Ice Cream Cake

Rich, decadent ice cream cake with no churned ice cream, homemade hot fudge sauce, topped with whipped cream and Cadbury mini eggs is the ultimate treat for the sweet tooth in the family.

After making the no churn mini egg ice cream; I was hooked. Who knew ice cream was so easy to make?! I had an idea… no churn mini egg ice cream cake loaded with sweet gooey hot fudge sauce, whipped cream, topped with MORE Cadbury mini eggs! I was on a mission. I wanted to make an ice cream cake that was similar to my favorite DQ ice cream cake, which means it needed a cookie crumb base, a thick ice cream layer, a hot fudge layer, topped with whipped cream and LOTS of mini eggs. To my surprise, I had enough Oreo cookie crumbs left over from my chocolate cheesecake I made not too long ago, I also had all the ingredients on hand for hot fudge AND more ice cream AND whipped cream. it was meant to be!

How to make Ice Cream Cake

While Ice cream cake takes several hours, and patience to make, (LOTS of patience, as you get more and more excited as you complete the layers) its relatively easy to put together. You start by making your base; freezing it, making your ice cream, pouring it on top of your base; freezing it, Making the hot fudge, pouring it on top of your ice cream; freezing it, making the whipped cream, spreading it over the entire cake, sprinkling on more mini eggs, and freezing it before enjoying. Lets break it down in a little more detail.

1. The first thing you want to do is make your cookie crumb base. I used Oreo cookie crumbs as I wanted a chocolate base, but graham crumbs would also work really well. In a small bowl, combing the Oreo cookie crumbs and melted butter until evenly moistened. (You may need to add in another tsp of melted butter) press the cookie crumb base into the bottom of a lightly greased 9″ spring foam pan. Set that aside in the freezer.

2. Next, make the ice cream filling. Pour whipping cream and vanilla into a cold bowl of your stand mixer with the whisk attachment and whip on high until stiff peeks form. About 5 minutes. Pour a can of sweetened condensed milk in and mix on low for 30 seconds just until combined. Gently fold in the crushed mini eggs using a spatula. Remove spring foam pan from the freezer and pour the ice cream filling on top of the Oreo crust and place back in the freezer for minimum of 4 hours or until mostly frozen. After a several hours, gently poke the ice cream layer with your finger, if it feels mostly frozen, and you’re not able to easily make an indent, its ready for the next layer.

3. Meanwhile make the hot fudge sauce. NOTE you only need 1 1/2 cup of the hot fudge sauce for this cake. You may also use store bought hot fudge sauce if you don’t want to make your own. Combine butter, cocoa, sugar, and evaporated milk in a medium sized saucepan and melt over low heat, until mixture is smooth liquid. Raise the temperature to medium-high heat and cook until the mixture boils whisking occasionally. Once its boiling; continue to boil for 7 minutes, whisking frequently so it doesn’t burn. Remove from heat and let it cool down enough that it wont melt the ice cream when you pour it on top, but still slightly warm enough that its pourable. Remove spring foam pan from the freezer and pour 1 1/2 cups of cooled hot fudge sauce on top of the ice cream layer place back in the freezer for several hours before adding whipped cream layer. approx. 3 hours.

4. Make the whipped cream topping. Add 36% whipping cream, and vanilla extract to cold bowl and beat with electric mixer on high for several minutes until soft peaks form. Add the confectioners sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Remove spring foam pan from the freezer and spread the whipped cream evenly on top of the fudge layer and on the sides of the cake. Sprinkle with mini eggs on top, and place back in the freezer until completely frozen. About 3 more hours or overnight.