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Oh hey! You ready for an epic (and sparkly) ice cream cake?!?
Cool, because I’m pretty excited about it.
OkOK, and I’m also pretty excited that it’s Friday. And not just any Friday, but the Friday before the 4th of July!! Ahh, I can’t believe it’s already almost July 4th. Time just PAUSE… for like two seconds… just so that I can catch my breath, pleaseeee.
Alright, so let’s talk Triple Layer Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Cake!!
I’ve been way too excited for the past two weeks to share this cake with you guys. It’s kind of like cake heaven, and it’s pretty dang simple to make too. Simply make a chocolate cake, layer it with hot fudge sauce, cookie crumbs, and vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Crazy simple and basic, but umm, pretty close to perfection in my eyes.
I’m the type of person who loves a good piece of chocolate cake with a couple scoops of vanilla ice. I mean, chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream, classic right? Everyone loves that combo. So when the thought of combining the two into one developed in my head while on a hike one day, I was immediately SOLD.
I know this maybe is not the most creative cake in all the land (think DQ, Baskin Robbins and countless others), but it’s still pretty epic, and so fun to put your own twist on!
The base is my very favorite homemade chocolate cake. Don’t worry guys, this cake recipe is EASY, and very little fuss, yet still the best. I also stirred in some chocolate chips for a little extra YUM factor. The cake layer then gets smothered in a little homemade fudge sauce and sprinkled generously with crushed Oreo cookie crumbs. YESSSSS. Then I repeated the layer, but instead of chocolate cake used a layer of vanilla ice cream and a layer of chocolate ice cream.
I actually ended up using this leftover peanut butter cup ice cream for my vanilla layer, and a chocolate ice cream recipe from the cookbook for my chocolate layer. I can’t share full details on the chocolate ice cream just yet, cause I want that flavor to be a surprise, but just know that it was SOOO good. You can simply use regular chocolate and vanilla ice cream, or have fun mixing and matching your own flavor combos.
Then for fun I topped the cake with some upside down ice cream cones and called it a day. Done and DONE. The ice cream cone part is totally optionally, but if you’re looking to impress, it’s a cute, fun and easy way to do so!
Oh and seeing as I am totally promoting this cake as a MUST make cake for the 4th, I also added some sparklers. Gosh, I love sparklers. Is it weird that I stocked up on twelve boxes at Target? I’m fearful I won’t be able to get them once the 4th has passed…and you know I NEED them for fun cake photos in the future, duh.
Oddly, it worked out that I had this cake ready to eat on my brother Red’s 16th birthday on Wednesday. Even more oddly, was the fact that it was a cake he would actually eat. That picky kid has his limits when it comes to food, but he loved every bite of this cake.
How could he not though? For real, this cake is LIFE. 🙂
Alright guys and that’s it for me today. I am not posting Monday, so the next time we chat will be Tuesday! Whoa, that’s so far away! Make sure you let me know in the comments area below what you’re all are up to this weekend. And please, please please if you make any HBH recipes tag me on Instagram, or even better, send me snaps via snapchat (username hbharvest).
I get way too excited seeing the recipes you guys make!
OH and lastly, I am over on snapchat today talking about all things 4th of July, plus making some really GREAT food. So come hang out with me today!
Triple Layer Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream Cake.
Servings: 8 Servings
Calories Per Serving: 1000 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 cup vanilla ice cream softened (any vanilla based flavor can be used)
- 3 cups chocolate ice cream softened any chocolate based flavor can be used
- 2-3 cups crushed chocolate cookies crumbs Oreos
Chocolate Cake
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg at room temperature
- 1/2 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup canola oil
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup strong brewed coffee hot
- 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Chocolate Fudge
- 12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chopped
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- ½ teaspoon flaky sea salt
Instructions
- Line two (8 inch) cake pans with plastic wrap. Spread the vanilla ice cream in one even layer in one pan and the chocolate ice cream in one even layer in the other. Freeze until firm, 6 hours or overnight.
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one 8-inch round cake pan, line with parchment paper, then butter or spray with cooking spray.
- In a medium size bowl combine the flour, sugar, unsweetened cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer (or use a hand held mixer) beat together the eggs, buttermilk, canola oil and vanilla until smooth. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients with the mixer on low until there are no longer any clumps of flour. Stir in the hot coffee and mix until combined. Batter should be pourable, but not super thin. Stir in the chocolate chips.
