Fried Ice Cream Layer Cake

This past Saturday I had a house full of food, family and little dogs running around in mini sombreros. It was a real hoot! My honey’s birthday fiesta turned out to be one for the books! We enjoyed a catered nacho bar and for the first time ever I put birthday candles on flan – which is not something I’d recommend because they immediately start wobbling to-and-fro (and that will make for a very fast rendition of “Happy Birthday To You”).

I whipped up baked churros with Biscoff and caramel dipping sauces, flan, and margarita pie cups. I’d also planned to make this fried ice cream layer cake, but ran out of time because I completely lost myself in a box of party decorations. Now, after making this cake, I’m lamenting my short attention span. I wish I could’ve shared! It’s so delicious and tastes just like the fried ice cream I remember eating as a kid.

This confection (from the bottom-up) begins with a moist cinnamon cake layer. It’s topped with a layer of vanilla ice cream and both layers are coated in a generous amount of dulce de leche. Crushed cornflakes and brown sugar are “fried” in a skillet with butter for a crunchy coating. It’s finished with drizzled honey, whipped cream and cherries on top, which is how it was always served at our favorite Mexican restaurant.

I hope you’ll give this a try for your next fiesta! It’s a substantial dessert with the cinnamon cake layer, and it hits all the right notes with true fried ice cream flavor. And, compared to my flan fiasco, it’s a little better at holding birthday candles upright. (Smile.)

Fried Ice Cream Layer Cake

[click for printable version]

Source: SprinkleBakes original recipe

Yield: One 9-inch double layer cake, 12-15 servings

Prep: 1 hour 30 minutes; total time with freezing: about 4 hours

Vanilla ice cream layer

1/2 gallon prepared vanilla ice cream

1. Allow ice cream to soften slightly at room temperature.
   Pour ice cream into a large bowl and beat with an electric hand mixer at medium
   speed until smooth and consistent.  Visual cue: 
   it should be very thick like a milkshake.  
2. Line a 9×2-inch round cake pan with plastic wrap so that
   it overhangs all sides of the pan. Pour in vanilla ice cream and smooth with a
   rubber spatula. Fold the overhanging plastic wrap over the ice cream and
   transfer the pan to the freezer. Let chill until completely frozen, about 2
   hours or overnight (preferred).

Cinnamon cake layer

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup full fat vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup full fat sour cream

1/2 tablespoon ground (powdered) cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350F.  Grease a 9-inch round cake
   pan and line the bottom with parchment.
2. Beat together sugar and butter until lightened. Add the
   eggs one at a time, then increase mixer speed to high for two minutes or until
   batter is light and fluffy. Add the vanilla, salt, baking powder and soda; beat
   for another minute and scrape down the sides of the bowl.
3. Stir together yogurt and sour cream in a small bowl.
   Beginning and ending with flour, alternately add the flour and yogurt mixture.
   Beat well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add
   cinnamon. Beat again briefly.
4. Spoon batter into the pan. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or
   until the cake springs back when pressed in the center. Let cake cool in the
   pan for 10 minutes; turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.  Cover
   and transfer cake to the freezer; allow to chill until very firm about 1 hour.

Edit 6/2016: After making this again, I found that I had bunches of leftover cornflake toppings. You may consider halving the first 4 topping ingredients, or save the extra fried cornflakes in an airtight bag for sundae toppings.

Toppings/assembly

3/4 cup (6 oz.) unsalted butter

1 cup (7 oz.) packed light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 cups (about 8 oz.) crushed corn flakes

13.4 oz. can dulce de leche

1/2 cup honey

1 1/2 cups whipped cream

14-16 maraschino cherries

1. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add
   brown sugar and stir; raise heat to medium-high.  Stir occasionally. When mixture begins to bubble
   add crushed cornflakes and salt. Mix/mash ingredients together using a spatula.
   Fry topping for 5-6 minutes until mixture is lightly browned and fragrant.
   Remove from heat and spread mixture on a large baking sheet to cool completely,
   30 minutes to  1 hour.
2. Remove the cinnamon cake layer from the freezer and frost
   the edges with some of the dulce de leche. 
   Holding the cake with a hand on each flat side, roll the edges of the
   cake in the fried topping until well covered. Place the cake on a serving
   platter and cover the top with more dulce de leche. 
3. Remove the frozen ice cream layer from the freezer and
   unwrap.   Now for
   the messy part – if you have food service plastic gloves, I suggest you put
   them on now, or use two zip-top bags to cover each hand. Pick up the disc of
   ice cream and roll the edges in the fried topping (as before with the cake, but
   do not coat the sides of the ice cream with dulce de leche yet); do this
   repeatedly until the edges are completely embedded with flakes.  Place the ice cream layer on top of the cake
   layer.  Use the remaining dulce de leche
   to frost the sides of the cake and the sides of the ice cream layer, filling in any gaps between the two (do not frost the top of the
   cake with dulce de leche).  Hold the
   frosted cake (still on the serving plate) over the baking sheet of fried topping
   and press handfuls of the topping onto the sides of the cake. 
4. Drizzle a little honey over the cake and press a handful
   of fried topping onto the top of the cake. Drizzle more honey and repeat with
   another handful of topping.  Repeat until
   all the fried topping is heaped on top of the cake.  End with
   a final drizzling of honey.  The edge of
   the serving platter will most likely be covered in fried topping at this point,
   so brush away the excess and tidy around the edges of the plate with a damp
   paper towel.
5. Place whipped cream in a piping bag fitted with a large
   star tip.  Pipe rosettes of cream around
   the top edge of the cake. Top each rosette with a maraschino cherry.
6. Keep frozen until time to serve. Allow cake to soften
   slightly before slicing into pieces. 
   Freeze leftovers.