I can say that this ice cream cake recipe is a classic example for serendipity. I think you can guess where I'm going if you've read my choconut muffins story. To cut the long story short, my first batch of muffins did not come out well. The bottoms were moist but the tops were dry. I wanted to bake another batch of those delicious chocolate muffins, but didn't know what to do with the first batch, then an idea flashed in my head. Why not turn it into an ice cream layered cake? See, watching Food TV does help, especially Sandra Lee's Semi-Homemade Cooking. I'm a big fan of her innovative ideas.
Now back to the ice cream cake recipe, I won't say this recipe is my discovery, but come on guys, I need some credit here for thinking quickly and not wasting food. Right? I've seen Oreos Cookie Pie crust in stores, so that was also an inspiration. I've always wanted to buy it and make something. My idea was similar to that. I wanted to crush the muffins, both tops and bottoms in a food processor, put it in a pie tin and layer with ice cream and freeze it. I had vanilla ice cream at home. I wanted a Neapolitan Ice Cream look so thought of going with strawberry and chocolate flavors. Then realized that my mother in law is not a big fan of strawberry and she likes pistachios. Unlike India we don't get pistachio flavored ice cream here. I thought why not go with instant pudding mix. I've seen it being used by Food TV chefs all the time. So thought of giving it a try.
The beauty of this cake is there is no set of baking procedure or must have ingredients. You can play with your imagination. Anyway I'll list what I used and what other variations can be made.
I used:
1. Muffin crumbs.
2. 1 packet JELLO Instant Pudding Mix, pistachio flavor.
3. Turkey Hill Vanilla Bean Ice Cream.
4. Walnuts and Pistachios, unsalted and chopped.
Other Variations:
1. Crush Oreos cookies or brownies, or line the pan with frozen pound cake, or use ready made pie crust.
2. You can either go with all pudding mixes with different flavors or cool whip or all ice cream layers or mix and match.
3. Toppings are also limitless, from fudge sundae, caramel topping etc.
Procedure:
Stage 1:
Crush the muffins in a food processor.
Stage 2:
I used a 9 inch round cake pan. First I thought of using a pie tin, then I changed my mind. I lined the pan with plastic wrap because I vaguely remembered something similar to this in one episode of Food TV. I wrapped it completely covering the entire pan and also left some extra outside so that I can lift the cake with the wrap once it freezes.
Stage 3:
I pressed half the quantity of muffin crumbs on the bottom of the pan, nice and firm. Actually I had stored the muffins in the refrigerator to dry them up so it will powder easily in a food processor. If I had left the moist bottoms out,it would have become one big lump I guess. Reserved the other half for another layer.
Stage 4:
Prepared the pudding as per the directions of the package. It was very easy. Just pour the mix in milk and stir. Initially it's in a liquid form and within 5 minutes it firms up. I also mixed some chopped pistachios to the pudding.
Stage 5:
Now top the crumbs with the pudding and form a nice thick layer and top it with pistachios again.
Stage 6:
Top the pudding layer with the remaining muffin crumbs.
Stage 7:
Now a layer of vanilla ice cream over the muffin crumbs. I microwaved the ice cream with the paper container for 15-25 seconds, so I could spread it. Give the final touch of adding some more walnuts and pistachios.
Stage 8:
Freezing for 4 hours should be fine. Carefully remove the cake with the help of the plastic wrap. When I took it out after 4 hours it was good, but another 1 or 2 hours should be perfect. Slice and serve it!
My Notes:
1. You can also try this with a loaf pan.
2. I noticed that when pudding freezes it's very hard than the ice cream. If you don't like that to happen you can make all ice cream layers or dig in after thawing it for a couple of minutes.
3. The taste was out of the world. I miss Indian Cassata ice cream very much. The taste of this ice cream cake was very much similar to that, I think it was because of the pistachios and walnuts.
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MANGILAL says
Very nice
sanaya says
what shud we do i we dont have any pudding
Madhuram says
You could use ice cream itself.
