This tantalizing rich chocolate brownie ice cream cake is heavenly. 12 ingredients are all you need to replicate this luscious homemade ice cream cake.
I will be giving you lots of information in this blog post about how to make this easy ice cream cake. You will find easy to follow directions, photos, and a video too.
If you taste this recipe and are still in the mood for chocolate, try my edible bronwie batter, it's out of this world!
Why this recipe works:
- It has a rich, decadent, and luscious intense chocolate flavor.
- Everyone raves about how delicious it is.
- You only need 12 ingredients.
- It's perfect for all occasions and parties.
Photo instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line two 9" (23cm) springform pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl stir together butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla just until combined. Don't use a hand or stand mixer or you have too many air pockets in the batter, and this makes the batter cakey instead of fudgy. Stir by hand with a whisk.
Sift in cocoa, flour, and salt and stir just until combined.
Divide into the two prepared pans equally and bake for 25-30 minutes until the brownie layers don't jiggle anymore and are just set to touch. A toothpick should come out dirty. Don't overbake them or they are getting cakey. I baked mine for exactly 29 minutes.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes. They will keep baking in the pan. Then remove from pan and transfer with the baking paper to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Place chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream in a heat-proof bowl and microwave for about 2 minutes until it has the typical chocolate fudge sauce consistency. Stir every 20 seconds, that the chocolate doesn't get too fast too hot.
Place one layer into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Spread half of the chocolate fudge sauce all over it.
Fill with 3-4 pints of ice cream of your choice and spread evenly.
Drizzle with more chocolate fudge sauce if desired. Place the second brownie layer on top. Freeze at least 12 hours or until firm. Cut into thin slices before serving and drizzle with remaining chocolate fudge sauce.
Store leftover cake in the freezer up to 1 week. Store leftover fudge sauce in the fridge up to 1 week and warm up in the microwave a few seconds before serving if too firm.
Top tips
- Mix ingredients with a whisk by hand and just until combined. Overmixing or using an electric mixer, incorporates too much air into the batter and makes the layers cakey instead of fudgy.
- For the batter, you can use either natural cocoa powder or dutch-processed. The dutch-processed cocoa powder is darker in color and is the one I used.
- After baking let the layers cool to room temperature before you fill them with ice cream.
- It's easiest if you have lightly softened but firm ice cream to work with. It makes your life so much easier to be able to spoon it out without it getting runny. A good recommendation is to place it on the counter up to 5 minutes before you are ready to use it. Then it should easily come out of the container.
Substitutions
Consider the following substitutions when making this recipe:
- Use 1 cup (175g) of white chocolate instead of dark chocolate.
- Substitute the vanilla beans for 1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract.
- For gluten-free cake layers substitute with Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Flour 1:1.
Variations
Feel free to add different flavors. Consider trying the following ideas:
- Instead of using 1 cup of dark chocolate, replace half the chocolate with peanut butter chips.
- Add ½ cup (62.5g) of your favorite nut as a garnish on top of the ice cream cake or mix it in with the ice cream layer.
- Top with fresh strawberries right before serving.
- Drizzle the top with caramel for a fun flavor.
- Sprinkle with a few crushed Oreos on top of this easy ice cream cake.
Storage
Store the cake in the freezer for up to 1 month. It should be tightly covered to prevent any ice crystals from forming. It should never set out for more than a few minutes because you don't want it to become too melted. It's easier to slice the cake when it's frozen too; otherwise, you would have a giant mess.
You can also store the fudge topping for 1 week as well. It should go in the fridge in an airtight container. If you want to melt the topping a little bit, just toss it in the microwave for a few seconds.
More Chocolate Recipes to Try
Recipe and Video
Brownie Ice Cream Cake Recipe
Ingredients
fudge brownie layers
- 2 cups unsalted butter, melted and cooled (452g)
- 2 cups granulated white sugar (400g)
- 2 cups packed light brown sugar (400g)
- 8 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups unsweetened cocoa powder, spooned and leveled (168g)
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled (240g)
- 2 teaspoon salt
chocolate fudge sauce
- 1 cup dark chocolate, chopped (175g)
- 6 oz sweetened condensed milk (170g)
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream (120ml)
filling
- 3-4 pints ice cream of your choice (1.4 - 1.9L)
Video
Instructions
Cake layers
- Preheat oven to 350°F / 175°C. Line two 9" (23cm) springform pans with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl stir together butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla* just until combined. Don't use a hand or stand mixer or you have too many air pockets in the batter, and this makes the brownie layers cakey instead of fudgy. Stir by hand with a whisk.
