Salted Strawberry Crunch Ice Cream Cake
Here is the thing, most ice cream cakes have two flavors with crunchies in the middle. Looking at you @Carvel. There is NOTHING wrong with that. However, if we can do better, why not do better? So this cake is the answer to the problem that has been plaguing generations- simple ice cream cakes. I wanted to make something complicated and slightly labor intensive (this is a joke) but that was absolutely worth all of the effort (this is not a joke).
As part of my “Best Thing I Made All Month” series over on TikTok, I featured this ice cream cake. Since I created this in the peak of summer, I was sweaty and very much resistant to the idea of turning on the oven. Unfortunately, you do need the oven in some capacity for this recipe although when I say store bought poundcake is fine, I actually mean it. If you do feel like making your own pound cake from scratch for this recipe, I like to use this recipe. This recipe will make TWO loaf pans full of pound cake so feel free to cut it in half.
Ingredients
- 1 Recipe Pound Cake store bought is great if you do not want to make it
- 2 pints strawberry ice cream I use a very natural one that doesn’t taste overly sweet to balance
- 1 Recipe Roasted Strawberry Purée
- Dark Chocolate Ganache
- 1 recipe vanilla crunchies
- 1 recipe salted chocolate crunchies
Ganache
- 1 cup 145grams or 5oz semi sweet chips
- 4 oz 70% dark chocolate chopped
- 1 tbsp corn syrup
- 1/2 cup heavy cream 4.2 ounces
Roasted Strawberry Puree
- 2 pints fresh strawberries
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
Salted Vanilla Crunchies
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/23 tbsp tablespoons light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup neutral oil (60ml) I use grapeseed
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour (90 grams)
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1 bag freeze dried strawberries (2 oz)
Salted Chocolate Crunchies
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar (105g)
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup AP flour (81g)
- 2/3 cup cocoa powder (55g)
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Make pound cake. Set aside. Wrap in Saran Wrap if you are not using for the next three hours as the cake will dry out if left uncovered in the open air.
- Roast strawberries. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. Slice strawberries lengthwise, not circles. Pour strawberries onto sheet and then toss with salt and maple syrup. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes, until berries have darkened in color and are syrupy. Let berries cool for at least 20 minutes then blend (you can use an immersion blender or freestanding blender). Set aside.
- Place all ganache ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and microwave in for 40 seconds. Remove from microwave and mix. Continue to microwave in 10 second intervals until all ingredients are homogenous. Set aside until it is time for the cake assembly.
- "Make the vanilla crunchies! Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. Combine the oil and sugars in a medium bowl. Mix throughly. Add in vanilla extract. In a separate bowl mix all of the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredient mixture to sugars, oil and vanilla. The dough will look crumbly. Using your hands crumble it into small pieces and spread onto prepared sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. While crumbs are baking, grind up freeze dried strawberries into a powder. When crumbs are fully baked, remove from oven and let cool. Divide vanilla crumbs in half. Take one half of your mixture and place it in a bowl or ziploc bag with the ground up freeze dried strawberries. Shake or stir to get the strawberry coating to stick to the crumbs. Return the (now) strawberry crumbs to the bowl with the vanilla crumbs and mix lightly. You are just combining for the color, not to get the flavor of the strawberry distributed.",
- Make the chocolate crunchies! Preheat your oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper. In a medium bowl combine butter and sugar. Mix. Add in the rest of your dry ingredients and mix until dough forms. Using your hands crumble it into small pieces and spread onto the prepared sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool and set aside.
Assembly
- Start by lining your loaf pan (I used an 8 inch loaf pan) with Saran Wrap. On top of the wrap, use a piece of parchment paper to create a sling so that you can lift the entire cake out of the pan.
- Place the first layer-pound cake. You will have to cut the cake to size to fit your pan. You can also use scraps to fill in any gaps.
- Spread one pint of strawberry ice cream on top of the cake, using an offset spatula. Make sure the ice cream is soft enough to spread. Instead of microwaving, just leave the pint in the refrigerator for 40 minutes. If you microwave the ice cream, it may become icy when frozen again.
- On top of the ice cream, layer ¾ of the strawberry/vanilla crumb mixture.
- On top of the crumbs, pour the ganache and spread into an even smooth layer. Place cake in freezer for ten minutes or until ganache is firm.
- Pour the strawberry purée on top of the ganache and smooth with an offset spatula. Place cake in freezer again for ten minutes or until purée is firm.
- Spread the second pint of strawberry ice cream on top of strawberry purée, using an offset spatula.
- Top with salted chocolate crumbs and let sit in the freezer for at least 4 hours to set.
Video
@lilypcrumbs Best thing i made all month-June edition! Roasted strawberry saltes crunch ice cream cake. The best ice cream cake i have EVER made. #icecreamcake #besticecreamcake #strawberryshortcake #nostalgicsnacks
♬ original sound – Alex G-lilypcrumbs
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