The Diplomat, Reimagined

Directions

1. Cut, using a horizontal stroke, the round top off the pound cake and reserve it for another use. (See note, below.) Then, slice what’s left of the pound cake in half, horizontally.
2. Combine the rum, espresso, hot water, brown sugar and vanilla extract and stir gently to dissolve the sugar.
3. Drizzle that over the two halves of pound cake, taking care to drizzle it on the cut side of the bottom half. Don’t get too much on the outer edges of the cake, as you may be trimming some of that off, once the layers are frozen.
4. Loosely wrap the halves in parchment and put them in a tightly closed plastic bag and then in the freezer. Freeze for at least 2 hours.
5. While the cake is freezing, take out one quart of ice cream. Using a scoop, pull off large chunks and put them in a large bowl (preferably metal). Use the back of a large, sturdy spoon to smash down the ice cream. Work quickly, as you don’t want it to melt too much. You just want to make it soft enough so that you can spread it without too much difficulty. Sprinkle it with the almond extract and give it a good stir. If the cake halves are not fairly well frozen, put the bowl in the freezer until they are.
6. Using parchment or wax paper, make a sling across the long sides and bottom of a loaf pan that’s at least the size of the pound cake.
7. Spread about half of the ice cream in the bottom of the loaf pan. Take the top half of the soaked pound cake and put it on top of the ice cream. Cover with the remaining ice cream from the first quart and then layer on the bottom half of doused cake, with the bottom side up.
8. Cover tightly and put back in the freezer. Allow it to freeze nice and hard, for at least four hours. Overnight is better.
9. When ready to “frost” it, remove the loaf pan from the freezer and turn the cake over onto your serving plate. If the sides are uneven, use a sharp knife to true them up.
10. Pop the whole thing back into the freezer while you soften the remaining pint of ice cream.
11. Take the cake out of the freezer and spread the softened ice cream over it like icing, filling in any holes between the layers. Put it back in the freezer, uncovered, for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove it and press the toasted almond pieces into the top.. Cover gently with a larger loaf pan if you have one, or very lightly with plastic wrap. When the ice cream has hardened a bit (which takes about 45 minutes in my freezer), wrap it a bit more firmly with plastic wrap if not eating right away.
12. Let it sit at room temperature for no more than 10 minutes (or 5 minutes if it’s a hot day) before slicing and serving immediately.
13. Enjoy! ;o)
14. NB: I freeze odd bits of pound cake, then defrost and toast and break into crumbs to sprinkle on the bottom of fruit pies, to keep them from making the crust soggy. They can also be combined in a Devonshire pudding, a recipe for which I've posted here on Food52.