Ice Cream Sundae Cake
Three kinds of ice cream sandwiched between two layers of chocolate cake, bananas and strawberries, then finished with whipped cream and fudge drizzle. This Homemade Ice Cream Sundae Cake is so ridiculously easy to make!
So, I have been thinking of making a nice birthday cake for my husband’s 40th birthday since few months. I wasn’t sure what type of cake I wanted to bake him. I kept asking him what flavor of cake he wanted and yes, no surprises there. He was not telling me anything definite that he wanted me to bake for him. So, after thinking for too long I decided to make Ice Cream Sundae Cake as he loves ice cream and few years ago, he told me that they would usually have cassata ice cream on his birthday. So, I felt this would be the perfect cake for his birthday.
To make my life easier and the overall process easier I though, I would use store-bought cake mix and ice creams. Assembling an ice cream cake itself is a little bit of work. So, this shortcut is acceptable.
I still baked the cake and whipped cream at home.
Let’s talk about the actual layers of cake and ingredients.
- Chocolate Cake –We need chocolate cake. As I mentioned I have used store bought cake mix, and baked cake as per instructions. One thing I did was use less water than suggested. I did not want a very moist cake. Package suggested using 1 ¼ cup water, instead I used only 1 cup. I also baked the cake in a half sheet pan. As I had planned to use ring mold, it was easier that way. I got two full circles, 2 half-moons and extra scraps.
- Once the cake cooled down, I cut it into these shapes. Wrapped the cake tightly in plastic wrap and put it in the freezer. Cakes stay moist in the freezer not in the fridge. Once cake is frozen, it’s easier to work with them. There is less mess.
- Three kinds of ice cream – I used Haagen -Daz ice cream and used chocolate, vanilla, and raspberry chocolate chip. You can use strawberry as your third choice instead of raspberry. I ended up adding few strawberries and juices of cherries and it made ice cream pink in color. You can use homemade ice cream too.
- Heavy whipping cream – Used it for the outer layer to deal the cake layers for neat finishing. Also used some to make fudge topping.
- Fudge drizzle is a chocolate ganache. Super easy and made it in the microwave.
- Fruits – Maraschino cherries, strawberries, banana, pineapple.
- Extras – nuts like walnuts or pecans, sprinkles or colored sugar, ice cream cone.
Cake Pan – I used 6” inch ring mold with high edges or you can use spring form pan too. Technically you can use any sized pan depending how tall layers you want. If you use loaf pan or a square pan, make sure to line it with foil paper overhanging on two opposite sides, so that it helps you pull out the frozen cake.
Tips and Suggestions – Instead of baking cake, you can also so a layer of crushed cookies. Use any dark chocolate cookies, crush them into fine powder along with 2 tbsp butter and press it on the bottom of the pan. It might crumble a little bit when you slice it but it is still a good option.
How to store the cake?
At any point, while assembling the cake it starts melting, you can immediately store it in the freezer for few hours until it is easy to work on. Before frosting the cake with whipped cream, I left the cake covered in plastic wrap overnight. That way, cake was completely cold and frozen and would not give me any trouble while assembling. Also, I whipped heavy cream a day before and stored it in the fridge. It was such a clever idea to do so. That way everything was cold. I also used acetate border.
Once you have your cake, you probably want to store it before serving it. I worked on cake for three days to ease the process. Once you fully decorate it, I recommend you store it. Cover it with plastic wrap. About an hour before you want to serve the cake, transfer it to the fridge to start it to thaw and then keep it at room temperature. Just do not forget about it. Lol. All the hard work will go in drain.
Ice Cream Sundae Cake
Ingredients
- Two rounds of cake – 6 inches
- 1 pint chocolate ice cream
- 1 pint vanilla ice cream
- 1 pint strawberry ice cream
- 1 jar marachino cherries with stems
- 1/3 cup strawberries chopped
- 1 or 2 banana sliced
- 11/4 cup pecan or walnuts
Chocolate Fudge
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips
Whipped Cream
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Bake the chocolate cake
- Bake chocolate cake as per instructions. I used slightly less water per package instructions. Read above. I baked the cake in a half sheet pan. You can bake it in a regular baking pan too. Once the cake cools down, I used 6-inch ring mold and cut two proper circles. You will have enough scraps to build another cake. You can save them for some other purpose. We only need two layers of cake.
- Once the cake is baked, cool it down completely and then tightly wrap them in plastic wrap and store them in freezer. You can bake your cake few days in advance.
- Fudge -Add cream and chocolate chips and microwave at 30 seconds upto a minute. Be careful to not scorch the chocolate. If you need add few drops of heavy cream, do so. After 30 seconds, stir it with a whisk. Chocolate should have melted completely, and it should be smooth mix. You can make this in advance and keep it in the fridge. It will thicken up as it sits.
- Fruits – Chop strawberries in small pieces and mix 1 tbsp of strawberry jam if you have on hand. If you do not have jam, just microwave strawberries with a tbsp water for 30 seconds. It breaks down the fruit. it won't taste icy once cake is frozen. (optional) Slice the bananas closer to assembling the cake so that they do not turn black.
- Whipped Cream – Using a whisk or hand blender, whip cream with vanilla and sugar until stiff peaks form. Tip – Leave whipped cream in the fridge for few hours before frosting the cake.
Assembling
- Take same ring mold or spring form pan, place it in a tray or baking pan, that can go into the freezer. Line it with acetate around it. (Optional). Place one layer of frozen cake on the bottom.
- Remove ice creams and let them soften up a little bit, before assembling for easy use. Top the cake, with sliced bananas. You will have to work quickly while layering the ice cream.
- First add a layer of vanilla ice cream, then followed by chocolate ice cream, spread some chopped strawberries and then finally strawberry ice cream. You can add some marachino cherries too in any of the layers.
- Cover the final layer of ice cream, with another layer of chocolate cake. Cover the whole cake along with the cake mold and freeze it for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove the cake at room temperature for at least few minutes to unmold it. It would be difficult to remove it. So have patience. I used blow dryer on the sides to soften it up just for 2-3 seconds. Not more, otherwise it will melt the ice cream. If you use spring form pan, it would be much easier.
- Frost the whole cake with whipped cream, try to spread the cream evenly and make it smooth. I did a thin layer. Freeze it again. Fill a piping bag with remaining whipped cream to make spirals or roses on top.
- Remove the cake from freezer, drizzle the fudge using a pouted pouring cup or a fill it up in a bottle on the sides of the cake in circular method.
- Pipe frosting on top of the cake. I was able to do 7 rosettes and place cherries on top. Immediately freeze the cake. Make sure you have enough room in the freezer. I used my mini freezer which is always empty.
- If you want to add a scoop of ice cream on top, then scoop out one scoop of ice cream in a bowl and freeze it. Once the cake is frozen for an hour, place this scoop of ice cream, drizzle some fudge and extra fruits if you like. You can add sprinkles too for some color. Place the ice cream cone slightly slanting position. I would suggest this step just before serving the cake, because storing cake with cone would be difficult.
If you like this ice cream, you might also like this easy Semifreddo recipe and check out my Instagram page for more inspiration!