This recipe and photo was emailed by Amy, a Go Dairy Free viewer. The concept is simple, as are the ingredients, and you will discover a great deal of flexibility to customize the cake to other dietary needs since the ice cream is close to allergen-free (unless coconut is a problem for you). I’m going to let Amy take it away, but I have included my comments in brackets below to help with additional suggestions …
Ice Cream Cake
“Since my daughter was diagnosed as allergic to dairy and nuts last year, I have benefited greatly from this website, and am excited about the cookbook/advice book Go Dairy Free that I got for Christmas last month. I wanted to “pay it back” by sharing with everyone a very quick and easy dairy-free alternative for a birthday treat. I made it for my daughter’s birthday last week, and it was a big hit! I absolutely must credit the cookbook Rose´s Heavenly Cakes for the idea! You will need a 10-inch cake pan, and a 9 or 9.5 inch springform pan, as well as an ice cream maker to make this dessert.”
Cake
Your favorite dairy-free cake. It is easy to find many dairy-free recipes for chocolate cake, particularly for German Chocolate Cake and many box mixes are dairy free if you are short on time. I used the recipe by Rose Levy Beranbaum for German Chocolate Cake that appears in the Cake Bible and Rose´s Heavenly Cakes – make 3/4 recipe.
[For those of you who have Go Dairy Free, see the cake recipes on p233-234. You will find yellow, white, and chocolate cake recipes there for both egg-free / vegan and with eggs that should work well in this recipe. For brands and tips on using boxed baking mixes, see p239. If you need a quick recipe online, try this wonderfully easy Chocolate Cake Recipe from Linda Coss.]
Bake cake in a 10-inch cake pan and let cool. Slice horizontally into two parts, the top slightly larger than the other. You need to remove the top part and set to one side, and place the bottom half into the springform pan (you may need to trim the sides slightly to fit). A pancake turner, pizza spatula, bottom of a tart pan, or a very flat plate can be used to help you in this maneuver.
Ice Cream
- 10 oz frozen strawberries (or your favorite berry)
- 1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
- 1/3 cup honey [you can sub agave nectar in equal amounts if you prefer to make the cake vegan]
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
Toss all ice cream ingredients into a blender, and blend until there are no more chunks of berry, as these stay very hard in the ice cream. Pour into ice cream maker and use according to maker directions.
Because you used frozen strawberries, the ice cream should be fairly firm at this point – you need it to be spreadable, but if it needs to be any more frozen, go ahead and stick it in the freezer for a little bit. If firm already, you can spread directly on the lower half of the cake (inside the springform pan). Then place the top half of the cake on top of the ice cream. Spray a large piece of plastic wrap with non-stick spray, place on top of cake, and press down firmly to eliminate any air bubbles. Freeze.
Once frozen (ideally waiting 4 hours or more), you can take out of the freezer and add a layer of frosting if you wish (I used one of those frostings that comes in a can – Pillsbury I think – that did not have dairy). Alternatively, you can serve unfrosted and drizzle with hot chocolate sauce or fudge sauce – yum!
[If you prefer to make homemade frosting, and do not have a copy of Go Dairy Free, you can simply make some quick substitutes in your favorite frosting recipe. Use dairy-free margarine and/or shortening in place of the butter (Earth Balance for margarine and Spectrum for shortening are excellent brands), and your favorite milk alternative for any milk called for in the recipe. See this simple “Buttercream” Frosting Recipe as an example]
Yields 1 big birthday cake
