A while ago I had my brother and his new wife over to celebrate his birthday. I was going to be short on prep time for the meal, so I was trying to think of a quick and easy dessert to have. Thompson insisted we needed to have cake for his uncle, and as I was thinking of quick cakes, I remembered how my brother often had ice cream cakes for his birthday as a little kid. I had some left over nutella and brown butter cookies sitting around that I had made a few days before, and pretty soon this ice cream cake was in the works. It was made out of convenience initially, but will be made over and over because it is just so incredibly delicious.
Since it can (and needs to be) prepped ahead of time, it would be a perfect addition to any summer party or potluck. Be sure to work quickly when mixing the ice cream and assembling the cake–it melts fast. I would also recommend putting a plate or sheet pan under your springform pan to catch any potential leaks from melting ice cream. Once it is chilling in the freezer though, you shouldn’t have any problems.
- 1¼ cup nutella (1 small jar)
- 4 cups crisped rice cereal
- 1 gallon vanilla bean ice cream
- 10-12 nutella brown butter cookies, roughly chopped
- Line a baking sheet with wax paper. Set aside. Place an assembled 8 or 9 inch springform pan in the freezer.
- In a large saucepan over medium-low heat, add Nutella. Allow to melt somewhat, then add in cereal. Stir to coat. Dump onto prepared baking sheet, spreading out in an even, thin layer. Place in freezer and chill until hardened, about 30-45 minutes. Remove from freezer and break up into small clusters
- While Nutella mixture hardens, place ice cream in fridge to soften (Depending on the brand you buy, it may soften more quickly. If the ice cream is softer straight from the freezer, leave less time for it to sit in the fridge) . When ready for assembly, scoop ice cream into a large bowl. Fold in cookie pieces. Remove springform pan from freezer. Working quickly, spread half of the ice cream mixture in an even layer in the pan. Top with half of Nutella rice krispies. Top that with remaining half of ice cream, again spreading evenly. Finish the cake by topping with the remaining rice krispies. Wrap in plastic wrap and return to freezer, allowing to chill until hardened, about 4-6 hours.
- When ready to serve, release the springform pan. You may need to run a warm knife around the edges to be able to fully release the cake. Run a large knife under warm water, cut cake into slices, and serve immediately.
This looks like the perfect cake! Yum!