Ice Cream Cake

For my dear friend's birthday, she requested an ice cream cake. I was up to the challenge, and I think I may have found my new favorite birthday cake :)

Clearly, she liked it too!

Do not be intimidated by this cake - it's easy to put together, it just takes a little time to freeze and set up, so you should think about making it the day before you intend to eat it.

Ice Cream Cake - Modified from Lynn at Lynn's Kitchen Adventures

{Print Recipe}

Cake
1 C wheat flour
1/4 C Hershey's special dark chocolate cocoa
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 C sugar
1 egg
1/3 C applesauce
3/4 C warm water
1 T vanilla

Ice Cream
1/2 gallon of your choosing -- I used homemade Cake Batter

Frosting
1 1/2 C whipping cream
1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 C sugar (powdered is fine)


Topping
Your choice... sprinkles, cookies, chocolate chips, fruit, mints, etc.

First, we'll make the cake:

In a large bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

Then, whisk in the sugar.

In another bowl, combine the water, egg, vanilla and applesauce/oil. I fill the measuring cup almost full with applesauce and then top it off with oil.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients until just moist.

Pour into a greased 9x13 baking pan, and bake at 325 for about 20 minutes.

Remove pan from the oven and set on a cooling wrack to cool completely. Mine took about an hour to be completely cooled.

Next, remove the ice cream from the freezer about 15 minutes before you plan to use it, so it softens a bit. I made ours fresh, and started it after the cake had been out of the oven for about 45 minutes. The fresh-made ice cream is more soft-serve in consistency, so it was easy to work with. (Click here to make your own cake-batter ice cream).

Spread the ice cream over the cake.

Try to get it as smooth as possible. Then, cover with foil or plastic wrap and freeze to harden for 4+ hours. I frozen mine overnight.

The next day, combine whipping cream, vanilla and powdered sugar. Whip with an electric mixer until stiff.

Spread the whipped cream over the frozen ice cream.

Top with toppings of your choosing.

Cover and freeze until ready to serve (make sure it has at least 2 hours in the freezer).

Remove the cake from the freezer about 15 minutes prior to serving to allow it to soften enough to serve.

Slice and enjoy!

Freeze any leftovers.

If there are any ... :)

This post is linked to:
Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, 
Tasty Tuesday, 
Mouthwatering Mondays, 
Chocolate Friday
Ingredient Spotlight