Go Back
Print Recipe

Easy Brownie Ice Cream Cake

This ice cream cake is made from delicious layers of fudgy brownie and ice cream. Topped with a whipped cream frosting, it is the perfect dessert for any occasion.
Prep Time1 hour 30 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Total Time1 day
Course: Dessert
Keyword: brownies, cake, chocolate, dessert, ice cream, ice cream cake, special occasion, vanilla
Servings: 9 slices plus extra brownies

Ingredients

For the brownies

  • 2 ⅔ cups all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cups butter
  • 2 cups cocoa powder
  • 4 cups sugar
  • 8 eggs
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

For the cake:

Optional:

  • ¼ cup mini chocolate chips try milk, white, semisweet
  • 3 tbsp Nutella warmed in microwave for a few seconds to soften
  • 2 Oreo cookies or chocolate wafer cookies, crushed

Instructions

For the brownies:

  • Heat oven to 350°. Grease 1x9"springform pan, 1x9" round cake pan, and 1x9" square pan and line bottoms with parchment paper.
  • Mix flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Set aside
  • Melt butter in a medium-large saucepan. Add cocoa powder, stirring to remove clumps. Remove from heat. Blend in sugar, eggs, and vanilla.
  • Add dry ingredients and stir to combine and no more flour remains. Divide eavenly between pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes until toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely and carefully remove round brownies from pans.

For the cake:

  • Place one round brownie into bottom of springform pan.
  • Soften one container of ice cream until soft enough to spread, but not melted (approx. 10 minutes). Spread on top of brownie layer in spring form pan (about ¾ inch thickness). Cover with plastic wrap and freeze until firm.
  • Carefully remove brownie from 9" round cake pan. Place on top of first ice cream layer in springform pan, pressing down gently.
  • Soften second container of ice cream and spread onto second brownie layer. It is okay if the ice cream is higher than the edges of your pan, just scrape the edges with a knife to ensure they align with the rest of the cake. Wrap with plastic wrap and freeze until firm.
  • To remove frozen cake from springform pan, simply warm up the sides of the pan with a hot, damp cloth. You can remove the metal base from the cake or leave it, the choice is yours.

To frost/decorate cake:

  • Prepare stabilized whipped cream (see Stabilized whipped cream - A Little Hint of This... for recipe).
  • Spread a layer of prepared whipped cream frosting over the top of the ice cream cake. If cake begins to thaw, place back into freezer until firm and then continue to the next step.
  • .Sprinkle chocolate chips and cookie pieces in the center of cake. Drizle with warmed Nutella.
  • Pipe whipped cream rosettes around the edge of the cake. Cut rectange pieces of brownie from the 9" square pan of brownies. Place between rosettes. Freeze until firm.

Notes

Allow cake to sit on the counter for about 15 minutes before serving to help make slicing easier. 
Leftover cake should be frozen immediately to prevent melting.
You can change up the ice cream flavours to suit your tastes. For a dairy-free option, try using coconut milk ice cream.
We love homemade brownies in this cake, but you can also use boxed brownie mix if time is an issue. Simply check the back of the box to make sure you have enough to make 2 x 9" cake pans and a 9" square (if using brownie pieces to decorate cake).