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When I was growing up, birthdays were always celebrated with ice cream cakes<\/strong>. Most of the time they came from Carvel but sometimes, my parents picked one up\u00a0 at Dairy Queen.<\/strong> Our Dairy Queen used real cake in their ice cream cakes. I did not care for them as much as the Carvel cakes with the chocolate crunchy layer<\/strong>. I did like the fudge<\/strong> that was in the Dairy Queen cakes though.<\/p>\n

With my own family, ice cream cakes are still highly requested for birthday cakes<\/strong>. I love to bake and make many different kinds of cakes, but had never attempted an ice cream cake. That changed a couple of weeks ago when I made my first ice cream cake<\/strong>. I choose to make one in the Carvel style, but enhanced the chocolate crunchy layer with a layer of fudge.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

I was surprised at how well the cake came out. I did have one issue, but it was easily solved.\u00a0 I needed to stabilize my whipping cream,<\/strong> so that it could be piped onto the cake. It is very easy to do and I choose to do it by adding 2 teaspoons of Wilton Clear Piping Gel<\/a><\/strong> that I had on hand. It turned out fabulous. The next time I make it, I am going to use the stabilized whipped cream on the entire cake<\/strong>. There are also recipes for stabilized whipped cream using gelatin.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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One of the reasons I like making my own ice cream cakes is because, I can customize them to our tastes using different flavors and non-GMO ice cream.\u00a0 I am thinking a caramel layer may be a nice option as well. Even using a high quality ice cream, the cake we made cost\u00a0much less than buying a\u00a0 Carvel cake in the store<\/strong>. The prices of those cakes has increased dramatically over the years.<\/p>\n

Making your own ice cream cake at home is not hard,<\/strong> but it does take time. You could make it in one day if you start early, but you are better off making it over 2 days.<\/strong> To start, freeze a 9″ springform pan<\/a>.\u00a0 There are some different ways you can use the pan. This first time, I used it with the bottom attached, but for my next cake I plan to use a 12″ lace doily cake circle<\/a>. You can put the cake circle on a cookie sheet with the ring on top.<\/p>\n

The trick is to not let your ice cream soften too much<\/strong> if you use this method. It works best if you keep the ice cream as firm as possible while still being spreadable. I have also seen people who make it directly on a silicone lined baking sheep with the ring.\u00a0 I will update on how the cake circle method goes, and if I find it better than leaving the bottom attached.<\/p>\n

I made a video tutorial of the process<\/strong> you can view below:<\/p>\n