This Chocolate Chip Cookie Rainbow Ice Cream Cake is easy, can be made in no time and is the perfect custom cake idea for your next birthday celebration! I recently made this rainbow ice cream cake for my husband's birthday party and everyone loved it!
If you feel intimidated to make your own ice cream cake at home, I will walk you through the expert tips to make a fantastic bakery quality custom cake without buying one from the grocery stores!
When we think of ice cream birthday cakes, I'm sure you immediately think of the classic carvel cakes or the pre-made cakes from dairy queen and baskin robbins. Sure, these cakes are ready to pick up, but by making an ice cream cake at home, you can avoid processed ingredients, unnecessary additives and even artificial dyes.
The best part is my homemade rainbow ice cream cake tastes 10 times better and you are sure to impress everyone the next time you make this at a birthday party!
If you are looking for other great dessert to try at your next celebration, be sure to check out my Almond Olive Oil Cake or my Incredible Lofthouse Style Frosted Sugar Cookies!
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Ingredients for Rainbow Ice Cream Cake
- All-purpose flour: I always use organic flour as it makes the best cookies and is glyphosate free.
- Sugar: I am using organic sugar here, you could also use date or monk fruit sugar.
- Unsalted butter: Softened to room temperature.
- Baking soda: A leavening agent that needs both a liquid and an acid to activate, assisting in the perfect consistency for your cake.
- Baking powder: A leavening agent to help give your cake the perfect rise and texture!
- Salt: Table or coarse salt is best here.
- Eggs: Brought to room temperature. Try to use pasture-raised eggs for the most nutrition and best quality.
- Vanilla extract: You could also use half the amount of almond extract for that classic sugar cookie taste.
- Chocolate chips: Milk chocolate, semi-sweet or white chocolate morsels will work best here. You could use regular sized or mini morsels depending on your preference.
- Vanilla ice cream: Plain vanilla ice cream or vanilla bean works best here, if you love chocolate ice cream, you could use that too!
- Rainbow colored sprinkles without artificial colors: I like to use Sprinklefetti, Supernatural or 365 by Whole Foods. If using Sprinklefetti, check the label, not all of their sprinkles are made without Artificial Flavors!
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter two 9-inch round cake pans and set aside.
In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and sugar on medium speed, scraping down the sides as needed to combine, about 2-3 minutes. The butter mixture should be light and fluffy.
In a separate bowl, combine your all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Lightly mix with a whisk, set aside.
Add your eggs and vanilla to the cream and butter mixture, beating for an additional 30 seconds until mostly combined.
Slowly add your dry ingredients 1 cup at a time to the mixing bowl, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds until roughly combined. The dough texture will be very thick. Take a rubber spatula and finish combining any remaining flour or dough.
Add the chocolate chip morsels and combine with your hands to ensure the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
Split the dough evenly in half and evenly distribute in the bottom of both 9 inch cake pans. Use your hands to spread the dough evenly across the pans and around the edges. The dough should be even in height and flat across.
Bake the cookie dough for about 13-15 minutes until fully cooked. At around 11-13 minutes, take a toothpick or butter knife and insert into the center of the cookie. The toothpick or knife should come out clean once the cookie is baked.
Cool the cookie cakes for about 5 minutes in the cake pans, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Although not required, a wire rack will ensure your cookies are not moist on the bottom and cool properly.
While your cookie cakes are cooling, take your ice cream out of the freezer to start dethawing at room temperature. It should take about 30 minutes for your ice cream to soften enough for you to spread it around on the cookie cakes.
Let the cookies cool completely for about 30 minutes or longer before moving on to assembling your cake.
When you are ready to assemble your ice cream cake, take your springform pan or cake circle and place one of the cookie dough cakes in the bottom. Add all of the softened ice cream on top of the cookie cake and smooth until flat and the ice cream reaches all edges of the pan.
Add the second layer of the cookie cake to assemble your cake in the spring form pan. Place the ice cream cake in the freezer for 1-2 hours to firm up before adding your sprinkles.
Once your ice cream has slightly set, remove from the springform pan. Smooth down the edges of the ice cream so the texture is consistent, filling in any gaps as needed. Add your sprinkles to the sides of the ice cream, ensuring all of the ice is evenly coated with sprinkles.
If the ice cream cake has slightly melted at this point, you can place it back in the spring form pan or cake circle on a baking sheet to let it fully set. If the ice cream cake is not melting and still intact, place on a baking sheet to finish freezing as is. Freeze for an additional 2-4 hours or overnight to completely set.
If you are freezing the cake overnight and not serving the day of, move the cake to a serving plate in a plastic cake carrier or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until you are ready to serve. If the cake is still in the spring form plan, remove the spring form pan and smooth down any rough sides or add additional sprinkles if needed.
Looking for some great dinner ideas to serve a crowd? Try my Steak and Mashed Potatoes, Creamy Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta or my Creamy Chicken Noodle recipes!
