Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake

When we saw the recipe for this ice cream cake on our favorite food blog, we thought it might be fun to make one for Milo's birthday. It tasted really good.

For some guidance in making an ice cream cake, you can check out the Baking Bites tutorial here. The original recipe was for a huge cake (three 10×15-inch layers). In our recipe below, I'm going to cut it in half. It made three 9x13-inch layers.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake

Ice Cream Layer
1/2 gallon high-quality mint chocolate chip ice cream

Line a 9x13-inch pan with plastic wrap. Soften ice cream until it is easy to scoop, then spread it into an even layer in the prepared pan. Freeze for at least 6 hours, or until very firm. Once it is firm, the pan can be removed and the layer can be stored in the plastic wrap.

Chocolate Cake (make 2)
1 cup sugar
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 large egg
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup hot water

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 9x13 pan with parchment paper. Spray the parchment paper with cooking spray. Leave some paper overhanging the edges of the pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, buttermilk, vegetable oil and vanilla extract. Pour into flour mixture and stir until just combined.

Pour hot water (not quite boiling) over batter and stir until smooth. Pour into prepared pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until cake springs back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cake cool in pan for 15 minutes, then use the parchment paper to transfer cake to a wire rack to cool completely. Do not remove parchment paper.

Repeat recipe to make a second cake.

Assembly
2 cake layers
1 ice cream layer
2 batches* vanilla buttercream frosting

Place one cake layer on a large serving platter or cake board, using parchment paper to help move the cake without breaking it. Peel off parchment once cake is in place. Top cake with ice cream layer and top ice cream layer with remaining cake layer.

Freeze for at least an hour, until firm and cold. Meanwhile, make buttercream frosting.

Frost chilled cake with a thin layer of frosting and freeze until ready to serve.

* We ended up making 2 batches of buttercream frosting which resulted in a thick, rich layer of frosting. We had trouble spreading the frosting because we were spreading it on a frozen cake and the frosting froze. You might want to try frosting the cake before it is frozen to help avoid this problem. Or just be more adept at frosting cakes...

Link to original recipe at Baking Bites.