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Ice cream cake: homemade recipe

Decadent and rich, homemade ice cream cake is guaranteed to impress all taste buds and ages. Venchi’s ice cream cake recipe balances the creaminess of gelato with the subtle saltiness and crunch of Graham crackers. This chilled dessert looks impressive and tastes just as good as it looks. All your favourite people won’t be able to stop at one slice. 

Turning on the oven in the heat is a nightmare. So, a simple, no-baking dessert like ice cream cake is a blessing. You can serve it for a fancy occasion or use it to make a simple Sunday lunch more special.  

Need a chilled Summertime dessert? Try Venchi’s fridge cake recipe, which is guaranteed to please a crowd.  

What is an ice cream cake made of?

Who doesn’t love ice cream cake? Make this spectacular dessert at home and bring it out for any get-together or family birthday. You can customise the ice cream flavours and cookies to suit your loved one’s preferences.  

For a fancier, smoother take on this dessert we’ve swapped out ice cream for gelato. You can use the most popular gelato flavours: chocolate, stracciatella, pistachio and Fior di Latte which is a deliciously simple Italian version of vanilla.  

Our ice cream cake recipe features 5 delicious layers that everyone will love.  

  1. Ice cream: the bottom layer of the cake is made from softened ice cream.  

  1. Chocolate sauce: making chocolate sauce at home will take this dessert to the next level. You’ll need chocolate and coconut milk.  

  1. Graham crackers & butter: get the perfect balance of crunchy and creamy with crushed Graham crackers. This layer helps hold the cake together well.  

  1. Ice cream: another layer of softened ice cream.  

  1. Whipped cream: top your cake with whipped cream for extra freshness.  

 

How to make an ice cream cake

At first, making an ice cream cake at home can seem unimaginable. Yet, the layers are super easy to make; it’s just important not to skip any freezer steps. Try to work quickly and follow the recipe closely.  

With an ice cream cake, it’s crucial to plan ahead. You’ll need to freeze the dessert for at least 12 hours to ensure it doesn’t fall apart, which would be devastating. This makes ice cream cake the perfect recipe for parties.  

We’ll share step-by-step instructions on how to make an ice cream cake below. 

 

Ingredients

  • 1.35 kg chocolate gelato  

  • 1.35 kg stracciatella gelato  

  • 20 Digestive Biscuits 

  • 30 ml melted butter  

  • 340 g chocolate  

  • 400 ml coconut milk  

  • 450 ml double cream  

  • 40g icing sugar  

 

Steps

  1. In a food processor, blend your Digestives into a coarse crumb. Then mix in the melted butter. Set aside.  

  1. Take the chocolate gelato out of the freezer and leave it to soften for 10 minutes.  

  1. Line a 9-inch cake tin with plastic wrap. Make sure the plastic wrap is large enough to hang over the tin’s edges. It will make taking the cake out of the tin easier.  

  1. Put chocolate gelato into the lined tin. Try to work quickly. Use the back of a spoon to spread the gelato evenly. Once you have a smooth layer, put the tin into the freezer for 30 minutes.  

  1. Now, make the chocolate sauce. Heat the coconut milk until it starts bubbling. Take it off the heat and stir in chocolate chunks. Leave the sauce to cool.  

  1. After, the first gelato layer is frozen take it out of the freezer. Pour half of the cooled chocolate sauce over the gelato.  

  1. Add the crushed Digestives layer.  

  1. Pour the remainder of the chocolate sauce on top.  

  1. Take out stracciatella gelato from the freezer. Let it soften on the counter for 10 minutes.  

  1. Spread the stracciatella gelato into an even layer. Place the cake tin into the freezer for another 30 minutes, or until hardened.  

  1. Whisk double cream and sugar, until peaks form.  

  1. Take the cake from the freezer and decorate it with the whipped cream. Try to work quickly.  

  1. Place the ice cream back into the freezer. Leave it overnight to set.  

  1. Remove the cake from the freezer 30 minutes before you want to serve it.  

 

How to store an ice cream cake 

To avoid a melted mess, you’ll need to keep the ice cream cake in the freezer. Take it out of the freezer and let it rest on the kitchen worktop for about 30 minutes before you’re ready to serve.  

If you love to be organised, you can make ice cream cake ahead of time and have it ready for a special event. You can store the cake in the freezer just make sure it’s stored correctly. First, wrap the ice cream cake in cling wrap. Try to wrap it as tightly as you can to keep your cake as fresh as possible. Finish off with aluminium foil to stop freezer burn. Ice cream cake can be stored in the freezer for a week. 

 

Ice cream cake flavour combinations 

You can experiment with endless ice cream cake flavour combinations using the same recipe. Have fun trying these flavour ideas below:  

• Pistachio and vanilla gelato + shortbread biscuits + fresh berries  

• Strawberry gelato + strawberry cake  

• Hazelnut and caramel gelato + Biscoff biscuits  

• Swap Graham crackers for sweeter Oreo cookies