As the self-proclaimed ice cream lady in all my friends’ lives, it’s no surprise that when it comes to birthday cakes, I’m a fan of the frozen variety—especially in summer when the last thing I really want to do is turn on the oven and bake a cake. Having a handful of solid no-bake options in my arsenal makes celebrating every occasion that much more fun. Enter: mini ice cream cakes.
With my mom’s birthday coming up next month, I knew I wanted to create a fun recipe that was both festive and a nod to summertime. While I’m basically a sugar monster, she could go the rest of her life without ever eating dessert again. I know, blasphemy. It’s become a tradition for us to get a cake of some kind—sometimes homemade, sometimes from HEB—then for her to have one tiny bite after we sing happy birthday before my brother, dad, and I demolish the rest of it.
But because birthdays absolutely require cake, the idea of making mini cakes for her minimal sweet tooth felt like just the right move. After some flavor brainstorming and engineering consideration, I created these miniature ice cream cakes that are perfect for any and all celebrations you’re sharing this season.
I’m all about shortcuts these days that save time without compromising on flavor. If I can use some pre-made ingredients and upgrade them a bit, I’m all in. For these ice cream cakes, I used store-bought pound cakes in two flavors; vanilla and chocolate, and two different flavors of ice cream; summer strawberry and my favorite vanilla ice cream.
To keep things from being too sweet, I used a generous helping of my favorite tangy jam from Ayako and Family and then topped everything off with some homemade chocolate magic shell complete with some chocolate shavings and fresh strawberries for an extra bite of summer flavor.
So yes, technically this is a no-recipe recipe, but those are some of the best ones because they leave so much up to interpretation and customization!
Here are a few other flavor combinations I want to try:
Chocolate and Hazelnut: Use a brownie or chocolate cake base, double chocolate ice cream, layer with Nutella, top with magic shell, and chopped hazelnuts
Vanilla and Chocolate Orange: Use a pound cake base, vanilla ice cream, layer with orange marmalade and fresh orange zest, top with chocolate magic shell
Summer Fruits: Use a pound cake base, raspberry ice cream, strawberry ice cream, and cherry ice cream, top with whipped cream and fresh berries.
The combinations are endless!
To get clean and even layers, I highly recommend using ring molds. These will help you layer everything to the exact same size and thickness and get clean sides when you unmold them. If you don’t have ring molds, you can layer everything into a mason jar and eat straight from the jar for easy transportation!
These cakes really couldn’t be easier and I can’t wait to make these for my mom to celebrate her summer birthday. Even if you’re not making these for some big celebration, they are the perfect individual-sized treat packed with flavor.
If you eat them all yourself, I promise I won’t tell.
Mini Strawberry and Vanilla Ice Cream Cakes
Description
Easy no-bake ice cream cakes are about to become you’re dessert of the summer.
Ingredients
- 2 ready-made pound cakes, sliced in half lengthwise – use whatever version you like from the freezer section
- 2 different half gallons of ice cream flavors for layering – I used vanilla and strawberry – softened but not melted
- Jam of choice – I used raspberry preserves
To decorate:
- Chocolate shell – to make homemade, melt dark chocolate with a small spoon of coconut oil and melt in microwave in 30 second increments
- Fresh fruit to top
Instructions
- Cut the cakes using the ring mold to cut out 8 round cake bases. Place each base inside the bottom of your ring mold on a sheet tray.
- Layer the first ice cream on top of the cake inside the ring molds. Use an offset spatula or spoon to flatten the top. Place in freezer until the ice cream is set.
- Remove from freezer and add a layer of jam.
- Add the second layer of ice cream, again using an offset spatula or spoon to flatten out.
- Freeze until solid, ideally overnight.
- To serve, remove cakes from ring molds and set on serving tray or plates. Top with melted chocolate and fresh fruits. Enjoy!
What size ring mold did you use? Thank you!
Hi Gail – I used ring molds that are about 3 inches in diameter and about 1.5 inches in height!
Thank you so much for this idea! My daughter wanted a boozy cake for her 21st birthday, but since it falls right after Thanksgiving, I didn’t want to have to cook. I did a layer of vanilla pound cake, layer of chocolate ice cream, layer of raspberry jam (with Chambord mixed in), layer of vanilla ice cream, and topped it with Kahlua hot fudge. It was a huge hit, and I think will be the requested birthday cake in our family from now on. Thanks for the easy no-bake suggestion; it came in so handy right now!