Vegan Ice Cream Cake
So tomorrow is my birthday and I want to make vegan ice cream cake but I have a hard time finding good recipes (and none of them on VegWeb, *gasp*). I was wondering if any of you have ever made icecream cake before and if you have any tips for me (such as big no-no's or really good combinations).
I don't have a round baking pan, so if I add cake layers (which I want to do), then I'd have to bake it square and then cut it into shape for the round mixing bowl in which I want to freeze it.
I don't like chocolate so I want to make vanilla (or coconut, or fruit?) cake for some of the layers. I have never made plain cake, so if anyone has suggestions on which kind of plain cake from VegWeb would freeze well into this icecream cake, let me know.
I want to have a lot of layers, and make it all crazy (but the flavors still have to match) So far I have ideas for the layers, but not all of them would go together, they're just ideas:
soy ice cream (obviously) or sorbet
mashed banana
ricemellow creme (don't know if this freezes well)
peanut butter (possibly mixed with earth balance and sugar...)
cake
crushed graham crackers
crushed oreo-like cookies
tofutti cream cheese with sugar added (would this freeze too solid?)
jam
fruit slices (berries?)
chopped nuts (peanut, pecan, cashew, walnut?)
candy (nerds?, sour patch... I love that stuff, but don't know how well it would do in an icecream cake)
And what flavor ice cream? The local co-op doesn't have all that many flavors, but I think they have cookie n'creme from soy delicious or some other brand, so maybe I could make it Oreo themed...
I need to make it today so it can freeze over night. I'm excited, it's going to be super yummy!
I've never made ice cream cake before, but make sure to use a recipe that makes a dense cake (most people like light and fluffy cakes, so maybe you could look for reviews that weren't positive for texture). You could also just make a fluffy cake recipe more dense by using a lot of whole wheat flour in place of white flour. That will help it all hold together better.
You could do a strawberry shortcake sort of thing. You could do a white cake with layers of frozen sliced strawberries and vanilla ice cream (you could do strawberry ice cream, but I think vanilla would be kind of like the whipped cream flavor with the cake and strawberries").
I've made them before. I try to copy the "dairy queen" ice cream cake. I make a layer of vegweb's Super Moist chocolate cake, then add a layer of chocolate cruncy stuff, then a layer of home made vanilla "ice cream". It's pretty challenging to get the icecream molded and look GOOD on top of the cake. Usually you take made icecream, soften it slightly, and then spread it into foil lined cake pan. Let it freeze completely and then pop it out. (you can loosen it up in hot water) But when you use homemade ice cream and let it soften, and then refreze it, instead of freezing back into icecream it becomes a BLOCK of flavored ice. It's disheartening.
Also, a traditional dairy queen cake has frosting on it. If you put the frosting on the cake and then freeze it, the frosting doesnt hold up to well. I think it's best to just freeze the un-frosted cake and then frost it before serving.
Whatever combination you choose (how about pina colada? pineapple cake with coconut icecream?) I think a textured filling would be a good idea. If you just have frozen cake and ice cream....there's not a whole lot of "fun" for your mouth other than taste. Some crunchy crumbled cookies swimming in toasted coconut and carmelized pinapple would be more interesting to eat than just frozen stuff. Also, I read some where that frozen stuff doesnt have as strong a flavor as it does when completely thawed. (Meaning if you make a filling and it tastes good, and then freeze it, when you eat it frozen it would taste sort of bland. I use this idea and make my filling a bit overly sweet and chocolatey)
This is the only one I've ever made... it was non-vegan but could easily be made vegan...
It's not so much a cake... as well... I dunno... it has cake and ice cream...
It comes out looking like a watermelon... (I think it was a Martha Stewart thing)
You put a metal mixing bowl in the freezer... line it with a 1/2 inch thick layer of green colored ice cream (say, mint or pistachio) do not spread 2 inches from the lip of the bowl. stir the ice cream to soften to help it spread... use plastic wrap to press it down if needed...freeze again (say 1 hour)
then fill the rest with a pink colored ice cream with vegan chocolate chips stirred in this time...
freeze again... 1-2 hours?
add a layer of cake on the top of the bowl as a 'lid' freeze again... turn it out and slice... looks like watermelon
sorry terrible directions... ::)
Ah ha!
here much better... http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20010624/ai_n10702483
oh i forgot the white layer... well you get the idea...
It's true, cold flavors aren't as strong. Have you ever eaten melted icecream? Super sweet and gooey, much more so than when frozen. I think it has to do with the fact that smell receptors only work with moist, warm air, and the cold numbs them.
I am using a round mixing bowl (the stainless steel ones without much of a "base"). I will buy soy ice cream at the store, so I hope I won't have the freezing-into-a-solid-block problem (*crosses fingers*).
