Click like if you have similar tastes to me and actually prefer frosting and ice cream to the cake itself! Click like if you just adore cake, no matter the type! (Liking seems less silly than asking you to raise your hand – don’t you think?).
If you liked then you will LOVE this vegan ice cream sandwich cake where I use the magic of rich coconut milk and my favorite dairy-free ice cream sandwiches, So Delicious Minis.
I admit to not creating this cool concept, but I’ve added my own dairy-free spin for a vegan ice cream sandwich cake that nearly everyone can enjoy, in honor of our big Spring Fling Dairy-Free Recipe Contest (with $1000 grand prize!). And despite the amount of chilling time required, it is very easy to make!
The dairy-free ice cream sandwiches are used to create three (or two for a shorter cake) cake layers, glued together by sweet whipped coconut milk chocolate cream, and frosted all over with a vanilla whipped coconut cream. The array of colors in the layers is from the Banana Split dairy-free ice cream sandwiches that I used with segments of banana, strawberry and chocolate vegan ice cream.
For the garnish on our vegan ice cream sandwich cake, I used chocolate sandwich cookies. It just made sense to go with the chocolate and vanilla sandwich theme, and they freeze well, while not becoming too solid to bite into. Note that fruit is pretty, but can be finicky as garnish for a vegan ice cream sandwich cake. It will freeze into little popsicles, and using it as a post-freezer garnish isn’t easy, since the frosting on the cake becomes quite firm once frozen. But sprinkles, chocolate, and other fun cake toppers should work great!
Special Diet Notes & Options: Vegan Ice Cream Sandwich Cake with Vanilla and Chocolate Whip
By ingredients, this recipe is dairy-free / non-dairy, egg-free, peanut-free, soy-fee, tree nut-free (with the coconut milk ice cream sandwiches), vegan and vegetarian.
I created this recipe to highlight So Delicious Dairy Free products in honor of our Spring Fling Dairy-Free Recipe Contest. I’ve also shared it on Hot Fun in the Summertime at The Midnight Baker.
- 2 11-ounce containers So Delicious Dairy Free Original Culinary Coconut Milk (about 2¼ cups coconut cream)
- ⅔ cup powdered sugar (organic, if possible)
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons dairy-free semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips
- 12 So Delicious Dairy Free Minis Coconut Milk Ice Cream Sandwiches (I used Banana Split) or Almond Milk Ice Cream Sandwiches (you will need 2 packages)
- Garnishes, such as sandwich cookies (shown), sprinkles, melted chocolate, fresh fruit, etc.
- Open and pour the 2 packages of coconut milk (makes 2 ¼ cups coconut cream) into a mixing bowl. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
- Blend in the powdered sugar and vanilla, whipping with a hand mixer for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Remove ½ cup of the whipped topping to a separate bowl, and let warm to close to room temperature for about 15 minutes. Return the remaining coconut cream to the refrigerator.
- In a small bowl, melt the chocolate chips in the microwave for 1 minute on HIGH. Whisk until smooth. If not yet smooth, heat for 15 to 20 seconds more, and whisk.
- Add the ½ cup whipped topping to the melted chocolate chips, whisking until smooth. It should still be a little thick, and hopefully too many little shards of chocolate didn't solidify! Cover and place in the refrigerator to set up for 1 hour or longer.
- One by one, remove and unwrap 4 of the ice cream sandwiches and align, touching, in a square (as your first cake layer) on a flat mat, plate, or cutting board that will fit in your freezer.
- Top the sandwiches with half of the chocolate mixture, spreading it out to at least cover the sandwiches (you can fill holes with it or the coconut whip, if desired). Place another 4 unwrapped ice cream sandwiches on top of the first 4, with the chocolate cream acting as the filling and "glue". Repeat with the remaining chocolate cream and 4 ice cream sandwiches. Lightly cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 1-2 hours to firm up.
- Frost cake with the coconut whip awaiting in your refrigerator. Garnish as desired and return to freezer to firm up. Once set, either serve or cover lightly with plastic wrap and freeze until ready to serve. Slice while firm.
8 Comments
I live in Greece where vegan ice cream sandwiches are not available. Is there something else I could replace them with? Thanks.
You can make your own! Just squish ice cream between soft cookies or grahams.
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Oreos are NOT vegan, in case anyone was fooled by the photo. When I emailed Nabisco’s parent company, they said they could not guarantee the sugar used in them is bone char-free. Apparently many of their products that list no animal products on the label have this fault.
I think there is a step missing in your instructions. You didn’t describe how to turn the culinary coconut milk into coconut whipped cream. Unless just leaving it in the fridge in a mixing bowl miraculously whips it…am I missing something?
Hi Megan, steps 1 & 2 are how you make the coconut whip. Original Culinary Coconut Milk is extremely thick, like coconut cream. If using another brand of canned coconut milk, then after you chill it you will want to scoop off the thick cream only (enough to get 2 1/4 cups as noted, so you will probably need 3 cans). When you chill the Culinary Coconut Milk, it all sets up (no liquid is left), which is why you want to pour it into a container before chilling.
This cake looks divine, Alisa! I dream of the day that So Delicious will make gluten-free, dairy-free ice cream sandwiches. Seriously.
Shirley
I’m betting it’s in the works Shirley! They’ve come out with some great GF certified products as of late.