Recipe: Ice Cream Cake (like Baskin Robbins)

Ice Cream Cake (like Baskin Robbins)
Rec.food.baking/Brenda Janzen (1998)

At a recent office birthday party, I took a good look at one of these Baskin's cakes, and was able to replicate it really well for a family birthday a few weeks ago. Here's what I did (sounds like lots of steps, but not difficult. Just takes a bit of time.)

I used:
1 chocolate cake mix
2 flavors of store bought ice cream
1 container of premade icing

*you'll need some available freezer space near your work space.

1. I baked a fairly thick one-layer cake in a 9-inch round cake pan (I used a Wilton brand pan, that has straight rather than sloped sides). I made sure the cake rose evenly, rather than being rounded on top (you can buy "bake even" strips to place around the cake pan. But I used a wet rag that I tied securely around the pan, just under the top rim. Somehow this makes the cake rise fairly evenly all over).

2. I allowed the cake to cool thoroughly, then I wrapped it in foil and stuck it in the freezer.

3. While the cake was freezing, I set out one flavor of the ice cream (I nuked it to thaw quicker, or you could just set it out earlier). When it was soft enough to scoop out, I took the same cake pan I'd previously baked the cake in (washed the pan, of course :-), and packed scoops of ice cream into the cake pan within about 3/4 inch of the top of the pan. I used a spoon warmed in hot water to pack down firmly and "level" the top of the ice cream layer. Then I returned the pan to the freezer.

4. When both cake and ice cream were well-frozen, I took a hot spoon and ran it over the top of the pan of ice cream, so it would be a little soft and stick to the cake. Then I set the frozen cake layer on top of the ice cream and pressed it down for a few seconds, and returned both to the freezer. (BTW, when you place the cake with the ice cream, the cake will stick way up above the pan, but that's fine.)

5. Meanwhile, I set out in a bowl a few scoops of my other flavor (color) of ice cream. I let this get _really_ soft, stirring occasionally, so that I'd be able to spread it on the cake (like icing) with a spatula. I was able to get it to just the right consistently by putting it in the fridge to "hold" it at that temp.

6. After giving the cake/ice cream pan enough time to freeze together, I filled the sink with lukewarm water and held the pan down into the water for a few seconds (careful--it melts _quick_, I found). Then I inverted the cake onto my cake plate (I put a dab of icing on the cake plate to keep the cake from sliding around). The cake will be on the bottom, with the ice cream on top. (At first this made no sense to me. But I assure you, Baskin R. does it this "ice cream on top" way. Now it makes sense, though, because when you serve it, the ice cream melts easier than the cake. So if you had the cake part on top, you might "squish" the ice cream out from under the cake, since you do have to exert quite a bit of pressure to cut it.)

7. I returned the cake/ice cream combo to the freezer for about 10 minutes so it could get really cold again.

8. I took the cake out of the freezer, and used a metal cake spatula to frost the cake with the very soft ice cream I had placed in the frige. I worked quickly so that this wouldn't melt and fall off the cake. Again, I returned the cake to the freezer for at least 10 minutes.

9. When the cake had refrozen sufficiently, I took it out and decorated it with the store-bought icing, using a bag and cake decorating tips. You could decorate it any way you would with a regular cake--add borders, flowers, whatever. I did find that I periodically needed to return the cake to the freezer shelf for a few minutes, though, to keep it firm enough that my decorations didn't slide off.

10. Next step: serve to impressed friends/family and EAT!

Well, there you have it--a blow-by-blow account of my "Baskin Robbins"-inspired cake. It was really a lot easier than it sounds, and a nice change from the heavy sweetness you get from eating lots of buttercream icing.