Inspired by the nostalgic flavors of Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake Bars, this cake delivers a sweet, creamy bite with a cookie crumble topping. Plan ahead because this cake needs to freeze 4 hours, or overnight. It’s a lovely summertime treat that you can make ahead and store in the freeze until time to serve.
1/2tablespoonstrawberry gelatin powdersuch as Jell-O
3tablespoonsunsalted buttermelted
Instructions
Yellow cake
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
Beat the butter and granulated sugar together in the bowl of an electric mixer. When the butter is lightened and fluffy, add the eggs one at a time. Mix until incorporated and smooth. Add in the vanilla and beat to combine.
In a separate bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Add the flour and milk alternately to the creamed butter mixture, mixing until just combined with each addition. Begin and end with flour.
Pour the batter into prepared baking sheet and spread evenly.
Bake for 20-22 minutes, or until golden brown on top and a toothpick tester comes out clean. Cool completely.
Ice cream filling and whipped cream
Allow the ice cream to soften at room temperature 20 minutes. Stir it in the carton with a large spoon until the ice cream has the consistency of thick buttercream frosting. The ice cream will lose a little volume – this is normal. Alternatively, you can beat the ice cream in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle for 1 minute on low speed, or until it comes to spreading consistency.
Pour the ice cream over the cooled yellow cake. Spread evenly. Freeze until solid, 2-4 hours.
Whip the heavy cream with the vanilla extract to stiff peaks, about 5 minutes. Spread the whipped cream over the frozen strawberry ice cream layer.
Crunch toppings
To prepare the strawberry crunch, place the vanilla wafers and freeze-dried strawberries in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until just combined. Add the strawberry gelatin powder. Pulse to fine crumbs. Pour the butter through the feeding tube as you pulse 3-5 more times, or until crumbs clump and cling together. (See note for doing this by hand.)
Sprinkle the strawberry crunch mixture generously over the whipped cream. Freeze, covered, until firm, 4 hours or overnight. Remove cake from freezer. Serve slices from the dish.
Notes
The strawberry ice cream color can be intensified with a few drops of red food color. Mix it in a you stir it to spreading consistency.The crunchy topping can be made by hand by placing the cookies, freeze-dried strawberries, and Jell-O powder in a large zip top bag. Use a rolling pin to smash and crush the contents. Pour the mixture into a bowl and stir in the melted butter. Use this mixture to top the cake.I used Nilla Wafers in this recipe, but most any butter cookie will work. 15-20 Golden Oreos may also be substituted for the vanilla wafers. This version of the crumble will be slightly sweeter because of the cream filling.If you can’t find freeze-dried strawberries at your grocery store, increase the strawberry Jell-O powder to 2 tablespoons. This will give the crumble more strawberry flavor without using the actual strawberries.