Some of my favorite people have birthdays in August, so it seemed appropriate to share a recipe for Birthday Cake Ice Cream. The problem was I didn't have one. My old recipe, one with raw cake mix in it, didn't taste right anymore. So after going on a Birthday Cake and Cake Batter Ice Cream making spree, I found the perfect recipe, courtesy of the National Dairy Alliance. It doesn't call for raw cake mix and it is incredibly simple.
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No Raw Cake Mix
The problem with my old recipe was the cake mix flavor was no longer strong enough. It might have been due to reformulated cake mix, but I'm not sure. Another issue was the safety of eating raw cake mix. Some say it's okay, but a lot or sources say it's not. So I was curious to see how McCormick's Cake Batter Flavor instead of raw cake mix would work. Turns out it works great! By the way, it used to be called Butter & Nut Flavor and it was a "secret ingredient" that I'd go to great lengths to obtain. I hadn't bought any in a while, but I'm so glad I tried it in ice cream. There's a picture of the box in this ingredient shot (which I left the milk out of).
Yellow Cake Batter Ice Cream Sandwiches
So the ice cream itself is practically effortless, which gives you time to make it even more festive by baking some cake mix cookies. You can use them to make Birthday Cake Ice Cream Sandwiches *or* chop them up and put them in the ice cream. Here's a sandwich made with Aldi brand white cake mix. I made some others using Betty Crocker brand. Recipes are below. The Aldi cookies tasted a tiny bit better but the Betty Crocker cookies (not pictured) were a prettier shade of yellow.
Small Batch Half Box Cake Mix Cookies
For Betty Crocker Yellow (from a 13.25 oz box), mix 1 ⅓ cup (170-180 grams) cake mix with 1 egg and a little less than 3 tablespoons of oil to make a soft dough. Portion 8 or 9 gobs of dough with a cookie scoop, spacing 3 inches apart, and bake for about 13 minutes. Check at 10. Slide parchment off sheet and let cool on the parchment. Remove with a spatula.
Aldi Brand White Cake Mix Cookies
For Aldi brand white cake mix or any that comes in a 15.25 oz box, mix 1 ⅓ cups cake mix with 1 egg and ¼ cup of oil to make the dough. Portion into 9 balls and bake at 350 for 12-13 minutes. Check at 10.Slide parchment off sheet and let cool on the parchment. Remove with a spatula.
Birthday Cake Ice Cream Tips
- McCormick Cake Batter Flavor is readily available here in North Carolina. If you have another brand to recommend, let me know!
- Wilton's sprinkles work well and taste good. I'm not a sprinkle person, but these were more than tolerable.
- For the cream, you can use 2 cups of full fat heavy cream (as per The National Dairy Alliance) or 1 cup of cream and 1 cup of half & half. The ice cream is still plenty rich with the half & half, but might be less slick.
- Xanthan gum and guar gum. Don't let this scare you, but if you keep either of these around for smoothies or gluten-free baking, you can make your ice cream even better. Dissolve either ¼ teaspoon of xanthan gum or ⅛ teaspoon of guar gum in a little bit of the cream (make a slurry), then whisk it in with the liquid mixture to make sure it dissolves. This is totally optional, but it makes the ice cream a little softer.
Recipe
No-Cook Birthday Cake Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 cups cream OR use 1 cup cream and one cup half & half (slightly less fatty with the half & half sub)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 14 oz condensed milk (one can)
- 1 ½ tablespoons McCormick Cake Batter Flavor
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tablespoon colored sprinkles (use more as desired)
- 3 large frozen vanilla cupcake, some chopped cookies, Golden Oreos as needed
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cream, half & half (if using), milk, condensed milk, cake batter flavor and vanilla.
- Pour into the ice cream maker and churn following manufacturer directions. When ice cream is soft, pack it into a container alternating with sprinkles and chopped cake or cookies. Freeze for at least 4 hours.
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