Anshita says
Hi,
Wonderful recipe!1Can't wait to try it out!!I have a doubt regarding using oreo cookies..i i use them what about the cream in it?Is that okay?
Please let me know.
Thanks,
Anshita
Anshita, readymade oreo cookie crust is available. You could use that itself. Or try crumbling 1 or 2 cookies with the cream and see how it comes out. I think that the cream should help to form a nice shape and keep the crumbs together on the pie plate.
Yojana says
Hi Madhu
I have made this cake twice.. Once with butterscotch pudding and ice cream and the second time with cool whip and ice cream for the layers.. As you mentioned, in the pudding version , the pudding hardens more than the ice cream and when you thaw it , the top layer ice cream starts melting fast but the pudding still remains hard.. So the next time i tried cool whip for the inner layer and then ice cream on the top, it was great.. We like this one better.. Thanks for all your wonderful recipes.. They are all out of the world.
Yojana, that's a wonderful idea of using Cool Whip. I too am going to try it the next time.
Priya says
Madhuram,
You have a nice collection of eggless recipes. I am a vegetarian too and I love your blog. I am very much surprised to see a recipe with Jello on your blog. I hope you know that Jell-O is made of gelatin and is not vegetarian. You can find more about gelatin here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gelatin
This is just a friendly note from a big fan of your blog. Thank you for the wonderful recipes.
Thank you very much for your concern Priya. As far as I know the Jell-O jelly crystals alone have gelatin and not the pudding mix. For the ice cream cake I have used the pudding mix only. Please feel free to let me know if my understanding is incorrect.
Yojana says
Hi Madhu
I saw this recipe long back and wanted to try it since then.. Last friday i baked some dates and walnut cake at home. The cake came out good in taste and texture but sank in the center. I now want to try this recipe of your which has been enticing me for a long time now. I had a few questions
1. Can I use my date and walnut cake instead of muffin crumbs. If yes, do i need to freeze the cake first so get the crumbs (dry/powdery) consistency? I have stored my cake in the refrigerator in plastic container right now.
2. Do you think i can use chocolate chip ice cream instead of vanilla as I have a big bucket of chocolate chip ice cream lying in my freezer for a long time now?
Hi Yojana, you can use any cake/ice cream combination. If you have cut the cake into pieces and its moist you can simply line the pan with the pieces without any gaps and start layering the ice cream. If you have not cut it and the cake is very moist I would suggest freezing it for an hour or so and then use a processor to get crumbs.
Deepa says
I got Readymade Graham Cracke crumbs. can i use those to form the bottom lining instead of muffin or oreo crumbs ?
Do I have to follow any special directions if use them like bake or freeze them separately ?
Deepa, if you are referring to only the crumbs then I would suggest you to add some melted butter to the crumbs, so that they hold together. Or you can use the ready made graham crackers or oreos pie crust which is also available in the baking aisle. If you are using the pie crust, you need not to do any other prep, simply start assembling the pudding and ice creams
Deepa says
Hi Madhuram
For this cake can we try with a ceramic ware instead of the metal bake ware ?
Deepa.
Deepa, check if the ceramic is freezer safe.
roma says
Awesome idea. I love frozen desserts and this one looks perfect. A must try!
sai says
Hi,
The jello pudding mix does not have gelatin right? just to make sure.
u have a wonderful site which is so readable. keep it up.
Thanks Sai. The pudding mix doesn't contain gelatin, I've checked it before.
Deepa says
Madhu, I am curious what food processor you use! --Deepa
For this cake, I didn't use a food processor. I crumbled the muffins in my Magic Bullet Blender. Recently I purchased Kitchen Aid's 7 cup food processor, yet to use it though.
Madhuram says
I'm gonna try it very soon, got cucumber from the grocery store this time.
Chhaya says
Hi Madhuram, thanks for stopping by my blog 🙂 Tellevu is a form of soft thin dosas and is used in the Havyaka language...its a dialect of Kannada ! Do try the dosas and let me know how you like them ! Your eggless ice cream cake looks yummy..Will definitely make it !
