Vanilla Ice Cream Cake Recipe [with Berries]

The cake is the best part of any birthday, so why not make it even more special with a Vanilla ice cream cake recipe? This cake is very flavorful: vanilla ice cream that, blueberries and strawberries, a delicious whipped vanilla frosting – well, let’s just say this is a guilty pleasure! 🙂

Vanilla ice cream cake is not a particularly hard cake to make, it just takes some time and the right equipment. I used 8-inch cake pans to bake the cake layers in but I didn’t have an 8-inch springform pan to use for the ice cream layer as suggested. I ended up freezing the ice cream layer in a plastic wrap-lined 8-inch cake pan and that worked perfectly. You could also use 9-inch pans if that’s what you have. Once you are eating the cake, you’ll immediately forget how much time you’ve spent on it!

Vanilla Ice Cream Cake Recipe Ingredients

For the cake:

2 cups cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
¼ tsp. salt
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
11 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ⅓ cups sugar
3 large eggs
1 big egg yolk
¾ cup plus 2 tbsp. buttermilk, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the blueberry sauce:

1 cup blueberries
3 tbsp. sugar
1¼ tsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. cold water
2 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

For the strawberry sauce:

4 oz. strawberries, hulled, rinsed, and coarsely chopped
1½ tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
2½ cups vanilla ice cream, (homemade or store-bought) slightly softened

For the frosting:

3 sticks + 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into cubes
3 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Directions

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350˚ F (180C) and butter the bottom of two 8-inch round cake pans, and then line with parchment paper. Grease the pans (including the sides too), and sprinkle with the flour, remove the excess.
In a medium bowl, combine the cake flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk together; set aside.
In the bowl mix butter and the vanilla bean seeds for 3 min at medium-high speed. Scrape down the sides and beat again, for 1 more min. You can discard the pod or reserve it for another use.
Mix in the sugar to the butter mixture, adding about ¼ cup sugar at a time and beating it for 1 minute each time.
Beat eggs in the egg yolk, adding one at a time. Scrape down the sides each time to mix everything.
Mix vanilla extract and buttermilk in a cup. Mixing at low speed, add the dry ingredients first, then wet ingredients, and so on, but begin and end with the dry ingredients. Scrape down the sides and mix for 15 seconds more.
Divide the batter between the pans and bake for about 20-22 minutes. While baking you need to rotate the pans halfway through. The cake is done when the top is golden and a cake tester (or a toothpick) you stick in the center comes out clean.
Let the cake cool in the pans, on wire racks, about 10 minutes, then gently run a knife around the edge of the cakes and turn the layers out onto a wire rack. Remove the parchment paper and allow it to cool completely.
While you’re cooking other parts of the cake, cover the cake tightly with plastic wrap and let it chill.

To make the blueberry sauce:

Combine the blueberries and sugar in a nonreactive saucepan set over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until the berries begin to burst and release their juices.
In a small bowl whisk cornstarch with lemon juice and water.
Mix the cornstarch mixture into the blueberry mixture.
Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat. Simmer the mixture for 1 minute more.
Remove from the heat and cover and chill.

To make the strawberry sauce:

Combine the strawberries and sugar in a bowl and toss well to combine. Mash the berries slightly with the tines of a fork and stir in the lemon juice, cover, and chill.
Let the berries macerate at least 1 hour and if needed, mash once more to achieve your desired texture. (About 10 minutes before the strawberries have finished macerating, remove ice cream from the freezer so that it will soften and become spreadable.)

To assemble the cake:

Level the cake layers if necessary, using a serrated knife.
Place the first cake round in the bottom of a springform pan (I use an 8-inch one).
Place a piece of parchment paper around the cake to hold tightly the ice cream layer, like a collar.* (You need to soften ice cream to be able to spread it evenly).
Evenly spread the ice cream over the bottom cake layer.
Pour blueberry and strawberry fillings on top of the ice cream layer in whatever pattern you prefer, using a spoon.
Place the second cake layer on top of it.
Before placing the cake into the freezer, make sure the parchment paper is surrounding the cake tightly and all the sides are closed.

Alternatively, you can use a freezable cake stand. In this case:

Place the first cake layer on a cake stand that is freezable and set aside.
Line a cake pan (I use an 8-inch one) with plastic wrap and spread vanilla ice cream evenly over it. Top it with berries and freeze for few hours.
When the ice cream berries layer is frozen, remove it from the freezer and carefully turn it out onto the first cake layer on the cake stand and remove plastic wrap. If ice cream layer has a larger circumference than the cake layers, carefully trim ice cream using a sharp knife.
Top with second cake layer on a cake stand and freeze again.

To make the frosting:

In the bowl whip butter for 8 minutes at medium speed. Butter will become very pale & creamy. (you can use of an electric mixer with the paddle attachment,)
Add remaining ingredients and mix on low speed for 1 minute, scrape down the sides and then mix on medium speed for 6 minutes. Frosting will be very light, creamy, and fluffy.
Carefully frost cake and decorate as desired. Store the cake covered in the freezer until ready to serve. When ready to serve, remove the cake from the freezer and slice using a long, sharp knife. Run the blade under hot water if the cake is difficult to cut. Let cut pieces stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

cake & ice cream layers from Annie’s Eats, cake originally from Confections of a Foodie Bride, blueberry & strawberry sauces from The Perfect Scoop, frosting from Sweetapolita, originally from Donna Hay