by Sandra Merville Hart
My sister has a summer birthday and she told me how much she enjoyed making an ice cream cake with her young grandchildren, aged 5 and 2.
It sounded like so much fun that I decided to do the same with my grandchildren around the same age. The best part is you can modify this recipe and choose your favorites.
I asked her if she froze the cake between adding layers and she didn’t—but they must have worked quickly. I didn’t freeze the cake before adding the second layer of ice cream but I will next time. That’s the suggestion I’d make for you if you’re using 2 different layers of ice cream.
Below is the list of ingredients I used for our ice cream cake. Change them for your family’s preferences. 😊
Ingredients
Fudge brownies—make from scratch or use a mix
½ gallon chocolate ice cream
½ gallon cookies and cream ice cream
10-12 Oreo cookies, crushed
Sprinkles
Chocolate ganache—9 ounces unsweetened chocolate and 1 cup heavy cream
Use a springform pan to layer this dessert.
Bottom layer—prepare a brownie recipe and cook it in the springform pan. Allow it to cool.
Next, prepare the chocolate ganache. Set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.
On top of the cooled brownie inside the springform pan, scoop in a layer of chocolate ice cream.
Next, spoon on a thin layer of ganache.
On top of the ganache, sprinkle a layer of crushed Oreos.
Freeze all this in the pan for about half an hour.
Next, add a layer of cookies and cream ice cream.
Top it with sprinkles.
Freeze until ready to serve.
This was a little messy with young children but it was worth it. What fun! Their creative side came into play and, well, let’s just say the sprinkles ended up in a heap. I didn’t mind at all.
When it came time to serve the cake, I allowed 30 minutes of thawing time. It was too hard to slice, so I’d suggest removing it from the freezer an hour ahead of time.
Delicious! As if it could be anything else with 2 kinds of ice creams, fudge brownies, Oreos, ganache, and sprinkles!
What a great summertime activity with the kids! Be prepared for a bit of a mess and have fun with it. Creating a cake using flavors your family will love is half the fun.
Suggestions for alternatives: Instead of brownies as a bottom layer, substitute with large chocolate chip cookie layer.
Substitute the crushed Oreos with your favorite cookie.
Substitute one of the ice cream layers with chocolate mousse.
Enjoy!
Sandra Merville Hart 