This is the absolute Best Birthday Ice Cream Cake recipe there is!
If you are looking for a cake to make for a birthday, this is the Best Birthday Ice Cream Cake recipe there is!
So let’s get this straight, I am not a cake decorator.
Never have, never will be. That is no surprise to you because that is not why you visit my blog. You visit my blog for my charming wit, funny stories, and really easy recipes. Not because I make the prettiest dessert goods. Now if you are looking for pretty cakes and even tutorials, I know a few blogs you can visit that will give you exactly what you are looking for. Two of my personal favorite cake and dessert based blogs are Sweetapolita and The Cake Blog. They both have tutorials and photos that will make you drool. They make cake decorating seem so easy, but it really isn’t. It takes lots of practice and lots of mistakes to perfect that kind of art.
Dessert decorating requires passion and a true love for cake decorating because you need a great deal of patience, which I do not have. I am so impatient when it comes to cake decorating I can’t even watch the show Cake Wars because it takes so long and the amount of detail the bakers put into their cakes is absolutely insane to me. In fact, they make their cakes look so pretty I don’t even want to eat them afterward because of the work they did. All that time making a cake look pretty only for it to stand for a few hours before it gets destroyed. So this Birthday Ice Cream Cake recipe I created didn’t require many man hours and the only thing I needed to make this cake look gorgeous was a lot of sprinkles.
What is it about sprinkles that make cakes looks so pretty?
This cake may look complicated but I promise you it isn’t. I used a box Yellow Cake mix and vanilla and chocolate ice cream to make the layers. The outer layer is made up of homemade buttercream frosting and I decorated the cake with lots of sprinkles, but this is totally up to you. I cannot wait to make this Birthday Ice Cream Cake recipe for my son’s birthday when he gets older. Speaking of birthdays and cakes, let me take a minute to tell you about my favorite birthday cake.
Buttercream Frosting is the best frosting ever!
In any case, I think I get pretty darn close. In fact, I think this cake gets pretty darn close to some of the competition out there. If you are thinking of making this cake, I will tell you to give yourself, at least, 24 hours of needing this cake because you have to freeze this cake a few times to make sure it doesn’t melt while you frost the cake and before decorating. But I am more than confident that you will agree this is the Best Birthday Ice Cream Cake recipe for a birthday celebration.
The Best Birthday Ice Cream Cake
- Total Time: 12 hours 25 mins
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
This is the Best Birthday Ice Cream Cake there is! Layer of moist cake and ice cream layered on top of a waffle cone crust.
Ingredients
- 1 Box Yellow Cake Mix (including required contents, water, oil, eggs)
- 1.5 quart chocolate ice cream
- 1.5 quart vanilla ice cream
- 5 oz. Waffle Cones (about 12 waffle cones)
- 2 tbsp. Butter
- 2 sticks unsalted butter
- ½ c. shortening
- 4 c. powdered sugar
- 1 tbsp. Vanilla extract
- 2 tbsp. Heavy cream
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
- In a large bowl, prepare the yellow mix cake as instructed on the box. Add the required amount of oil, eggs, and water and mix well until smooth. Spray a 9 inch springform with baking spray, and pour the cake mix inside the pan; bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool. Once cool enough to remove from pan, place on cooling rack.
- In a food processor, add the waffle cones and pulse until ground into small crumbs. Turn into a medium size bowl and melted butter. Mix until crumbs appear wet. Sprinkle into the bottom of the 9 inch springform pan and flatten with hands or the bottom of a measuring cup. Place in oven for 5 minutes and allow to cool completely.
- Remove the ice cream from the freezer and allow to slightly unthaw (just enough to where the ice cream is easy to spread but not completely unthawed). Slice the cake evenly in half. Begin to spread the chocolate ice cream on top of the waffle cone crust. Use an icing spatula for easy spreading. Move as quickly as possible. Once the chocolate ice cream has been spread, place the top half of the cut cake onto the chocolate ice cream. Spread the vanilla ice cream on top of the first cake layer. Once the ice cream has been spread evenly, place the bottom half of the cake on top of the vanilla ice cream layer, bottom side up making a for a straight and even top of the cake. Place the cake in the freezer for, at least, 4-6 hours, or overnight.
- To make the buttercream frosting, using a handheld mixer, blend together the butter and shortening. Slowly add the powdered sugar and cream to make the frosting creamy. Finally, add the vanilla extract and pinch of salt and blend once more and set aside.
- Remove cake from the freezer and remove the outer layer of the springform pan. Very quickly, spread the frosting on the outside of the cake using a rubber spatula or serrated knife. If you want to add the sprinkles, place a handful of sprinkles in your hand and cup the sprinkles on the outside of the cake to stick. Do this over the sink or a pan for easy cleanup. Once your cake is decorated or frosted to your liking, cover in plastic wrap and place back in freezer for, at least, 4 hours and serve.
- Prep Time: 12 hours
- Cook Time: 25 mins
- Category: Dessert
Absolutely perfect guide to ice cream cake. I tried cooking by using your article and it really worked for me. It was really delicious. My daughter loved it. But, I was quite confused in some places. It would be better if you can make videos too.
Thank you Sarita! I will keep that in mind for this recipe. I’m glad it cam out good for you!
This recipe looks awesome! Truly worth giving a try!
Hi Nicole,
Looks like an amazingly delicious cake recipe. I’ve never tried an ice cream cake recipe but will definitely give it a try.
Thanks for sharing your cool recipe.
Thank you!
Hi! I’ve heard that buttercream doesn’t work well in the freezer, and I need to freeze this cake afterward. Can anybody tell me if that’s true or if I can freeze the cake afterward? Thanks!
This turned out fine for me. I didn’t have any issues.