Coffee Ice Cream Cake

Decadent brownie topped with coffee ice cream and a layer of vanilla ice cream swirled with fudge. This ice cream cake takes me back to childhood! 

We’ve been slowly cleaning out my childhood home. There’s almost 30 years of memories that in house. I’m finding little bits and pieces of my younger years every weekend. Ever since I found my dad’s stash of family videos, I’ve been watching them every chance I have.

My dad was super adamant about filming the family. He wanted to capture every important moment on film. He had this giant Betamovie video camera (remember, this was the 80s) that he would lug around everywhere. The video camera probably weighed between 10-15 pounds. It was enormous, especially compared the small electronic devices we have these days.

I found one video that documented every Easter/birthday/summer vacation trip/Halloween/Christmas from my birth up until 4th grade. Crazy, right?!

One thing I remember from childhood very well- ice cream cake! Since my birthday was during the summer, ice cream cake was a requirement.

As a kid, I LOVED mint chocolate chip. I’m not sure if it was the little chunks of chocolate scattered throughout the ice cream or the green color that I found so alluring.  While, I still love mint chocolate chip, these days I’m all about coffee. This coffee ice cream cake is an ice cream cake for the big kids!

This ice cream cake starts with a brownie bottom. It’s your standard brownie recipe baked in an 8-inch cake pan. Once it’s cooled, place it in a cake ring mold lined with an acetate strip. (If you don’t have a cake ring mold, you can also use a springform ring – the ones used to make cheesecake.) Depending on how wide your acetate strip is, you might need to tape them together to build a taller cake (like I have photographed above).

Once the brownie is securely placed into the acetate lined cake ring, spread coffee ice cream inside. While I find it’s best to use homemade freshly-spun coffee ice cream, you can totally use softened store-bought ice cream. Level off the coffee ice cream layer and place it the freezer until the layer is almost frozen. Remove from the freezer and spread vanilla ice cream on top. Add dollops of chocolate fudge and swirl. Place back in the freezer until top layer is frozen.

Ice cream cakes may take a little more time and effort than a traditional cake, but I think it’s well worth it!

Regardless of the ice cream flavors, ice cream cake tastes like childhood. I immediately remember my pool party birthdays and weekends playing at the beach.