Ice Cream Cake

I've been feeling super blah lately, so I needed a fun little project. Since Gideon's birthday was coming up, and we now have an ice cream maker, I decided to venture out and attempt to make an ice cream cake from scratch. It was really exciting, not to mention delicious, and helped to distract me from the fact that the weather seems to have missed the memo that it's actually Spring now.



Gideon's party was set for Sunday night, so I had to start on Thursday night.

First I found a large bucket to use as a mold. I could have bought a huge pan, but I like to be more resourceful (ok, cheap) than that. The one I used was 2.5 Imp. Gal. (whatever that means, but that's what it says on the bottom of the bucket), it is the bucket that contained the 15kg of honey we went through in the last 6 months.

So, Thursday night I made up a batch of vanilla ice cream. I use the Kitchen Aid stand mixer ice cream maker attachment, and used the recipe from the booklet. You have to make up the mixture and then chill it for 8 hours in the fridge before putting it in the ice cream maker, so that is a big part of the reason that I had to start early and have a plan. Your ice cream maker may be different, so follow its instructions. Or, you could always just buy ice cream, let it soften a bit, and then use that. But what fun would that be?

The vanilla ice cream recipe calls for:

2 1/2 cups of half & half. In a medium to large pot, cook on the stove over medium heat, stirring constantly, until steamy but not boiling. Then remove from heat and set aside.

8 egg yolks (the kids enjoyed scrambled egg whites for breakfast the next day!) and 1 cup sugar. Mix together with stand mixer and wire whip attachment on speed 1 for about 30 seconds. Slowly add the half & half. Once all integrated, turn off mixer and transfer everything back to pot and put back on the stove over medium heat, stirring constantly, until steamy and a few large bubbles form, but DO NOT boil.

Add 2 1/2 cups whipping cream, 4 tsp vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Mix well, then refrigerate (you can transfer mix to a container, but I was lazy and just covered the pot and put it in the fridge) for at least 8 hours.

Friday morning, I made up the ice cream in the ice cream maker.



I sprayed the inside of the bucket down with canola oil cooking spray (you could use whatever you want to grease it up), and lined it with waxed paper. I traced the bottom of the bucket on the waxed paper and cut out the circle so that it fit snugly, and then lined the walls. The oil helped to hold the waxed paper in place. It worked magnificently and I felt like a genius!



When the ice cream was ready, I poured it in the bucket. I also added the chocolate fudge sauce and Oreo crumbs at this point, but that ended up being bad, don't do that. A bunch of the fudge leaked through to the bottom of the cake, and it all ended up sticking to the wax paper and was a huge pain in the butt to scrape off later. So, just put the ice cream in the bucket, cover with waxed paper and put in the freezer to set (minimum 4 hours).



Friday night I made up the chocolate ice cream mixture. The chocolate ice cream recipe calls for:

2 cups half & half, heat same as before and set aside.

Heat 1/2 cup whipping cream in a small pot over medium heat with 2 squares of unsweetened baker's chocolate, and 2 squares of semi-sweet baker's chocolate. Mix constantly until all chocolate is melted, remove from heat and set aside.

Same as before, mix 8 egg yolks, 1 cup sugar PLUS 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder with stand mixer and wire whip attachment on speed 1, for about 30 seconds or until all mixed.

Slowly add chocolate mixture, and then half & half to the mixer bowl. Once everything is mixed well transfer back to the larger pot and cook as before, until steamy but not boiling, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat, add 1 1/2 cups whipping cream, 4 tsp vanilla extract, and a pinch of salt. Mix, cover and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.



Saturday morning the girls and I made up the chocolate ice cream in the ice cream maker. Next time I do this, this will be the point when I make up the chocolate fudge sauce.

The fudge sauce recipe calls for:



1 14oz can sweetened condensed milk, 4 squares semi-sweet baker's chocolate (broken apart for easier melting), 2 tbsp butter. Combine together in a small pot over medium heat while stirring constantly. Remove from heat once everything is melted and integrated, and then mix in 1 tsp vanilla extract. Set aside.



