Best Ice Cream Cake Recipe

Multilayered ice cream cake is a gorgeous frozen dessert with layers of chocolate mocha cake sandwiched between layers of ice cream, topped with a dark chocolate ganache and decorated with mocha chocolate frosting. These are perfect to make for someone special or as a show stopper at any party.

Who doesn’t like ice creams and if it is combined with a cake, well, need we say more. My mother’s birthday was coming up and I wanted to make it special for her this year. We were unable to spend her last birthday with her as we had to travel away from home.

Being an avid baker, I was not going to get any store bought cake for her. With summers at our doorstep, something cold sounded good; what better than ice cream to cool us down. A few years ago (long before I started this blog), I had prepared a layered ice cream cake in a bowl with layers of yellow cake, topped with 3 layers of ice cream and she always talks about how she enjoyed it so much. So ice cream birthday cake it was!

There are 5 different elements or textures in this gorgeous ice cream cake;

• Chocolate mocha cake (egg free and with whole wheat flour)
• Black currant ice cream (with frozen and delicious bits of black currants in every bite)
• Tutti frutti ice cream (with bits of candied fruits and raisins)
• Smooth, creamy and scrumptious chocolate ganache
• Chocolate mocha icing for decorating the final cake

Ever since I made chocolate beetroot cake, my mother has fallen in love with chocolate (she always hated anything with chocolate before that!). She calls it beetroot cake and not chocolate cake! So, some of the layers in the cake were going to be chocolate cake.

I have always loved making chocolate cake for my kids, especially an eggless one with whole wheat in it. This time, I decided to add some coffee powder and used brown sugar instead of white sugar. Addition of coffee enhanced the flavor of the chocolate and while the cake was being baked in the oven, the whole house smelled of coffee and chocolate!

With so many elements to prepare for the ice cream cake, to make it easier for me, I went ahead and got store bought ice cream flavor; black currant and tutti frutti. You can use any flavors you like.

This being a birthday cake, I had to use some kind of icing or glaze. Chocolate ganache (chocolate with cream) sounded divine and it adds a smooth glaze and shine to any cake. For the final touch, I made some chocolate frosting; of course with more coffee in it, for the cake decoration!

Once everything was ready, all it needed was to put the cake together. I started to prepare 2 days in advance. The cake had to be prepared and cooled. Being the peak of summer and my kitchen (with lots of windows) being unusually hotter than normal, I decided to lower the temperature of my freezer to the coldest notch.

In between preparing every layer, I was dashing to place the cake in the freezer to maintain the cold temperature of the cake (I did not want my ice cream melting away any time during the whole process!).  Once the cake and ice cream layers were well frozen, it was time to quickly pour cool chocolate ganache over the cake taking care not to melt the ice cream; and then back to the freezer again.

As soon as the ganache and ice cream were well frozen, I went ahead and started decorating the cake with the mocha frosting; kept this to a minimum as the less time the ice cream cake was out of the freezer, the better.

The final touch was just some glazed cherries to bring contrast to the color of the decorated cake.

This gorgeous ice cream cake was then allowed to chill overnight in the freezer until serving time.

My mother loved it so much that although it was a long process (what with the hot weather adding to my woes),  I am glad I decided to go ahead and make this multi-layered ice cream cake for her.

Happy Birthday Mom!!!

For other similar desserts, try Watermelon Ice Cream Bombe, Homemade Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream etc.

How to make Best Ice Cream Cake:

To make the cake:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees Centigrade or 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Grease and flour an 8-inch spring form pan. I have lined the bottom with foil and then greased and floured it to make removing the cake easier. Keep aside.

• In a small bowl, mix the dry ingredients;  whole wheat flour, brown sugar, cocoa powder, instant coffee powder and salt well with a wire whisk.
• To this mixture, add oil, vanilla essence, 1 tablespoon vinegar and 1 cup water.
• Mix well with a spoon or fork until thoroughly blended.
• Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 to 35 minutes until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

• Remove from oven and cool in pan on rack for about 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, remove from pan and foil; cool completely on cooling rack.

• After the cake has completely cooled, using a large sharp knife cut the cake into half horizontally to form two thin layers of cake.

• Return one layer to the spring form pan and close the latch. Place the pan in a deep freezer for about 1 to 2 hours to chill the cake thoroughly; I do not want ice cream to start melting once it touches the cake.
• Meanwhile, remove one flavor of ice cream (I have used black currant ice cream) and let it soften at room temperature. Ice cream should be soft enough to be spread easily on the chilled cake, not melting.
• Once the ice cream is soft enough to spread, remove the pan with the first layer of cake from freezer. Spread softened ice cream on top of that layer and smoothen with an offset spatula. I have used about 1 liter of ice cream for the first layer of ice cream. Place the second layer of cake over this and return the pan to freezer to let the ice cream to set completely; about 2 to 3 hours.
• Remove the second flavor of ice cream from freezer and let soften at room temperature until soft and spreadable. Remove the pan from freezer and spread second layer of ice cream over the frozen cake evenly and smoothen the top to level as much as possible. Return pan to freezer for about 3 to 4 hours to freeze completely. It is best to keep it overnight in the freezer.
• The next day, prepare chocolate ganache and chocolate mocha icing.

For the chocolate ganache:

• Chop chocolate into small pieces and place in a bowl.

• In a small saucepan, heat cream until it starts to boil and is hot. Do not boil.
• Pour the hot cream over the chocolate pieces and keep aside for a minute or two.

• Whisk until smooth and shiny; let cool.

• As soon as the ganache is cool but still in liquid form, remove ice cream cake from freezer and remove sides of spring form pan, leaving the ice cream cake on the base of the pan.
• Gently pour ganache over the cake to cover the top fully and let the glaze drip over the sides of the cake. This process should be done quickly, taking care not to allow the ice cream to melt.
• Immediately, return cake to freezer to freeze completely; another 1 to 2 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the chocolate mocha icing:

• In a small bowl, sift icing sugar, coffee powder and salt; mix well. Keep aside.

• In a large mixing bowl, beat ½ cup of softened butter until soft and creamy. Stir in vanilla essence and beat again.

• To this, add icing sugar mixture in batches on low speed until it is well combined with the butter-vanilla mixture; scraping down the sides as required.
• Add milk a teaspoon at a time until you get the consistency you want. I used about 2 teaspoons of milk to get a frosting soft enough to flow through the cake decorating nozzle, but stiff enough to form chocolate kisses on top of cake using the star tip.

• Once the cake is fully frozen again, remove from freezer and using a piping bag and star decorating tip, pipe borders on top and bottom of cake. Decorate with cherries and return to freezer to freeze again until serving time.

• Although the whole process is time consuming, the end result is worth it! Remove cake from freezer about 10 minutes before serving time.
• Enjoy decadent, luscious and divine ice cream cake anytime in the comforts of your home any time now!! 

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