Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

 Typically, ice cream sandwich cakes are usually made with storebought  ice cream sandwiches, then layered with fudge or caramel sauce and some whipped cream. They’re very pretty (I love a layered look) but I am a big fan of diy everything so, these were born. 

This recipe can be turned into homemade ice cream sandwiches (square shaped, individually wrapped) or can be made into a large round ‘cake’: two layers of soft chocolate cake sandwiching a thick layer of vanilla ice cream. 

Recipe origins 

A few months back, we walked around a local park and my daughters caught sight of a snow cone truck. Of course, they barreled their way over to it and, when given a cup of shaved ice they poured a rainbow of flavored liquid over it. They then sat down to dig in and noticed their father opening up his own treat: an ice cream sandwich. 

I guess they’ve never seen one before because they could not get over the bar and were asking if they could have one after their snow cone (um maybe another day ma’am) and at last, settled for just a bite of baba’s ice cream sando. They loved it and asked me why I didn’t get one. I said I usually found them too sweet and would prefer to make my own. They then asked me: can you make us some? So here we are =) 

For the cake layers I developed a recipe that uses cake flour, an egg, and oil: all ingredients which can give us a super tender cake at room temperature but when frozen would be more of a fudgy, easy to bite into cake. 

Recipe Ingredients 

Cake flour: because it’s finely milled and from a very soft wheat and has added cornstarch, cake flour is ideal for producing a tender cake texture. For our frozen cake purpose here, it also keeps the cake from getting too hard to slice or bite. 

Salt: fine sea salt. 

Soda & powder: both will give these tiny cake layers enough leavening to rise just enough. 

Cocoa: dutch process cocoa powder. 

Sugar: I use brown sugar (it’s a bit more moist) but you can also use fine granulated. 

Oil: any flavorless oil like canola or grape seed or avocado. Milk: whole milk, cold is fine. 

Egg: one large whole egg. 

Ice Cream: either use the no churn recipe below or buy a quart of ice cream to spread between the cake layers. Any kind! 

How to make an Ice Cream Sandwich Cake 

Prep the pans: the pans must be greased, floured and they should have a layer of parchment on the bottom. This is a very tender and sticky cake; the parchment will help keep it from sticking to the pan and help us transfer the cake layers as needed. 

Whisk dry ingredients: 

Whisk in the wet: 

Divide between pans: 

Bake until firm: 

Cool completely.

If making a homemade no churn ice cream, make it now (recipe below). 

Prep the pan by laying plastic wrap to cover all sides of it. 

Lay one of the cakes face down into the pan:

Cover it with ice cream, leaving enough space for the other cake:

Add the second cake face up, lay a round of parchment over it and wrap the sides:

Freeze the cake overnight.

Homemade No Churn Vanilla Ice Cream 

If you have a favorite vanilla ice cream, buy a quart of it and let it soften on the counter before layering it between the cakes. If not and you’d like to try an easy homemade version, here’s a quick no churn vanilla ice cream recipe (not my invention, but a common very well known basic no churn): 

Ingredients 

• 2 cups heavy whipping cream 
• ½ tsp fine sea salt 
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk 
• Instructions 

Set the heavy cream, vanilla and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer, affix the whisk attachment and whisk on medium high until the cream holds medium to stiff peaks. Pour in the sweetened condensed milk and whisk to combine. The mix is now ready to be poured between the cakes for assembly into an ice cream sandwich cake. You’ll probably have a little more than you need for the cake, extra cream can be set in a small, sealable container and frozen. 

Individual Ice Cream Sandwiches 

If you’d like to make these as traditional ice cream sandwiches, you can make the cakes in an 8 inch square pan and slice them into small squares once the cake is frozen. Wrap each square with plastic wrap and then freeze. They make a great summertime snack =) 

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake Recipe

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

A giant cake made ice cream sandwich style: two layers of homemade soft fudge cake with a thick layer of vanilla ice cream in between.

Prep Time: 33 minutes mins

Cook Time: 15 minutes mins

Chill (freeze): 6 hours hrs

5 from 3 votes

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Ingredients

• 97 g or ¾ cups cake flour sifted if lumpy
• Pinch fine sea salt
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 50 g or ½ cup cocoa
• 100 g or ½ cup brown sugar
• 67 g or ⅓ cup oil
• 120 g or ½ cup whole milk
• 1 large egg
• 1 qt vanilla ice cream store bought or homemade no churn recipe above in text

Method

• Preheat the oven to 325 F. Grease and flour two 8 inch round cake pans. Place a round of parchment in the center (this is necessary to stop the cakes from sticking to the pan).
• In a bowl whisk together the cake flour, salt, baking powder, soda and cocoa. Add the brown sugar and whisk.
• Add the oil and the milk and whisk well. Crack in the egg and whisk the batter until it’s thick and glossy.
• Divide the batter between the two prepared pans. Bake for about 12 minutes, until firm. Let cool completely in the pan.
• When the cakes are cool, remove them from the pan but keep them on their parchment (for now). Remove the ice cream from the freezer so it can soften, about 15 minutes before assembling the cake.
• Clean and dry one of the 8 inch cake pans. Line it with plastic wrap so that the entire pan is covered and there’s a little bit of overhang.
• Remove the parchment from one of the cakes and place it face down in the pan. Using the back of a spoon, spread the ice cream on top of the cake into an even layer. Remove the parchment from the other cake and place it face up on top of the ice cream. Lay another round of parchment on top and wrap the overhang of plastic wrap over the cake to seal it.
• Freeze overnight.
• To remove the cake, lift up the overhang of plastic wrap and place a plate over the cake pan. Turn the cake upside down onto the plate and then remove the plastic wrap. Decorate the top if desired.
• Slice to serve. Store leftovers in the freezer, preferably covered.

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