Birthday Cake Ice Cream
A birthday cake ice cream like no other: this one is gently flavored to taste like birthday vanilla, has real birthday cake bits AND birthday cookie dough. This is birthday ice cream trifecta!
Equipment
- ice cream machine to churn
- container to store ice cream this fits nicely in 1 standard size loaf pan
Ingredients
Birthday Cake Ice Cream Base
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons cream cheese softened
- 1 cup heavy cream
- ½ cup sugar
- Scant ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons artificial vanilla
Birthday Cookie Dough Bites
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoons imitation vanilla
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup
- ¼ cup all purpose flour toasted in the oven for 5 minutes at 350 (makes it safe to eat)
- 3 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles
- Birthday cake bits, made from this recipe or from a box
Instructions
To make the cookie dough bits:
- Whisk together the butter, salt and sugar until soft and creamy.
- Add the vanilla and corn syrup and whisk to combine.
- Add flour, beat to just combine.
- Stir in sprinkles.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper that will fit in your freezer (or a small chopping board) and drop ½ teaspoons of the batter onto the pan. Freeze.
To make the ice cream base:
- In a small bowl, whisk 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk the cream cheese until smooth.
- In a large pot, add the rest of the milk, the heavy cream, sugar and salt. Cook on medium-low until the sugar dissolves.
- Add the cornstarch/milk mixture to the pot and whisk to combine. Cook on medium until it thickens slightly.
- Whisk the hot mixture into the bowl with the cream cheese until smooth.
- Add the vanilla and whisk to combine. If you see little lumps in your mixture, sieve it before pouring it into an airtight container. Chill the base for at least six hours.
- Churn the base according to your ice cream maker's instructions.
- As you add the base to your ice cream container, stir in cake bits, cookie dough bites and additional sprinkles if desired.
Notes
Note on Ice Cream Base: Recipe adapted from Jeni’s vanilla ice cream. Jeni uses cornstarch and some cream cheese to thicken her ice cream base, thereby avoiding egg yolks which really can alter the flavor. This is especially important for our purposes here, where the delicate vanilla flavor is our goal. I made Jeni’s version the first time almost to a T, (but without the corn syrup), and loved it but thought it just a tad too sweet with all the add-ins this recipe requires. When I made it again, I reduced the sugar and increased the salt just a bit, I think this way we bring more balance to the overall dish. Of course, we are also using artificial vanilla for that iconic ‘birthday’ flavor.
Note on Cookie Dough bites Recipe: this is adapted from BraveTart, Iconic American Desserts.