I suggest making up the fudge before putting the ice cream in the ice cream maker, so the fudge has time to cool (but DO NOT refrigerate).

Once chocolate ice cream is ready, take out the bucket from the freezer and pour the chocolate fudge over the set vanilla ice cream. Then sprinkle on Oreo cookie crumbs (just enough to cover the fudge, I used way too much and then the cake was all crumbly when I cut it). Then add chocolate ice cream on top, smooth it out and cover with wax paper and return to the freezer. You want to do this all quite quickly so the ice cream doesn't melt!



(As you can see, I did it backwards, and FYI it was not good. Well, it still turned out well and was yummy, but there was more swearing involved than I would have liked. Trying to remove the fudge from the wax paper and then spread it back out was not fun.)





Cover with waxed paper and freeze for at least 4 hours so the chocolate ice cream can set. We left it overnight.



Then Sunday morning we made up some whipped cream for the icing.



Using the stand mixer and wire whip on speed 2, whip some whipping cream (I used a whole 1L carton, but it made a ton so you could use less depending on how much you want. A good idea would be to buy 2L of whipping cream for the whole project, and just use whatever is leftover for the whipping cream.) until it starts to thicken. It can take a long time, so be patient, it WILL work eventually, I promise! Once it starts to thicken, add some icing sugar. I used about 1 cup or so, but just add a little at a time while it is mixing and then taste to see if it's right yet. I also added probably 1 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract, but again, add to taste. I don't generally measure stuff unless I have to. Continue to whip until there are stiff peaks.



Take out the bucket from the freezer, and carefully remove the cake. I first went around it with a knife, between the bucket and the waxed paper.



Then Dave, Judith and I put our hands on it for a minute to warm it up a little.



Dave then picked up the bucket and dropped it down on a large cutting board (you could also use a pan or something, as long as it's big enough to support all of the cake), and out it came.



He carefully removed all the waxed paper, and then I quickly iced the cake with the whipped cream. It was melting quite rapidly, even though it wasn't very warm in the house, so I rushed it back to the freezer on the cutting board.





Then I added some sprinkles on top, as per Judith's request.



It stayed in the freezer for several hours to let the whipped cream firm up. Then when it was party time, it was ready for eating!

It wasn't perfect, and it wasn't exactly cheap or simple either, but it was DELICIOUS!!! Totally worth it and I am so proud of myself! It was much better than a DQ cake for sure!





I still have half of it left if anyone wants to come over today (Tuesday) and help us eat it. ;)

I am also fully intending to make another ice cream cake, possibly with coffee ice cream and chocolate ice cream, for my birthday in June. I can't wait!

*Sorry that the photos aren't great quality and the writing can be hard to follow, but I'm too tired to fix it right now. If anyone has questions, feel free to ask!


Basically, you just do a layer of ice cream, a layer of fudge sauce (I'm sure you could even just buy a fudge sauce if that's easier!), a layer of Oreo crumbs, and another layer of ice cream. Then top with whipped cream. The end.

Here is the complete shopping list, if that helps:

4 1/2 cups Half & Half
Approx 2L (or 8 cups) Whipping Cream
1 14 oz can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
16 Egg Yolks
2 cups Sugar
Approx 1 cup Icing Sugar
Box of Oreo Cookie Crumbs
1/3 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
2 squares Unsweetened Baker's Chocolate
6 squares Semi-sweet Baker's Chocolate
2 tbsp Butter
9 tsp + 1 1/2 tbsp Vanilla Extract (yeah, that's a lot)
2 pinches of Kosher Salt (or any salt, I just like Kosher)
Sprinkles or Other Decorations
Waxed Paper
Cooking Spray

Equipment:

Large Deep Baking Pan or Bucket
Large Cutting Board or Strong Cookie Sheet
Stand Mixer with Wire Whip
Ice Cream Maker
Large and Small Pots
Stove Top
Freezer with lots of Space (preferably a Deep Freeze)
Spoons and Spatulas/Scrapers
Butter Knife and Large Knife
Measuring Cups and Spoons
Helpful Husband and Children (optional)


(My clean up crew)

I know after all that, you're just going to ask me to make you one though, right? ;)