If you’ve ever finished an ice-cream sandwich and realized it was simply not enough, we have discovered the dessert of your dreams: ice-cream sandwich cake! Ice-cream sandwich cake combines layers of ice-cream sandwiches with hot fudge, caramel sauce, whipped cream and your choice of toppings (may we recommend chocolate chips or sprinkles?).
The best thing about ice-cream sandwich cake, though, (aside from the layers of ice-cream sandwiches) is that it’s incredibly easy to make. While the cake is actually pretty self-explanatory, this recipe from BellyFull makes it a breeze by breaking it down into just four steps. You’ll first microwave the fudge and caramel, then line the bottom of a baking dish with ice-cream sandwiches. Next, you’ll spread a layer of hot fudge, caramel and whipped topping, then your choice of other toppings. You’ll then simply repeat the layers and freeze it.
This ice-cream sandwich cake can be made ahead of time and kept frozen for up to three days as long as it’s tightly covered. You’ll want to let it thaw for 5-10 minutes before slicing, as it will likely be hard to cut into right away if it’s been frozen for a while.
Reviewers at BellyFull have given the ice-cream sandwich cake a perfect five stars, calling it “delicious” and a “crowd favorite.” One reviewer said it was great for the (presumably hot) weather in California and perfect for someone who doesn’t know how to bake. Another reviewer says she is 12 years old and made it for her mom’s birthday, writing that it was “so easy” and her mom “loved it.”
You can find the full recipe on BellyFull’s website.
You can always make some variations to the recipe if there are any ingredients you don’t like. Instead of topping it with mini chocolate chips and toffee pieces, try M&Ms, crushed Oreos, shortbread cookies, peanuts or really anything you want.
You could also use Neapolitan ice-cream sandwiches for a combination of chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavors, or if you plan on topping it with crushed Oreos, you can take that flavor even further and use the brand’s own ice-cream sandwiches.
You can also take this homemade dessert even further by making your own ice-cream sandwiches to use in the cake. It’s not as difficult as it sounds, as all you need is your favorite type of ice cream and some graham crackers. While you could follow this recipe from Taste of Home that calls for vanilla pudding, milk, whipped topping, chocolate chips and graham crackers, using just ice cream and graham crackers is far easier.
While you could use a simple flavor of ice cream, like vanilla or chocolate, you can change the flavor of the sandwiches (and therefore the whole cake) by using something more adventurous, like one of Little Debbie’s ice-cream flavors, which include Strawberry Shortcake or Swiss Roll. You can also find unique flavors from Jeni’s and Godiva also has a brand new line of ice cream that would make pretty decadent ice-cream sandwiches with flavors like chocolate strawberry, salted caramel brownie and hazelnut crunch.
Of course, you could also make them a bit healthier by using an ice cream like Halo Top or Enlightened, both of which have fewer calories and sugar than traditional ice cream.
You can also make ice-cream sandwiches with cookies instead of graham crackers, which would still be fine in a cake, but may make it a bit harder to shape since cookies aren’t square. This recipe for cookie ice-cream sandwiches from Betty Crocker calls for your favorite ice cream, frozen yogurt or sorbet, then chocolate chip cookie mix. From there, all you do is bake the cookies, then put the ice cream on a cookie, with another cookie on top.
If you’d rather not make your own cookies, you can just buy pre-made cookies, but they’ll need to be decent-sized to hold the ice cream, so you might want to order some instead of buying them at the grocery store. Look for online bakeries if you don’t have one near you, like Wunderkeks, which has a dozen different cookie flavors, or websites like Cheryl’s Cookies, which has dozens of cookies, including gluten-free options and specific goodies for holidays so you could make a holiday-themed ice-cream sandwich cake.
While it won’t be as easy as simply putting ice-cream sandwiches together to make a cake, you can of course make an ice cream cake without using ice-cream sandwiches. While restaurants like Dairy Queen and Baskin Robbins sell pre-made ice-cream cakes, it’s actually not too difficult to make your own.
This ice-cream cake recipe from Preppy Kitchen has a five-star rating and only a handful of ingredients, like pre-made chocolate cake, ice cream, hot fudge, whipping cream and crushed Oreos, if desired.
If pie is your dessert of choice, this ice-cream pie recipe from Pillsbury calls for sugar-cookie dough for the crust, heavy whipping cream, vanilla, powdered sugar and a few other ingredients, like sprinkles.
If you decide to try making your own ice-cream sandwich cake, be sure to let us know how it goes!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for additional stories.
