Sunday, February 12, 2012

Ice Cream Cake!

     I've never been a big cake person, but when you put ice cream in to the mix...well it just takes on a whole other level for me. What can I say...I love ice cream! A special treat and splurge that I always look forward to on my birthday for many years now is an ice cream cake from Cold Stone Creamery, but not going to lie...those cakes from there do not come cheap in price or in calories.  I don't mind the splurge on my birthday or on my kids birthday, but I wanted to find a way to be able to enjoy an ice cream cake any time of the year without spending $35-$45 each time.  Two years ago, around Valentine's Day to be exact, I decided to learn to make one on my own and has been a tradition for Valentine's Day since.  My daughter loves it...and what can I say, mommy loves the fact that I can make it "healthier" and at a fraction of the price that I would if I bought it from Cold Stone. The satisfaction I get from making it homemade is pretty darn cool too ; )!
     With that said, this cake obviously is a great recipe to make on Valentine's Day (or any special occasion) that you can get the kids involved with too.  My cake may not come out looking like a pro decorated it, but the smile I see on my daughter's face that she gets when helping me to decorate it is priceless! Before getting your ingredients, you want to decide on what combination of cake and ice cream that you want...a classic of course is your chocolate cake with mint ice cream.  I make this cake for Valentine's Day so I end up choosing chocolate cake (chocolate on Valentine's Day is a must! )and a "red" colored ice cream...this year I went with Bryer's reduced fat strawberry cheesecake ice cream (plus it was at a reduced price since they were trying to get rid of  them at the grocery store...this cake was an especially good price this year!). You'll want to have 3 round cake pans (I like the 9 in size)...2 for baking the cake and 1 to make a mold for the ice cream.

Ingredients
  • 1/2 gallon carton of ice cream
  • 1 pint heavy whipping  cream
  • few tbs of sugar or sugar substitute (I used 4 packets of Pure Via...a NATURAL calorie free sweetener)
  • 1-2 tbs of vanilla
  • wax paper
  • aluminum foil or plastic wrap (whatever you have on hand)
  • cake mix or cake ingredients (I used Betty Crocker's supermoist dark chocolate cake mix...plus I got it for practically free with a coupon!)
Instructions
  1. First create a mold for the ice cream. Let the ice cream thaw a bit. Line one of the round cake pans with wax paper. Once the ice cream has thawed enough to handle, fill the round cake pan with ice cream. Cover it with foil or plastic wrap and place in the freezer for at least a few hours (This can even be done a few days in advance.)
  2. Prepare the cake according to mix or recipe directions.Mix the ingredients together then place them in the 2 remaining round pans. Bake the cake until it is done (you should be able to insert a toothpick in the middle and it should come out clean). When it is done remove it from the oven and cool on wire racks. 
  3. Cakes naturally rise because of the baking powder in the mix; however, when assembling the cake it is easier if the bottom layer has a flat top so that ice cream mold sits nicely on it.  Take one of the cake layers and (very carefully) with a knife slice a very thin layer off the top so that it "flattens out" and makes a nice base.
  4. Prepare the whipped cream. Put the heavy whipping cream, vanilla and sugar/sugar substitute in a bowl. You can adjust the amounts of vanila and sugar/sugar substitute to your taste preference. (If you prefer to not make your own whipped cream, you can easily by store bought whipped cream. I just like to make it myself because it's "healthier"...when using heavy whipped cream and a sugar substitute, it comes out with zero sugar and plus, I know that it's all natural ingredients...no preservatives at all. Also, if you want to make the whipped cream a certain color or theme, you can easily use a few drops of food coloring.) Use an electric mixer and make the whipped cream...it will take a good 5 minutes of so of mixing. Once you are done let the mix chill in the fridge for a bit.
  5. Assemble the cake. Place one of the cakes (the one with the flattened top) on a platter. Take the ice cream out of the round pans and put on the cake. Put the last piece of cake on the ice cream. Ice the cake with the whipped cream.  
  6. You can now decorate the cake however you want...be creative! Store in freezer until ready to serve...enjoy!



I truly hope you enjoy this recipe! 
           XOXO Christina
Our Valentine's Day 2012 ice cream cake



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