I'm not making frosting, so I won't have that problem. I think if I have a lot of layers in different colors in a dome shape (because of the bowl as a mold) it will look kinda cool anyway.
I've honestly never had frozen ice cream cake before (not even in pre-vegan days), so I have a feeling that the cake will please me no matter what ;) I just want everyone else to enjoy it too.
For cakes I'm looking at the yellow cake and white cake recipes on vegweb:
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=14160.0 ("Basic Yellow Cake")
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=6372 ("White Cake")
Both have good reviews and the yellow cake seems to turn out a little dense for some people so that might be what I'm looking for, kbuettne, correct?
I was considering doing it strawberry flavored, but then I got so excited about the whole oreo thing that I think I'm going to use cookie'n cream ice cream, newman's oreos (crushed?), mashed banana, peanut butter, crushed peanuts, and maybe a layer of banana jam (I have some at home). I don't know about the second ice cream flavor yet, but I think that oreos, banana, and peanuts go well together. I just shouldn't add any more flavors or it might get too much.
Jennifer - I just googled images of ice cream cakes and apparently most of them are regular cake shape (flat and round). I was actually thinking about making it the shape you are talking about, I thought all ice cream cakes are the shape of a ball cut in half. I'm thinking that if I add the ice cream right into the metal bowl and freeze it that way, then I can get it out of the bowl by dipping the whole thing in hot water for a second and turning it over, right?
And then I thought maybe it would be easier to make individual ice cream "cupcakes", but I want a big cake to stick candles into.
http://www.joyofbaking.com/printpages/WatermelonBombeprint.html <---picture (but yours would have a layer of cake on the bottom)
Yep, I'd do the hot water thing.
But remember if you want to spread the ice cream around the bowl it's got to be pretty soft... and freezing well between layers is important especially if two kinds of ice cream touch
oh that link says to first line with plastic wrap to help unmold it.... but i dunno... i'd just do hot water and the outside might just be a bit melty
oh my gosh you got me thinking of ice cream cakes :D
How about a cake with french vanilla ice cream, and cherry ice cream with a tofutti cream cheese frosting
how about a coffee cake (yellow or white cake flavored with coffee) and pistachio ice cream or a yellow cake with layers of coffee ice cream and pistachio ice cream?
VegAnna, we're birthday buddies! There is the added complication that your tomorrow is my today. But, yay!
Actually, google says that it is now your birthday (or will be when you wake up). Happy birthday!
I made these for my birthday http://www.chow.com/recipes/10794 and they are to die for. I personally think they are better without the frosting.
I wish you yummy food.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
So what did you end up doing VegAnna??
So, Happy Birthday, you guys!
Happy Birthday, VegAnna and BCSH! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday, VegAnna and BCSH! Happy Birthday to you!
I second what bookmama said- Happy Birthday BCSH and VegAnna!!!
Have wonderful days!
Happy birthday BCSH! It's also one of my landlord's birthday today and a friend of mine, I've never known that many birthday buddies!
Thanks everyone. Last night turned out to be a rather melodramatic depressing night and I didn't make the cake, but I'm making it today because my roommates are insisting. It'll be frozen at night probably. We'll make it in a metal loaf pan instead probably because we can bake the cake in the same shape of the cake. I'll take a picture when we're done.
Happy birthday, VegAnna and BCSH! Hope you both had a wonderfuly day!! :)
Happy birthday you two!
I must say the idea of layers and layers of ice cream, cake and crunchy 'toppings' is awesome. If I were to make a 'cookies & cream' layer, I think a more adventurous layer would be great. Like peanut butter or coffee. Something that goes with cookie but isnt just chocolate. I love the Soy Delicious Mocha Almond Fudge, that would layer nicely with cookies, in my opinion. Then you could add in layers a crushed almond layer or even a thin chocolate fudge or coffee layer.
Dipping in hot water works but if it is lined with plastic wrap you do not have any meltage from having to dunk!
Thanks guys. I had a great day with lots of yummy food. I got The Voluptuous Vegan from the library and made the apple pie from it. So Good. Happy Birthday VegAnna I hope you had/have a great day.
Happy birthday Veg Anna and BCSH. Best Wishes!!!!!!!!!
Hmm, I made it. I didn't wait long enough for it to freeze again, so when we first ate it it was a little soft and very hard to slice without squishing and melting, but the next morning it was the perfect "sliceable" consistency and hmmmm, so good! I have to say the best layers were the ones that had mashed banana and sweetened peanut butter in them. I mixed the pb with some sunflower oil and sugar so it wouldn't feeze too hard and it ended up firm but crunchy sweet when frozen!
I had some leftover ingredients so I made 4 frozen cupcakes but didn't get to try them because everyone else gobbled them up. Speaking of that, everyone loved it, even the non-vegan present!
I think I should submit the recipe to vegweb.
Yes. You should definitely do that! :)