Ice Cream Birthday Cake

Ice Cream Birthday Cake

    • 1 chocolate cake, baked and cooled

    • 12 ice cream sandwiches

    • 3 quarts ice cream, different flavors

    • 1/4 cup heavy cream

    • 2 ounces semi sweet chocolate, finely chopped

    • 1 cup buttercream, any flavor/color, or whipped cream

    • confetti sprinkles

    • maraschino cherries, drained and patted dry

    • 8-inch spring form pan

    • parchment paper

Notes:

The paper straw "candles" were inspired by Icing Designs.

You may not need to use all of the cake and ice cream; just use as much as is needed to build the cake.

Step 1:

Bake and cool the cake completely; use your favorite homemade recipe or buy a cake (no frosting). In your food processor, work in batches to pulse the cake into crumbs. Place crumbs in a covered bowl and set aside.

Step 2:

Line the sides of your pan with parchment paper. Tape doesn't stick very well to parchment paper, so I just used a few paper clips to hold the seams together. The paper should be higher than the sides of the pan, so that it comes up as high as the ice cream sandwiches.

Step 3:

Scoop 3 cups of the cake crumbs into the bottom of the pan and press down firmly into an even layer. Next, working quickly so that the ice cream sandwiches don't soften, unwrap them and cut each in half lengthwise. Place the ice cream sandwiches around the sides of the pan; if you like, you could pipe a little frosting between each to "glue" them together, but I didn't have any trouble with them falling over as I was positioning them. Set pan in the freezer.

Step 4:

Take one quart of ice cream and let it soften at room temperature for 20 minutes. Stir the ice cream so you have a smooth consistency and spread about a 1-inch layer over the cake base. Make sure to reserve some of the ice cream for the 3 scoops on top of the cake. Return pan to the freezer and freeze for 1 hour.

Step 5:

Scoop 3 cups of the cake crumbs over the first ice cream layer and press down gently. Repeat Step 4 for the next flavor of ice cream. Freeze for 1 hour.

Step 6:

Repeat Step 5 for the final layer, and smooth out the top of the cake. Freeze for 1 hour.

Step 7:

Scoop 1 scoop of each flavor of ice cream and set the 3 scoops on top of the cake. Freeze while you prepare the ganache.

Step 8:

In a small saucepan, warm the cream gently over medium low heat, just until it simmers. Remove cream from the heat, add the chopped chocolate, and let stand for 3 minutes. With a spatula, stir the ganache until smooth and creamy. Let cool for 10 minutes, then drizzle the ganache over the 3 scoops of ice cream on top of the cake. Sprinkle with some of the confetti sprinkles. Freeze cake overnight.

Step 9:

After the cake has been frozen overnight (and do not rush this step, as you built the cake with very soft ice cream, and it needs plenty of time to firm up all the way through), remove the sides of the spring form pan. Slide a sharp knife between the base of the pan and the bottom of the cake to loosen it, then use a cake lifter or a large spatula to transfer the cake from the base of the pan to a cake board or plate. Peel off the parchment paper.

Step 10:

Lastly, pipe the buttercream or whipped cream in swirls around the top of the cake, and one swirl right in the center. Garnish with the cherries, more sprinkles, and the paper straws. Freeze until ready to serve.

Yields 12 "very generous" slices or 20-24 more reasonable slices. :)

Recipe and Design from Curly Girl Kitchen