Who doesn’t love an ice cream cake? You’ve got your silken cake and your creamy ice cream along with delicious toppings and sauces and whipped cream. What more could you want? What more? I’ll tell you what.
Another piece, that’s what.
The Ultimate Ice Cream Cake Book is exactly what is says it is—a collection of 50 ideas for combining cake and ice cream into fun, delectable desserts that you can use to celebrate birthdays, holidays, vacations, weekends, Tuesdays, or any other special occasion (or occasion you want to be special).
There are lots of cakes you would think of as typical (although creative) ice cream cakes. Triple Chocolate Layer Cake. Cookies and Cream Ice Cream Cake. Pineapple Upside-Down Ice Cream Cake. Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream Cake. Churro Delight Ice Cream Cake. Vanilla Roll Cake.
But there are also ideas that don’t necessarily involve the typical layered ice cream cake. Chocolate-Hazelnut Ice Cream Cupcakes. Neapolitan Ice Cream Shake. Red Velvet Celebration Pancakes with Maple-Cream Cheese Ice Cream. Don’t Be Blue Blueberry Donut Ice Cream Sandwichess. The Gingerbread Man Eats Ice Cream Cake for Breakfast.
I especially love the idea of the Epic Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Cake—a giant chocolate chip cookie, followed by a fudge brownie, followed by ice cream, topped with another giant chocolate chip cookie. Who could resist that?!
There’s an entire chapter of boozy cakes, from Irish Coffee Extreme Ice Cream Cake to Mimosas-for-All Ice Cream Cake, with other ideas for stouts, a White Russian, and Margaritas.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the other chapter, the one about cheesecake. Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream Cupcakes. Cookies and Cream Cheesecake Ice Cream Cups. Very Vanilla (but Not Ordinary) Cheesecake Ice Cream Bars. Who makes ice cream cake with cheesecake? Author, blogger, recipe creator Kelly Mikolich, that’s who. And now, you can too.
Clearly, these aren’t the types of desserts that you can whip up right before dinner or for a last-minute celebration. Making your own ice cream doesn’t take too long, but the time it needs to chill and/or freeze can be lengthy These are recipes that take planning and time, but that’s part of what makes a homemade ice cream cake so special. And there are lots of ideas for making homemade ice creams (some without needing any equipment other than a freezer), along with tips for storing, tools, ingredients—basically, all the information you need to get started making your own ice cream desserts for any occasion.
The one thing that disappointed me about The Ultimate Ice Cream Cake Book is that there are so few photos. The cover shows an absolutely luscious Mint Chocolate Chip Cake, which makes me want to make and eat it immediately. I wish there were more photos throughout, to show how tempting the other treats are too.
That being said, I would definitely still recommend The Ultimate Ice Cream Cake Book to fans of ice cream cakes and those wanting to add making these delicious desserts to their repertoire. The ideas are amazing and can be inspiring for beginners and intermediate bakers.
A copy of The Ultimate Ice Cream Cake Book was provided by Rockridge Press through the Callisto Media Publisher’s Club, with many thanks.