Top Tips for Best Results
Room Temperature Butter & Eggs - If your butter and eggs aren’t already at room temperature, you can speed up the process with a warm (not hot) water bath. Simply place the butter—still in its wrapper—inside a sealed Ziploc bag and submerge it in the water for 10–15 minutes. For the eggs, place them in a bowl and cover them with warm water. I find that a water temperature of 100–110°F works best.
Mixing the Dough - When creaming the butter and adding the additional ingredients to the cake batter, be sure to scrape down the sides of the bowl and paddle attachment often to ensure your dough is throughly mixed between steps!
Mastering the Perfect Cookie Bake - The edges of the cookie do not need to be brown, in order for the cookie to be cooked, just pull the cookies out to rest once the knife or toothpick comes clean. Your cookie cakes will also harden and finish cooking as they cool.
Thawing Ice Cream - When thawing ice cream, check on it every 10 minutes or so. It should be soft but not completely melted. Since thawing times can vary, it’s best to keep an eye on the consistency to ensure it doesn’t get too runny.
Right Timing - If your cookie cakes aren’t fully cooled but your ice cream is at the perfect consistency, pop the ice cream back in the freezer as needed. Just remember to take it out again before it hardens too much.
Applying Sprinkles - When adding sprinkles on your own, place the ice cream cake on a baking sheet with tall edges. Position the cake at one end, then slightly lift the baking sheet to help guide the sprinkles onto the sides. Rotate the cake as needed until it's fully coated.
If you have an extra set of hands in the kitchen, one person can hold the ice cream cake sideways over a baking sheet or trash can while the other applies sprinkles evenly on all sides.
Equipment
- Baking Sheet
- 9-inch Springform Pan or Cake Circle
- (2) 9-inch cake pans
Store Cake & Cutting Ice Cream Cake
For top tips on how to cut ice cream cake and the best way to store ice cream cake, check out my post How Long Does Ice Cream Cake Last in the Freezer?
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are some of my favorite dinners to serve:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Rainbow Ice Cream Cake
Ingredients
For the Cookies:
- 3 c all-purpose flour 360 g
- 1 c sugar 200 grams
- ½ c unsalted butter softened to room temp
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 eggs brought to room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 6 oz chocolate chips
For the Filling:
- 1 quart vanilla ice cream
- ¼-½ c rainbow sprinkles
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly butter two 9-inch round cake pans and set aside.
- In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the softened butter and sugar on medium speed, scraping down the sides as needed to combine, about 2-3 minutes. The butter mixture should be light and fluffy.
- In a separate bowl, combine your all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Lightly mix with a whisk, set aside.
- Add your eggs and vanilla to the cream and butter mixture, beating for an additional 30 seconds until mostly combined.
- Slowly add your dry ingredients 1 cup at a time to the mixing bowl, scraping down the side of the bowl as needed. Mix on low speed for about 30 seconds until roughly combined. The dough texture will be very thick. Take a rubber spatula and finish combining any remaining flour or dough.
- Add the chocolate chip morsels and combine with your hands to ensure the chocolate is evenly distributed throughout the dough.
- Split the dough evenly in half and evenly distribute in the bottom of both 9 inch cake pans. Use your hands to spread the dough evenly across the pans and around the edges. The dough should be even in height and flat across.
- Bake the cookie dough for about 13-15 minutes until fully cooked. At around 11-13 minutes, take a toothpick or butter knife and insert into the center of the cookie. The toothpick or knife should come out clean once the cookie is baked.
- Cool the cookie cakes for about 5 minutes in the cake pans, then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Although not required, a wire rack will ensure your cookies are not moist on the bottom and cool properly.
- While your cookie cakes are cooling, take your ice cream out of the freezer to start dethawing at room temperature. It should take about 30 minutes for your ice cream to soften enough for you to spread it around on the cookie cakes.
- Let the cookies cool completely for about 30 minutes or longer before moving on to assembling your cake.
- When you are ready to assemble your ice cream cake, take your springform pan and place one of the cookie dough cakes in the bottom. Add all of the softened ice cream on top of the cookie cake and smooth until flat and the ice cream reaches all edges of the pan.
- Add the second layer of the cookie cake to assemble your cake in the spring form pan. Place the ice cream cake in the freezer for 1-2 hours to firm up before adding your sprinkles.
- Once your ice cream has slightly set, remove from the springform pan. Smooth down the edges of the ice cream so the texture is consistent, filling in any gaps as needed. Add your sprinkles to the sides of the ice cream, ensuring all of the ice is evenly coated with sprinkles.
- If the ice cream cake has slightly melted at this point, you can place it back in the spring form pan or cylinder disc on a baking sheet to let it fully set. If the ice cream cake is not melting and still intact, place on a baking sheet to finish freezing as is. Freeze for an additional 2-4 hours or overnight to completely set.
- If you are freezing the cake overnight and not serving the day of, move the cake to a plastic cake carrier or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze until you are ready to serve. If the cake is still in the spring form plan, remove the spring form pan and smooth down any rough sides or add additional sprinkles if needed.
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