Mint and Chip Ice Cream Cake
While technically 'any ice cream can be made into an ice cream cake', I wouldn't know because aside from regular vanilla, mint and chip is the only ice cream I eat. Thrifty's made the best until they got bought by Rite Aid and now they don't sell ice cream like they used to. Now, my preferred brand is Baskin-Robbins (I'm a legacy brand girl, what can I say), not because they use the highest-quality dairy and most fairtrade chocolate - I'm not sure they do! - but because it's not too sweet, the chocolate is in flecked form (not chunk- or hunk-sized), and the ratio of chocolate to ice cream is extremely good. And sue me, I like the fake mint flavour. Fresh mint leaves steeped in hot dairy will never, ever give you something that tastes as good as mint extract or artificial mint flavour. I hate to say it, you hate to read it, we all know it's true.
- 23cm disc of chocolate cake (head to livingnorth.com for the All-Purpose Chocolate Sheet Cake recipe)
- 2 litres mint chip ice cream (or whatever flavour you like!)
- 460g double cream
- 30g icing sugar
- pinch of salt
Line a 23cm springform tin with plastic wrap, making sure you leave some hanging over the edges. Place the cake round in the tin.
Let the ice cream soften on your kitchen counter for 10 minutes or so; you want the texture to be slightly softer than simply ‘scoopable’, but decidedly not melted. Spoon the ice cream onto the cake and place a piece of plastic wrap directly on top. Use your palms to smush the ice cream down, making sure it’s in one even layer. (You could use a spoon, but using your hands is faster and much more fun.) Place in the freezer while you make the whipped cream.
Using a whisk, an electric hand-held mixer, or whatever you want, beat the cream in a large bowl to medium peaks, then whisk in the icing sugar. It might seem a touch sweeter than your average whipped cream, but that’s because it’s getting frozen, which dulls flavours, including sweetness. Beat until you have nice, pillowy stiff peaks. Whisk in a nice pinch of salt, for seasoning.
Remove the cake from the freezer and peel back the plastic wrap. Leaving it in the tin, spoon about one cup of the whipped cream over the ice cream and frost the top of the cake, just to create a nice even layer of whipped cream. Pop it back into the freezer for at least two hours, and refrigerate the remaining whipped cream until ready to serve.
Once the ice cream cake is frozen and ready, carefully un-mould it by removing the springform sides. (If it still feels a little too mushy/malleable for your liking, pop it back into the freezer until it feels solid enough to exist without its frame.)
Frost the outside and the top of the cake with the remaining whipped cream. You can return the cake to the freezer for later, if you like, or slice and serve as is. I find larger, fatter slices to be more dramatic, but they are perhaps too much for one person, so feel free to encourage sharing.
Do ahead: The quintessential do-ahead, this ice cream cake can be assembled up to one week in advance, wrapped tightly in plastic and frozen.
