Basically I made this cake but with many tweaks. This is a record of the tweaks in case this turns out okay and I want to make it again.
1. ICE CREAM SUBSTITUTION FOR BUDGETARY REASONS
Instead of 4 pints of ice cream ($14) I used a 1.5 quart box of Breyers Coffee and one pint Hagen Daz Five Coffee flavor ($6.50 total). You might like to have the two flavors, coffee and espresso suggested in the original recipe.
2. Don't use 9 by 9 PAN: USE 10" SPRINGFORM PAN INSTEAD COS IT WON'T FIT (hm, won't drip though in the 9 by 9 pan).
Make a vanilla sponge cake in a 10" springform pan, substituting buckwheat flour when the recipe calls for regular flour. Be careful not to burn. Let cool for ten minutes. Pop open spring-form pan, peel off bottom of pan and parchment paper. Cut round cake in half horizontally so you have two layers. (i.e. don't use a 9 by 9 by 2 pan, it's too small and hard to slice the cake if it's in there).
3. COFFEE SYRUP
Martha Stewart loves it when I correct her.
While the cake is baking, make the coffee syrup. I read in the comments for the original recipe that the syrup didn't quite work, so I made it a little differently:
1 C sugar
2/3 cup water
Get this to a rolling boil for a good ten minutes until it reduces slightly and pours thickly from the spoon, gets a little golden colored.
Brew one cup of unbelievably strong coffee. I used about 3 heaping tablespoons of French Roast grounds. You can buy a little sleeve for 99 cents. I know, you have buckets of coffee grounds, but I don't drink coffee and this was pretty economical.
Put this in with the syrup and let it simmer another 3-4 minutes.
Let cool and add a 50 mL bottle of Kahlua (the tiny airplane size). Stir.
4. ASSEMBLING THE CAKE
Wash spring-form pan. Snap the ring back to the bottom round part. Line it with plastic wrap, two pieces that are big enough to go up the sides (don't put the plastic down before you snap the sides back on -- won't help).
Put the bottom layer of cake back in the pan, fluffy cut side up.
Get a teaspoon and pour little spoonfuls of the coffee syrup evenly on the cake to soak it in until about half the syrup is gone.
Sprinkle 2 T grounds over the first layer.
5. SOFTEN THE ICE CREAM IN A BOWL WITH A BIG SPOON
Put half the soft ice cream on top of the syrup soaked layer. Repeat, adding the next layer of cake, rest of syrup drizzled over it, then coffee grounds, then the rest of the coffee ice cream.
Let this puppy freeze until hard or overnight. Let it thaw a little before you serve it, obv.
Kahlua, the www tells me, is gluten free.
Enjoy!
