There is never a wrong time for ice cream. Be it a hot summer day or a chilli fall gathering. Ice cream will always be my friend. For exactly that reason I decided not to bake a pie, or a crumble or anything pumpkin for Canadian Thanksgiving. I wanted ice cream! However, I did want it to be pretty, something special for the occasion with flavours reminiscent of fall. Enter the simple layer ice cream cake that you can assemble in advance so you have extra time for your turkey, bread pudding and cranberry sauce.
This particular recipe was made with store bought items – feel free to bake your own loaf cake or take out your ice cream maker. I kept it simple and it turned out great. Make this cake this week and you’ll be ready for your Thanksgiving gathering. By the way, this is a perfect cooking project to tackle with the kids.
Ingredients
- 1 store bought loaf cake (I used a cinnamon swirl loaf)
- 1/2 cup of chocolate ganache or chocolate sauce (optional)
- 1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened
- 1 pint chocolate ice cream, softened
- 1 pint caramel pecan ice cream, softened
Instructions
- Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with plastic wrap making sure extra hangs out of pan. Slice loaf cake horizontally. Place the bottom half of the cake in bottom of dish. Spread caramel pecan ice cream over cake. Freeze until firm, about 1 hour.
- Spread chocolate ice cream over first ice cream layer and cover with a thin layer of chocolate ganache. Freeze until firm, about 2 hours.
- Spread vanilla ice cream over frozen chocolate ganache layer; top with top part of cake. Wrap in plastic wrap; freeze overnight.
- Remove plastic from top of the cake and lift out cake by pulling gently on the plastic wrap. Place on a cutting board and unwrap completely. Slice cake, and serve immediately.
Notes
Use any cake and ice cream combination you like. This also works well with sorbets and jam instead of chocolate sauce. Make sure colours of the ice creams are different enough that you see the layers and make sure flavours you choose work well together.
