Mini Ice Cream Cakes! These individual ice cream cakes couldn’t be easier, more fun or more delicious! They are made in a muffin tin, can be adapted to include your favorite flavors and are perfect for whenever you’re craving some ice cream cake!
Who doesn’t love ice cream cake?! It’s basically ice cream in cake form with some delicious add ins and toppings!
I got the idea for this recipe when I was trying to decide what to do with some leftover delicious Birthday Cake Ice Cream! It’s sweet, creamy and so festive so I wanted to use it in something else.
I thought about making ice cream sandwiches, but these Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches already featured on the blog are pretty hard to top. I decided on Mini Ice Cream Cakes since it meant we could enjoy individual sized cakes!
These Mini Ice Cream Cakes Are:
- Individually portioned: As much as I love ice cream cake, I don’t always have a reason to buy one or the space in my freezer! These Mini Ice Cream Cakes are the perfect treat for those anytime of the week or year when you feel like an individual portion of ice cream cake.
- Easy to make: I use my homemade no churn birthday cake ice cream for the recipe. It’s a super easy recipe that doesn’t require an ice cream maker.
- Easy to make with store bought substitutions: If you don’t have birthday cake ice cream in your freezer or aren’t able to whip some up, you can use pretty much any ice cream instead!
- Adjustable: Since they are individually portioned, you can use different flavored ice creams and add ins for everyone if you like.
Ingredients for Mini Ice Cream Cakes:
- Some Birthday Cake Ice Cream or 2 pints of your favorite ice cream flavors: If, like me, you made some of my Birthday Cake Ice Cream and have some leftover, you can use that! Otherwise, whip up a new batch of birthday cake ice cream and use it in this recipe. The birthday cake recipe will definitely give you a lot more than six mini ice cream cakes. Make however many you like. Freeze whatever ice cream you have leftover in an additional container.
- Oreos: Use Golden Oreos or Original Oreos
- Any additional add ins or toppings you like: See below for suggestions!
Additional Ice Cream Recipes
If you’d like to keep this recipe completely from scratch, check out some of my other ice cream recipes! Strawberry fans lovers will approve of this No Churn Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream! For Oreo fans, you must make this No Churn Raspberry Oreo Ice Cream! I’m so sure this No Churn Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream will be a bit hit with all peanut butter fans!
Additional Ice Cream Flavors and Flavor Combinations:
For the two layers of ice cream, you can use any ice cream flavors you’d like. You can make them all the same or make different variations. You can use one or two flavors. Some delicious flavor combinations are: vanilla and strawberry, chocolate and peanut butter, cookies and cream and chocolate, chocolate and mint chocolate chip, caramel and vanilla, coffee and chocolate….
There are really too many delicious combinations to list! For more inspiration, I suggest browsing the ice cream aisle at your local grocery store and picking up a couple of pints of what looks good to you!
Suggestions for Additional Add Ins and Toppings:
- Nuts (toasted, chopped)
- Shortbread cookies, crumbled
- Mini chocolate chips
- Chocolate shavings
- Sprinkles (rainbow or chocolate)
- Chocolate ganache
- Hot fudge sauce: I love this hot fudge sauce recipe from Brown Eyed Baker! It would make an amazing topping to your mini ice cream cakes (especially if you use chocolate, vanilla or peanut butter ice cream)!
- Magic shell: You know that chocolate coating you find on ice cream bars?! This is that and it’s super easy to make! Live Well Bake Often has an awesome recipe for Magic Shell.
- Bourbon Caramel
How to Make Mini Ice Cream Cakes
- Remove homemade or store bought ice cream from freezer. Leave it out at room temperature and allow soften til mostly thawed.
- Line muffin pan with paper muffin liners. Crush Oreos into crumbs using a food processor to pulse until crushed. Alternatively, place cookies in a ziplock bag and crush the cookies with a rolling pin.
- Use a tablespoon or measuring cup to spoon or pour the melted ice cream into the muffin liners. Fill each muffin liner halfway with the melted ice cream. Cover and freeze for 1 hour.
- Sprinkle a layer of the cookie crumbs over the ice cream. Pour or spoon the other flavor of ice cream (if using more than one flavor) over the Oreo crumbs. Cover and return pan to the freezer. Freeze 5 hours or overnight. Enjoy!
