depending on your freezer and ice cream, this will take 1-6 hours. To unmold, loosen the areas around the small feet first. They are delicate and can easily break. Turn the mold onto a plate upside down and peel the mold back revealing the dog.
Ice Cream
You can make your own ice cream or buy ice cream at a store. If using store bought, soften the ice cream up a bit so that it’s easy to smooth into the molds. If using homemade, mold right from the ice cream maker.
We used a coffee ice cream to give a natural color to the dogs. You can use any ice cream you like, but I'd avoid flavors with chunks of anything, that would make the ice cream lumpy and it would not mold cleanly. If you don't plan to eat the molded ice cream right away, store your treat in the freezer. The small paws and such will melt easily.
Decorating
I used cocoa butter colors on a small paintbrush to make the dog’s eyes and nose, but you can also use melted chocolate on the tip of a small paint brush. Normal food color will not adhere to ice cream.
The blanket bones and bows are all fondant. The bones are dusted with cocoa powder to give them a realistic dog bone look.
Try your hand at dessert art with pros like Chef Penny in ICE's Pastry & Baking Arts program and recreational classes.
