Homemade Ice Cream Cake

We celebrated another birthday here in our home yesterday! One of my conundrums with birthdays of late has been the cake, how do I make a healthy gluten free cake? Well, I decided that since I adored ice cream cake as a kid surely my kid would too. So a homemade ice cream cake was in order. I had never a homemade ice cream cake before, but came up with a plan and went for it. I do not purchase store bought ice cream anymore due to the many bad ingredients, and have been making my own for more than a year now. It took a bit of advance planning to make this cake, and a few steps but overall was very simple to make and the results were fabulous!

Homemade Ice Cream Cake

1 recipe vanilla ice cream for a 1 1/2 quart ice cream maker (such as this one)

1 recipe chocolate ice cream for 1 1/2 quart ice cream maker (such as this one)

1 cup of homemade coarse almond flour (made from crispy almonds, recipe follows)

1 tablespoon of organic cocoa powder or cacao powder

1-2 teaspoons organic sugar (optional)

6 ounces organic dark chocolate (preferably soy free)

4 ounces organic heavy cream, preferably raw (not homogenized or ultra pasteurized)

Begin prep 2 days in advance of when you will serve this cake.

Make the vanilla ice cream and store in a container in the freezer. Refreeze your ice cream canister for 24 hours, then make the chocolate ice cream, and store in a container in the freezer until it hardens.

In a bowl mix the almond flour, cocoa and sugar. Set aside.

Use a large loaf pan, lined with parchment paper to mold your cake. Let both ice creams soften out of the freezer for a bit. Scoop the vanilla into the lined loaf pan and spread it in evenly ( you may not need all the ice cream.) Sprinkle the almond mixture over the ice cream. Scoop the softened chocolate ice cream gently over top and spread it evenly as well. Top the pan with a layer of parchment paper and refreeze for at least an hour.

In a small saucepan over low heat, melt the chocolate and stir in the cream. Let cool a bit before drizzling over the cake.

Remove the ice cream cake from the freezer. Carefully unmold the cake onto a serving plate, gently peeling back the parchment paper. Drizzle the chocolate sauce over as decoratively as you can. Serve!! This serves 10-12 people.

(this could also be made with coconut ice cream to make a dairy free version.)

Crispy Almonds

4 cups almonds, preferably raw (and skinless, optional)
1 tablespoon sea salt
filtered water

Mix almonds with salt and filtered water and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours or overnight. Drain in a colander. Spread on a stainless steel baking pan and place in a warm oven (no more than 150 degrees) for 12 to 24 hours, stirring occasionally, until completely dry and crisp. Store in an airtight container.

To make almond flour, place almonds in a food processor and grind until a coarse meal is formed.

This post contributed to Fight Back Fridays.