About the Whipped Cream
The whipped cream topping is optional but highly recommended! You’ll notice we use powdered milk in the whipped cream recipe. The powdered milk helps stabilize the whipped cream. If you don’t have any, you can leave it out but the whipped cream might not be as pipable.
Ingredients for Whipped Cream
- Heavy whipping cream
- Vanilla extract
- Powdered sugar
- Powdered skimmed milk
How to Make Whipped Cream
- Place your mixing bowl and whisk attachment in the freezer for five minutes before making the whipped cream.
- Once the bowl is chilled, attach the whisk attachment to the mixer and add all ingredients to the bowl. Beat on medium for 3-4 minutes, until you stiff peaks form (until the peaks hold their shape).
How to Decorate Mini Ice Cream Cakes with Whipped Cream
- For the simplest option, place a dollop of whipped cream on each cake with a spoon.
- For a fancier look, pipe it on. I used a Wilton 1M tip for mine. Just start in the middle and build the whipped cream on top of itself.
Frequently Asked Questions About This Ice Cream Cake
Ice cream cake isn’t usually just ice cream. Ice cream cake is typically a couple of layers of ice cream with some type of crunch inside. Chocolate fudge, caramel is sometimes added in the middle or drizzled on top. Whipped cream and sprinkles are sometimes added on top!
I Love Ice Cream Cakes.com explains those delicious chocolate crunchies you find in Carvel Ice Cream Cakes are in this post called What Are the Crunchies in Carvel Ice Cream Cake?
This is a personal answer! I personally think homemade ice cream cakes such as these mini ice cream cakes are best because you can make personalize them and make them exactly how you want. If you want to see how store bought ice cream cake brands match up, check out this entertaining article called Who Makes the Best Ice Cream Cake? by The Kitchn.
This adaptable recipe for Mini Ice Cream Cakes is one you’ll want to make again and again! You won’t believe how easy and fun they are to make and how delicious they turn out!
Mini Ice Cream Cakes
Ingredients
FOR THE ICE CREAM CAKES
- One recipe Birthday Cake Ice Cream * softened, mostly melted (or two pints any flavor store bought ice cream)
- 4 Golden or Classic Oreos crushed
FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM
- 1/2 cup 1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons powdered sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons powdered skimmed milk optional, for stabilizing
ADDITIONAL TOPPING SUGGESTIONS
- Bourbon Caramel
- Nuts toasted, chopped
- Mini chocolate chips
- Chocolate shavings
- Sprinkles rainbow or chocolate
- Chocolate ganache
Instructions
- *The Birthday Cake Ice Cream Recipe will make more than 6 mini ice cream cakes. Use the extra to make additional mini ice cream cakes or freeze the extra in a loaf pan or tupperware container. If using leftover birthday cake ice cream, take it out to thaw til mostly melted then use it for the recipe. If you're making the birthday cake recipe to freeze into mini ice cream cakes, use the ice cream as directed in the recipe. Leave it out at room temperature while you let the first layer freeze, then add the cookie crumbles and second layer. Freeze the extra ice cream as directed in a separate container.
- Remove homemade or store bought ice cream from freezer. Leave it out at room temperature and allow soften til mostly thawed.
- Line muffin pan with paper muffin liners. Crush Oreos into crumbs using a food processor to pulse until crushed. Alternatively, place cookies in a ziplock bag and crush the cookies with a rolling pin.
- Use a tablespoon or measuring cup to spoon or pour the melted ice cream into the muffin liners. Fill each muffin liner halfway with the melted ice cream. Cover with plastic wrap and aluminum foil and freeze for 1 hour.
- Sprinkle a layer of the cookie crumbs over the ice cream. Pour or spoon the other flavor of ice cream (if using more than one flavor) over the Oreo crumbs. Cover and return pan to the freezer. Freeze 5 hours or overnight. Enjoy as mini ice cream cups (might be a little messy) or remove mini ice cream cakes from paper liners and place on a plate. Top with whipped cream (I used my Wilton 1 M tip to pipe ice cream on) or drizzle or sprinkle additional toppings as desired!
Barbara Briggs Ward
Perfect Yummy Size!
Natalie
That’s for sure thank you! Makes it possible to have ice cream cake anytime!