Every May I make some sort of new cake recipe for my husband’s birthday and this year–he requested an ice cream cake. I had never made an ice cream cake before. I wasn’t going to let that stop me.
I wanted an ice cream cake that would include chocolate. My husband, Jeremy, loves chocolate. It wouldn’t be a successful cake without it. I didn’t want anything too complicated. I decided to use chocolate and vanilla. It’s a classic combination and would look fabulous when it was cut into. As you can see, I was right. It looks fantastic.
Having never made an ice cream cake recipe before, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Would it be difficult? Time consuming? Fortunately, it only requires patience. Even though you have to wait between steps, it was rather fast to fix and actually kind of fun.
Patience Required for Homemade Ice Cream Cakes
Homemade Ice Cream Cake Recipe
To begin making your ice cream cake, you will have to start with the crust. You will simply crush the cookies and mix them with butter. They will be pressed up the bottom and sides of a 9″ Springform pan. Take the pan and place it in the freezer for fifteen minutes, while you soften one container of ice cream. The most important thing to remember is to only soften the ice cream and not to let it melt. If you forget and the ice cream melts, you will end up with ice crystals in your ice cream cake.
You will spread the ice cream on the layer, then you will chill the whole pan in the freezer for forty-five minutes. After that, you will want to let the ice cream soften while you quickly make crumbs out of the cookies. They will be mixed with the chocolate syrup and, after the next layer of softened ice cream, the cookies will be sprinkled over the top, and then frozen again for an hour. You will repeat a few steps.
The final process involves sprinkling with a sauce and cookie crumb topping. The cake will need to be frozen for three hours. It needs to be firm. Remember, you need to be able to cut into it cleanly. When it is ready, you will wipe around the outside of the pan with a hot cloth, using a hot knife to slice through the sides of the pan so you can remove them. If it is not firm enough, try again. Give it another twenty minutes and recheck.
The Finishing Touch
The final touch is to use the three cups of whipped cream, spreading them all over the top and sides of the cake. You know what’s next, right? That’s right. It will go back in the freezer for another twenty minutes. the last two cups of whipped cream are to pipe decorations onto the cake. You can top it with sprinkles and freeze it.
Fifteen minutes before serving, you will want to remove the ice cream cake from the freezer so it can soften. Then, use a hot knife to dig in.
I did make a homemade chocolate sauce recipe in exchange for the suggested hard chocolate shell ice cream topping. Although I have a great hard shell recipe on here (use the search bar) I wanted to be able to slice into it with ease. I also added a chocolate sandwich cookie crust. I found this recipe on FoodNetwork.com.
Homemade Ice Cream Cake Recipe
Homemade Ice Cream Cake Recipe
I added a Chocolate Sandwich Cookie Crust and Homemade Chocolate Sauce: http://littleindiana.com/2013/06/chocolate-sauce-for-ice-cream-topping/. Mmm! Complete the recipe in order. After frosting, you will freeze the cake one last time before serving.
If the ice cream starts melting, return to freezer and then try again. Do not use melted ice cream in this ice cream cake recipe or you will end up with ice crystals in your cake!
The original recipe stated to freeze the cake for two hours before frosting. In my case, it was more like three so I changed the time on this recipe to give folks plenty of time.
Ingredients
Crust
- 24 Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, Crushed
- 1/4 Cup Butter, Melted
Ice Cream Cake
- 2 1 1/2 Quart Containers Vanilla Ice Cream
- 7 to 8 Ounces Homemade Chocolate Sauce (recipe link below) or Jarred Chocolate Sauce
- Remaining Chocolate Sandwich Cookies (to taste)
- 1 1 1/2 Quart Container Chocolate Ice Cream
- 5 Cups Whipped Cream
- Sprinkles (Optional)
Instructions
For Crust
- Make Chocolate Sandwich Cookie Crust. Combine crushed Cookies and Melted Butter. Press into bottom and up sides of Springform pan.
For Ice Cream Cake
- Chill 9" Springform pan in freezer for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, soften 1 container Vanilla Ice Cream.
- Remove pan. Spread chilled crust with 1/2" thick layer of softened (NOT melted!) Vanilla Ice Cream. Freeze until firm (45 minutes).
- In a food processor, smash up remaining Cookies. Add Chocolate Sauce and pulse a few times until crumbs and sauce are combined and crumbs are moist. Set aside.
- Let Chocolate Ice Cream soften for 15 minutes.
- Spread over the Vanilla layer. Firmly pack ice cream into pan. Spread Chocolate Crumb/Sauce mixture over ice cream.
- Freeze for 1 hour.
- Soften Vanilla ice Cream for 15 minutes.
- Spread over Sauce/Crumb layer. Pack tightly and smooth the top.
- Freeze until firm for three hours.
- To remove from pan, wipe outside of pan with a HOT cloth and run a HOT knife around on the inside. Unlatch and remove the side. If cake is not firm, refreeze for 20 minutes and try again.
For Frosting
- Spread 3 Cups of Whipped Cream over the top and sides of the cake. Freeze until set for 20 minutes.
- Use remaining 2 Cups of Whipped Cream to pipe decorations on cake. Top with sprinkles if desired and then freeze.
Serve
- Remove 15 minutes before serving and slice with a hot knife.
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