- Sift in cocoa, flour, and salt and stir just until combined. Divide into the two prepared pans equally and bake for 25-30 minutes until the brownies don't jiggle anymore and are just set to touch. A toothpick should come out dirty. Don't overbake the brownies or they are getting cakey. I baked mine for exactly 29 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. They will keep baking in the pan. Then remove from pan and transfer with the baking paper to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Fudge sauce
- Place chocolate, sweetened condensed milk, and heavy cream in a heat-proof bowl and microwave for about 2 minutes until it has the typical chocolate fudge sauce consistency. Stir every 20 seconds, that the chocolate doesn't get too fast too hot.
Assembling
- Place one layer into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Spread half of the chocolate fudge sauce all over it. Fill with 3-4 pints of ice cream of your choice and spread evenly. Take care that you don't overfill the pan and the second layer has a place.
- Drizzle with more chocolate fudge sauce if desired. Place the second brownie layer on top. Freeze at least 12 hours or until firm. Cut into thin slices before serving and drizzle with remaining chocolate fudge sauce. Store leftover cake in the freezer up to 1 month. Store leftover fudge sauce in the fridge up to 1 week and warm up in the microwave a few seconds before serving if too firm.
Notes
- Mix ingredients with a whisk by hand and just until combined. Overmixing or using an electric mixer, incorporates too much air into the batter and makes the layers cakey instead of fudgy.
- For the batter, you can use either natural cocoa powder or dutch-processed. The dutch-processed cocoa powder is darker in color and is the one I used.
- After baking let the layers cool to room temperature before you fill them with ice cream.
- It's easiest if you have lightly softened but firm ice cream to work with. It makes your life so much easier to be able to spoon it out without it getting runny. A good recommendation is to place it on the counter up to 5 minutes before you are ready to use it. Then it should easily come out of the container.
Angela Clarke-Ivany
HI Sabine,
My daughter has requested a brownie peanut butter cake for her 17th birthday and have been surfing the internet looking for a really good brownie cake recipe. Do you think this would work for a layer cake with a homemade peanut butter cookie dough filling. and a peanut butter frosting with chocolate ganache? The cake would not be frozen at all so just wondering if this would hold up. Just looking for a really good brownie cake with actual brownie flavor and similar texture.
Sabine
Yes, absolutely. You can use the brownie layers as cake layers and it will hold. Just make sure that they cooled completely before using them and maybe stick them in the fridge before assembling the cake for more stability during the frosting and filling process. I hope that helps.
Trisha
Made this for my son’s bday! It turned out perfect! In my oven I had to add bake it for 31min ( was getting nervous bc it was too jiggly but pulled it out at 31 min anyways and let it cool in the springform pan on top of baking rack for 2 hrs. Io love this brownie! I used half moose track mint chocolate ice cream and half cookie dough (per my son’s request). The mint was awesome but the cookie dough was a bit sweet for me. I didn’t end up using all the fudge but it was super delicious. How long will it keep in the fridge if I wanted to reheat it in the microwave to use as an ice cream topping separately? Also, do you have a suggestion on cutting the cake? It was quite difficult to do so but I was afraid if I waited to let it thaw out more the ice cream was starting to melt. Is it the brand of ice cream I used I used one Kroger brand ? BTW, for any mint lovers the mint ice cream is awesome with this cake. Thanks for the recipe Sabine!!!
Sabine
Thank you so much, I'm glad you like it. You can keep the fudge in the fridge for a week and reheat it in the microwave as you need it. It's certainly a delicious ice cream topping. I warm up my knife under hot tap water prior to cutting and let the cake sit for 5-10 minutes at room temp before cutting. This makes it much easier to cut. I use different brands of ice cream, and sometimes I buy Italian gelato in an ice cream store. I hope that helps.