- Pour the batter evenly into the cake pan. Bake 25 to 30 minutes, until the tops are just set and no longer wiggly in the center. Remove and let cool five minutes, then run a knife around the edges of the pan. Grab 1 large flat plate, line it with wax or parchment paper and invert the cakes onto the paper-lined plates. Cover and let the cakes cool, then freeze 4 hours or overnight until firm.
Chocolate Fudge
- In a medium size sauce pan, combine the chocolate and cream over LOW heat. Cook stirring often until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in the butter, vanilla and salt until smooth. Let cool to room temperature. Keep stored in the fridge.
Assemble
- Place the baked, frozen chocolate cake on a cake plate. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with 1/3 of the fudge sauce. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cookie crumbs. Remove the vanilla ice cream layer from the freeze and carefully remove it from the pan and discard the plastic wrap. Place the layer on top of the chocolate cake. Spread the top with 1/3 of the fudge sauce. Repeat with the chocolate ice cream layer and spread with the remaining fudge sauce, allow excess to drip down the sides. Finish with a sprinkle of cookie crumbs, then immediately return to the freezer. Freeze until firm, about 4 hours or overnight. If at any point, your cake starts to get too soft to work with return it to the freezer to firm back up for an hour or two.
- Remove the cake 5-10 minutes before slicing to allow it to soften a bit. Slice and serve!
Have a great 4th of July guys… and eat lots and lots of cake…and ice cream! ???
How much fudge (in cups) does your homemade fudge recipe make?
Hi Lindsay,
The recipe will make about 1 cup of fudge. Please let me know if you have any other questions:) xT
Hands down the BEST ice cream cake ever!
Made this for my son and grandson’s birthday and it was a huge hit!! Thank you for this most yummy recipe. I’ll be making this cake many times over!!
Hey Kathy,
Wow!! Thank you so much:) I am so glad the recipe was enjoyed and happy birthday to your son and grandson! xTieghan
In the first instruction,
“Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease one 8-inch round cake pan, line with parchment paper, then butter or spray with cooking spray”
Is it necessary to line with parchment if you’ve already greased the cake pan? Do I understand it correctly that you grease, put on parchment, then grease again, then put in the cake batter?
Hi Kim,
Yes, that is correct, the initial greasing prevents the parchment from moving and sticking to the pan. Let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it! xTieghan
Hi Tieghan. I made the cake for my daughter’s 25th bday. It turned out so well and was such a hit. Thank you for this amazing recipe.
I had some trouble with instructions, so did a lot of re-reading them. E.g. “ invert the cakes onto the paper-lined plate” & “let the cakes cool”, but there’s only one cake; “beat together the eggs”, but recipe only calls for 1 egg. These inconsistencies made me question whether I was missing something in the recipe ingredients or instructions, which made me go back and re-read each time I came across an inconsistency.
Hi Kim,
Thanks so much for making this recipe, I am so glad it was enjoyed!! So sorry for any confusion! Have the best week:) xTieghan
If you don’t add the coffee, do you need to add other liquid?
Hi Kim,
You will want to use water in place of the coffee. Please let me know if you give the recipe a try, I hope you love it!! xTieghan
If I wanted to turn it into a vanilla cake, what would you suggest for substituting the cocoa and coffee?
Hey Janelle,
I would follow this vanilla cake recipe: https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/vanilla-birthday-cake-with-whipped-chocolate-buttercream/#bo-recipe
I hope you love the recipe, please let me know if you have any other questions! xTieghan
My son and I made this cake for his 11th birthday – and it was a huge hit for our family. We made three different mixi-ins to the ice cream and our cake layers were much smaller than your cake. It was alittle bit daunting for me to take this one, but not only was it fun to make, but it was perfect. The cake is now my new go to cake – definitely a keeper! Thank you
Thank you so much! xTieghan
This looks yum! I’m wondering how the cake layer tastes frozen, does that work? I can’t imagine nr eating frozen cake!
Hi! The cake layer quickly begins to thaw once it is cut, so it’s not like eating frozen cake at all. Promise it taste great! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
This looks amazing! I’m going to use it as inspiration for my LO’s birthday party! He’s going to have his own mini ice cream cake for smashing! I think to save time and effort, you could do most of this at once in a “cheesecake” pan, freezing it all at the same time.
Thank you Melissa! Happy Birthday to him! I hope you all love this!