Madhuram says
Sure Nags. Here is the URL (http://connect.sailusfood.com/) to subscribe to their RSS aggregator. Thanks for subscribing to my RSS feed.
Nags says
Hello Madhuram, ran into your blog from Jugalbandi. This is a really great place and have fed u into my reader 🙂
Just wanted to ask, what is TOI RSS what you had mentioned there? Could you help me out with that too, please?
Madhuram says
Thanks Sandhya, you should try it and will definitely love it. It's so delicious.
sandhya says
the cake looks delicious... will surely try this...
Madhuram says
Thank you Mansi. You too have an interesting blog, added your eggless scones and almond cookies to my list.
Actually I was also thinking of getting strawberry pudding (I don't know whether they make them) or ice cream and mix strawberry slices in them and then top it on the muffin crumbs. Since my mil does not like strawberry I went with pistachio. It was very very tasty. My mil wanted seconds.
Mansi says
My first time here, and I'd like to say you have a great space here:)
that ice cream cake looks divine, I make the pistachio pudding a lot and add fresh or frozen berries to it...like the idea of adding muffin crumbs...kind of makes it like an ice cream pie:)
Madhuram says
Sushma, glad you liked it. You are welcome anytime.
Sowmya, Mamatha thank you for visitng my site.
Rachel, thank you for coming back. Ya, sure it was very moist for an eggless muffin.
Anjali and Laksh, thanks a lot for including the blog in your blogroll. (Laksh, I'll send you a mail to your gmail id)
Akay, what do you have for me? Can't wait to just hop over there!
Dhivya, ungalukku gmail id la mail pannaren. (my over cautious husband's advice)
Laksh says
WOW! Awesome blog you have going. The recipes are mouth watering. Got here from Akay's. Have blogrolled you on mine.
Read your about me section and wonder which suburb of philly you are in. I am at Malvern.
Anjali J. says
it really look s delicious. i can imagine the taste just looking at the pictures 😀 i loved ur blog.. i will add u in my favourite bloggers list.
rachel says
eggless and yet the cake has a lovely texture..looks airy as well...
Mamatha says
Madhuram,
Discovered your blog today - you have a very nice site. Keep up the good work.
sowmya says
lovely idea using the crumbs of muffins..nice toppings..innovative..
Akay says
Check my blog - have something for you 🙂 Thanks for your kind words in my blog.
sushma says
Hey im left wth no words.. can i hv something... lovely presentation with step by step procedure..
dhivya says
Glad u like my pie:))nan tamil dhan madhuram:))unga icecream cake sema super..which part of tamilnadu u r from?
Madhuram says
Cham, thanks for visitng again. I still have some more, do you want?
Cham says
Fabulous cake 🙂 Really pretty and should have been vanished soon i guess....
Madhuram says
Thanks Dhivya, Hima, A-kay, Trupti, Uma. You and other enthusiastic bloggers inspire me a lot.
Thanks A-kay, I've learnt a new word from you today, "botching". Good one.
Uma says
the cake looks marvellous. simply delicious.
Madhuram says
Thanks DivyA, it tasted great too.
dhivya says
wow!wonderful recipe and pictures!!!eggless cooking sounds great!like ur blog..keep rocking
Trupti says
wow..this cake looks delicious , nice photos & nice description & easy to make..thanks for sharing this recipe.
A-kay says
Now, I feel like botching up a batch of muffins to make the ice-cream cake 🙂
DivyA Vikram says
Wow! that looks amazing..so innovative..I too love sandra lee s shows
hima says
looking great and eggless too. Love it.
Madhuram says
Yes Nithu, it tasted amazing. I checked with the ingredients in the ice cream box and pudding box also and eggs were not mentioned. So I think it's 100% eggless ice cream cake.
Nithu says
Wow!! looks so good. Should have tsated great. I am fond of ice creams. My parents and inlaws dont eat eggs. It's a good recipe for them. Book marked.