Roasted Root Vegetable and White Wine Soup and Ice Cream Cake

Hello! Last night, I wanted to make the perfect fall-inspired chowder to eat outside in front of our outdoor fire with warm scarves and a glass of wine. We had company over, so I wanted to create a comfortable ambience. The photos featured above are exactly what I ended up with. It WAS the perfect fall evening, which felt like comfort in its entirety, with my newest favorite obsession, the Thievery Corporation Pandora Station!
Do you ever just look around you, use all of your senses to take in your environment, and take a deep, satisfying breath, thinking "This is it. Pure Peacefulness."? I try to achieve this feeling at least one time a day and last evening was it for me.

I would love to share my newest recipe with you! (followed by homemade Toasted Coconut & Chocolate Ice Cream Cake...double yum!)
Here you go!

Roasted Root Vegetable and White Wine Soup (in crock pot)
Chop roasted root vegetables into bite sized pieces and put on roasting pan or cookie sheet.
I used: 1 sweet potato, 2 red potatoes, a handful of brussel sprouts, half of a head of cauliflower, 3 whole garlic cloves and half of a head of broccoli. 
Toss vegetables with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and a combination of spices. Any combination would be great, but most importantly, include dried thyme and coriander. I used a combination of spices including: coriander, thyme, savory, rosemary, basil, tarragon and lavender.
Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.
Transfer to slow cooker with 4 cups of vegetable broth and a cup of fresh corn kernels.
Cook on low for 6 hours.
Add one cup of heavy cream and 3/4 a cup of white wine, salt and pepper within the last hour of cooking. 
Blend with immersion blender or transfer in batches to blender/food processor and return to crock pot.

I served with crunchy, toasted baguette with a pat of butter, a dollop of greek yogurt and a dash of habanero hot sauce. This soup was divine, seasonal and easy to prepare. 

And now, for dessert!

Toasted Coconut & Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

Mix the following ingredients in a medium bowl, and transfer to a lightly greased springform pan:
1 cup sugar
1 cup of all purpose or bread flour
1/2 a cup of cocoa powder
3/4 a teaspoon of baking soda
3/4 a teaspoon of baking powder
1/2 a teaspoon of salt
1 egg
1/2 a cup of milk
1/4 a cup of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/2 a cup of boiling water

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
Let cool at room temperature and then transfer to freezer.
When transferring to freezer, remove a pint of chocolate ice cream, and let thaw.
Within 1-2 hours, take your chocolate cake out of the freezer and spread a generous layer of soft chocolate ice cream on top, while still in springform pan.

Toast 1/2 a cup of shredded, sweetened coconut for 10 minutes at 30 degrees and sprinkle on top of the ice cream cake with a combination of 1/2 a cup of dark chocolate chips.

Freeze until ready to eat.
THIS cake is delicious and I've created a recipe that is simple and incorporates many ingredients which are likely sitting in your cabinets. This is one of those special recipes that appears to be much more sophisticated than the amount of sophistication that it takes to create! And ROCKS! I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!