When I had birthdays as a kid, there were only two options for my treat: raspberry pie and ice cream or ice cream cake.  I had ice cream cake a lot when I was older.  It was the perfect blend of cake and ice cream.  Baskin Robins got a lot of money from us through ice cream cake purchases.  Now that I’m making my own ice cream, I wanted to make an ice cream cake of my own.  I’m going to start by making chocolate ice cream and a homemade cookie base.  Bake the cookie base first and crumble.  Use enough to cover the bottom of the pan and use the leftovers to mix into the ice cream.   Then, just layer them together for a crazy good summer treat.  I guess you can make your ice cream cake and eat it too!

Here are the stats:

Kerry’s Ice Cream Cake

Serves 20

For the cookie base and ice cream mix in

• 1 3/4 cup almond flour
• 5 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup granulated sweetener
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 large egg
• 2 tbsp melted unsalted butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

For the ice cream

• 2 cans of full fat coconut milk
• 46g vanilla protein powder
• 1/3 cup cocoa powder
• 1/4 cup powdered sweetener
• 1 1/2 cups of unsweetened coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon vodka
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 300F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
2. In a large bowl, combine almond flour, cocoa powder, sweetener, baking powder and salt. Add in egg, butter, and vanilla extract and stir well until dough comes together.
3. Roll out dough between two pieces of parchment paper to desired thickness, but no more than 1/4 inch thick. Lift off the top piece of parchment and set aside.
4. Bake the cookie until firm to the touch, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove and let cool. They will continue to crisp up as they cool.  Cool completely.
5. Break off 1/4 of the cookie sheet and set aside for the ice cream.  Crumble the rest into a food processor.  Pulse until fine crumbs.  While the processor is running, add in the melted butter.  Process until a wet, sandy texture.
6. Press into the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish.  Place in the freezer until needed.
7. For the ice cream, place the unsweetened coconut milk, protein powder, vodka, vanilla extract, sweetener and cocoa powder into a blender.  Blend until uniform.  Add in the cream only of the canned coconut milk.  Blend until thick and creamy.
8. Place the ice cream base into a large zipper top bag.  Let out all of the air, seal, and lay flat in the freezer.  Freeze completely.
9. Crumble the ice cream into a food processor and process until smooth.  Add in the rest of the cookie sheet and pulse.  Spread the ice cream on to the cookie base.  Freeze overnight.
10. Cut into squares and serve.