50 Ice Cream Cake Options

Today is National Ice Cream Cake Day!

When I've had this in the past, it has always been store made but Rockridge Press books sent me The Ultimate Ice Cream Cake Book by Kelly Mikolich back before the end of 2019 so I've had time to read it and even experiment with it. We have a small ice cream maker but such a machine is not required for all of the recipes in this cookbook. I'll get to what is required to make these recipes in a moment but let's get the FCC regulations out of the way. In exchange for this book, the publisher wanted a book review on Amazon but they got that plus one on Goodreads and this article for you today; no other form of compensation was received.

The first chapter lays out information about what type of ice cream bases are used in the recipes. Some of the recipes use a no-churn base but the bulk require that you use an ice cream maker, 1.5 quart is what the recipes are based on. That's a bit annoying because that means a lot of people may not be able to use those recipes because they lack such a machine. The claim that you can use a no-churn variety would be stronger if the index listed such recipes out so one could find them.

The first chapter also describes five styles of cakes that can be make into ice cream cakes. Other than cake rolls, I have experience making all of the rest. Note: You will be making these by scratch, too, just like the ice cream if you use this book. However, one of the big pluses for me with this book is that it is a great idea generator of what types of flavors, cake styles, and ice cream bases might go well together. 

The rest of the introduction lays out prep time in terms of chilling and freezing but not making the ice cream base, churning it (or not), mixing the cake batter, and baking said batter. Over all making an ice cream cake appears to be a two day process which again may limit who can use these recipes. An upper middle class or stay at home partner may have time to work on these but someone working six days a week or with kids running around may be best off just buying an ice cream cake. If you don't have all of the pans you need to make one recipe, choose another, but again, that limits the number of recipes from this book you may be able to make.

The recipes in this book are categorized into five types of cakes in five separate chapters -- Chocolate (16 recipes), Fruity (16 recipes), Cheesecake (6 recipes), Boozy (5 recipes), and Artisanal (11 recipes). If you are doing the math with me, yes, that's 54 not 50 recipes but isn't that good that you get more? The artisanal title is a bit misleading; these are more multi-ingredient cakes not ones that require special baking or ice cream making training or talent. 

As I try recipes from this book, I'll try and remember to come back and share the results with you all on this post so if ice cream cakes interest you, you might want to bookmark this article. But to be blunt, these are all time consuming and I think I'd rather just buy an ice cream cake.