Six Inch Ice Cream Cake
The layers bake up pretty flat, which is helpful when making an ice cream cake. One recipe will give you two layers -- enough for two small ice cream cakes. Use one and freeze the second.
Servings 2 layers or enough for 2 small ice cream cakes
Cost 5
Ingredients
Ice Cream
- 1 pint ice cream
Cake Layers
- ½ cup brewed coffee
- 2 tablespoons bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips or chopped chocolate
- ½ cup unsweetened natural cocoa powder (42 grams)
- ¼ cup neutral good quality vegetable oil (50 grams) -- I go by weight
- 1 cup sugar (200 grams)
- 1 large egg
- ¾ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup buttermilk
- ¾ cup plus 2 T. all-purpose flour (105 grams)
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- ⅜ teaspoon salt
Stabilized Whipped Cream Frosting or Ignore and Use Whipped Topping
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- ⅓ cup powdered sugar
- 2 teaspoons instant vanilla pudding mix
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
Prepare Ice Cream Circle
- Prepare your ice cream circle. Turn a pint of your favorite premium ice cream on its side and use a chef's knife to cut it about ⅔ of the way down OR leave it whole if you want a thicker layer. Peel away the carton and ice cream on a piece of plastic wrap. Mash it down to make a 5 ½ inch circle or one that's just slightly smaller than your cake. Wrap tightly and freeze for at least 2 hours or until very firm.
Make the Cake -- Stirred Together in Saucepan, so Use Big One
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Grease and flour two six-inch round cake pans.
- Combine the chocolate and hot coffee in a large (3 quart) saucepan and stir with a heavy duty scraper until chocolate melts and mixture is smooth. Add the cocoa powder and stir well, then remove from heat and stir in the oil and sugar. Add the egg and vanilla and stir until smooth.
- Whisk the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a bowl. Add to the chocolate mixture, alternating with the buttermilk, and stir with your trusty heavy duty scraper until batter is mixed. The batter may not be perfectly smooth, but do try to mash out any lumps of flour.
- Divide the batter between the two pans. You can eyeball it, or set the pans on a scale, set tare to "0" and put 12 oz in each pan.
- Bake at 300 degrees F on center rack for about 45 minutes or until cakes spring back when touched.
Cool and Freeze the Cake
- Let the cakes cool slightly, then remove from the pans. Let cool a little more, then wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours or until very firm.
Make Stabilized Whipped Cream
- In the bowl of a stand mixer or with an electric mixer, beat cream until it just starts to thicken. Add the confectioners' sugar, instant pudding mix and vanilla and beat until stiff peaks form. Transfer to a piping bag if you have one or just use a spoon.
Assembly
- Lay a large piece of plastic wrap on the counter.
- Put one of your frozen chocolate cake layers in the center. Unwrap your ice cream circle and set it on the frozen cake layer.
- Spread or pipe whipped cream around the border of the ice cream so that it's even with the edge of the cake, then cover the whole thing with whipped cream to make a "crumb layer". Wrap tightly and freeze until very firm. Store remaining whipped cream in the refrigerator.
- Once crumb layer is frozen solid, spread remaining frosting over it and decorate. You can return to the freezer and serve when needed or just decorate and serve. If you freeze the decorated cake for several hours or until it is very solid, let it stand for about 10 minutes before slicing.
Notes
You only need one cake layer per ice cream cake. Freeze the second layer for another cake.
Make sure both the cake and ice cream are fully frozen before assembling.
A slightly smaller ice cream layer makes assembly easier and creates space for filling.
For clean slices, use a large knife dipped in hot water and wiped dry between cuts.