How to Make a Homemade Ice Cream Cake

It’s summer and what better dessert to celebrate Father’s Day, graduations or a summer birthday than an ice cream cake! You can make an ice cream cake to feed a crowd and it will cost you a lot less money than purchasing a ready-made ice cream cake.

Don’t be intimidated by making an ice cream cake at home. It is easier than baking a cake and with so many different varieties of flavors on the market, you can personalize it to the tastes of your guests.

Here is what you will need to make your own ice cream cake.

A springform pan

You can find pans in varying sizes. You may choose to make two smaller cakes instead of one large one. A 14 inch pan makes a cake that serves 15 or more depending on how thick you slice it.

Non-dairy whipped topping (Cool Whip)

Here is where the variety begins. Cool whip and other store brands come in regular, extra creamy, fat-free, low-fat, chocolate, strawberry and all work the same. This is your choice on which one you use.

Ice Cream

You are going to need 2 large containers for a large springform pan. Again, plenty of variety. Low-fat, sugar free, regular and of course, every flavor you can imagine. Pick your favorite brand and flavor or use a combination of two different flavors. Here is where you make your homemade ice cream cake stand out from the store-bought brand.

Cookie crumbs

For my ice cream cake, I used 1/2 box of chocolate teddy grahams. You need to crush them in order to make crumbs. An easy way to do this is to put them into a large, sealed plastic food storage bag and release all the air and re-seal. Use a rolling pin or meat tenderizer hammer to crush the cookies into crumbs. I used chocolate but you can use any flavor or even graham cracker crumbs if you prefer. Consider what will taste best with the flavor ice cream you are using.

Chocolate syrup or other ice cream topping syrup

Strawberry syrup, caramel or chocolate syrup are all good choices to add more flavor to your cake.

Here is how to do your original ice cream cake creation.

Allow the ice cream to sit until it is softened. Your non-dairy whipped topping also needs to thaw.

Place your pan on a cookie sheet or other pan that can go into the freezer.

While waiting for it to soften, line the bottom of your pan with cookie crumbs. It should be an even layer.

Next, spoon your ice cream on top of the cookie crumbs. Use a rubber spatula or bottom of a plastic ladel to press down the ice cream. If you are having trouble with this step, you did not allow the ice cream to soften enough.

Use your spatula to even out the layer of ice cream.

After you have done this with your first container of ice cream, you can now spread the ice cream topping syrup over top. Make sure to even out your topping to cover the entire cake.

Next you are going to add your other container of ice cream. TIP: Adding larger amounts of ice cream close together makes it easier to spread without disturbing the topping layer below.

Once your final layer of ice cream has been added, spread your Cool whip over the top of the cake. Cover with plastic wrap or waxed paper.

Place your springform pan into the freezer. This can be done days before or overnight. About twenty minutes before serving, move pan to serving dish and release clasp and remove outer ring of pan.

For easier cutting, dip knife into cup of hot water. Serving size depends on pan size and thickness of slices. Enjoy your ice cream cake.

Frozen yogurt works well also. Instead of using chocolate syrup, use chopped berries as a filling if you would like. Everyone will enjoy this unique summer dessert!