Homemade Ice Cream Cake with Summer Berries
Can you remember when store bought ice cream cakes became the birthday cake trend? Now thanks to our recipe guru Kathy Paterson you can make your own.
Serves 10-12
4 egg whites, at room temperature
225g caster sugar
500ml cream
395g can condensed milk
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
a pinch of salt
To decorate
150ml cream, whipped (optional)
fresh berries
apple mint or mint leaves and a few edible flowers
Heat the oven to 120°C.
Draw 3 x 18cm circles on baking paper (I needed 2 pieces of baking paper). Turn baking paper over and place on 2 baking trays.
Line the base and sides of a 20cm round cake tin with baking paper.
Beat the egg whites until stiff, then add 4 teaspoons of the measured sugar. Continue beating for a further 30 seconds. Sprinkle over the remaining sugar and fold in using a spatula, taking care not to over-fold and make the mixture too soft.
Spread (or pipe using a piping bag fitting with a 2.5cm plain nozzle), the meringue onto the drawn circles, keeping the meringue within as it will puff out a little during cooking. Extra meringue can be made into individual meringues – spoon out alongside the meringue circles.
Keep the meringue reasonably thin if spreading rather than piping, as it’s preferable to have thin layers of meringue in the finished cake.
Put in the oven and cook for 1 ½ - 2 hours or until the meringue lifts easily off the paper. Turn the oven off and leave to cool in the oven. Once cold you can go ahead and make the ice cream or if made ahead, store in an airtight container.
To make the ice cream, beat the cream until stiff enough to hold its shape.
Mix together the condensed milk, lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt. Add to the cream and beat on low until the mixture is thick and creamy, but not over-beaten.
To layer, put a meringue circle in the base of the prepared tin. Put the top of the circle on the base because this will end up being the top of the cake. Pour in half of the ice cream mixture then top with another meringue circle. Pour in the remaining ice cream mixture and finish with the last meringue circle. Cover well and put in the freezer overnight.
To serve, remove from the freezer and uncover. Tip out onto a cake plate and remove all the remaining baking paper. If using, spread a thin layer of the extra whipped cream over the cake and around the sides. Sprinkle over the berries and pop in a few mint leaves and edible flowers.
Use a large sharp knife to cut into slices for serving, putting any remaining cake straight back in the freezer – of course!
The ice cream cake will soften a little as you decorate and make for easy cutting.
Tips
Remember to remove the fresh berries from the decorated cake before putting any remaining cake back in the freezer.
Eggs whites freeze really well and this is the ideal dish to use them up, just remember to let them get to room temperature before you begin