Tag: ice cream

Categories
Dessert

Ice cream cake is ‘fried’ and true recipe

Fried ice cream cake features cinnamon and toasted cornflakes to mimic the flavors of the classic Mexican dessert.
Fried ice cream cake features cinnamon and toasted cornflakes to mimic the flavors of the classic Mexican dessert.

One of our family traditions is that when one of us has a birthday, it’s that person’s job to choose a dinner spot to celebrate. 

A few years ago, I chose a favorite Mexican restaurant my parents hadn’t been to yet, and I really wanted them to give it a try. Part of the bargain, though, was they couldn’t tell the waitstaff it was my birthday, because the tradition there, along with gifting you dessert, was to sing to you and make you wear a sombrero.

What I didn’t know was the tradition also included smearing your face with whipped cream.

My folks agreed to keep it to themselves, and we sat down to eat.

Unfortunately, we ran into my parents-in-law, who are wonderful folks and I love dearly, but they ratted me out, so I ended up with a full face of whipped cream. My parents thought it was as hilarious as they did. Thanks, guys.

I was thinking about that story this week when I found a recipe for a great Mexican-inspired dessert, fried ice cream, and wanted to give it a try.

The recipe I made comes from the blog “Cheese Curd in Paradise” by Ashley Lecker. You can find the original at https://cheesecurdinparadise.com/fried-ice-cream-cake/. I added vanilla and doubled the cinnamon in my version.

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Fried Ice Cream Cake

Fried ice cream cake features cinnamon and toasted cornflakes to mimic the flavors of the classic Mexican dessert.
Course Dessert
Keyword cornflakes, fried ice cream, honey, ice cream, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 8 cups corn flakes
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1.5 quart vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt
  • 8 ounces whipped topping thawed (I used fat free)
  • 2 rounded teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • honey for serving

Instructions

  • Set the ice cream out for about 30 minutes to let it soften.
  • Pour the cornflakes into a plastic bag and crush them with a rolling pin or meat mallet.
  • In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat and then add the sugar and crushed corn flakes, stirring to evenly distribute the ingredients. Keep stirring and let the cornflakes get a little toasted, about three minutes. Once the cornflakes are golden brown, put about one-third of them into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and spread them evenly across the bottom.
  • In a large mixing bowl, beat together the ice cream, whipped topping, cinnamon and vanilla by hand or with a hand mixer until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
  • Pour the ice cream mixture over the cornflakes in the baking dish and spread it to an even layer.
  • Top the ice cream evenly with the rest of the cornflakes.
  • Cover the baking dish and place in the freezer over night or until the ice cream firms up.
  • To serve, cut it into squares and drizzle each piece with honey.

I actually halved this recipe, because without being able to share this with other people, I didn’t want to have an entire pan of this in my freezer. It halves nicely into an 8-inch square pan.

And the flavors were perfect to remind me of traditional fried ice cream. The cinnamon and vanilla flavors were a perfect combination with the crispy, toasted cornflakes.

We enjoyed this over the course of the week as our after-dinner dessert, and lucky for me, my birthday is far, far away, so Joey didn’t make me wear any weird hats or sneak attack me with whipped cream.

Of course, depending on how long we’re stuck at home together, anything could happen.

This piece first appeared in print on April 16, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

Melt their heart with ice cream sandwiches

Homemade ice cream sandwiches have simple ingredients, including a cake mix, even if they're a bit tricky to create.
Homemade ice cream sandwiches have simple ingredients, including a cake mix, even if they’re a bit tricky to create.

With Joey out of the house a few evenings ago, I decided it was time to clean another random ingredient out of the pantry and settled on a red velvet cake mix that I don’t even remember purchasing.

With Valentine’s Day looming, I thought it was perfect.

When I finally got through all my baking, though, it looked more like I’d performed open heart surgery on my countertops rather than making something from the heart.

Love is messy, it seems, but it’s also delicious.

I will also warn you that this recipe is a bit tricky, as it requires some painstaking spreading of thick cake batter into an evenly thin layer, but even if you’re like me and have less than beautiful results, you can still make something that tastes great, and if your sweetie is a fan of cake and ice cream, they won’t mind, either.

The recipe I decided to try is ice cream sandwiches made with a cake mix. While the original asks for red velvet and vanilla ice cream, you can use whatever combination of cake and ice cream sounds good to you. I kept thinking a spice cake with butter pecan ice cream or a dark chocolate one with some mint chocolate chip would be amazing.

This comes from the website “Delish” and is by Lauren Miyashiro. You can find the original at https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a53798/red-velvet-ice-cream-sandwiches-recipe/. I doubled the vanilla in my version.

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Cake Mix Ice Cream Sandwiches

Homemade ice cream sandwiches have simple ingredients, including a cake mix, even if they're a bit tricky to create.
Course Dessert
Keyword cake mix, ice cream, red velvet

Ingredients

  • 1 boxed cake mix
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup butter softened
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 gallon ice cream slightly softened

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare a large, rimmed baking sheet by lining it with parchment paper.
  • In a mixing bowl, beat together the cake mix, eggs, butter, vanilla and salt until it’s smooth. This will create a very thick batter.
  • Spread the batter out to about one-quarter- to one-half-inch thick. The main goal is to have the thickness be as consistent as possible so the cake bakes evenly. Mine did not go all the way to the edges of my pan.
  • Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until the cake is set (depending on how thinly you spread it out, you may need to watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn).
  • Remove the cake from the oven and let it cool completely.
  • Once the cake is cooled, cut it in half to create two, equal parts. Spread the ice cream evenly over one half of the cake and then top with the other half. Put the whole thing in the freezer to let it firm back up—probably about 30 minutes, depending on your freezer and how soft your ice cream was.
  • Slice into your desired size of sandwiches and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

I had some very jagged edges on my cake and ended up trimming it up. I also took one for the team and ate those trimmed off pieces. If your cake doesn’t turn out 100 percent like you wanted, don’t worry. It’s a very forgiving recipe if you just get your knife out and trim away the mistakes.

For mine, I definitely didn’t end up getting my batter thin enough, but even my thick sandwiches were really yummy.

Also, be careful not to let your ice cream soften too much. If it’s soupy, you will have a hard time getting it to stay put, and you’ll end up with more cake than ice cream in your sandwiches.

I did manage to get the kitchen cleaned up before Joey got home. I figured seeing red everywhere and hearing your wife say, “I have a surprise for you.” isn’t the best Valentine’s Day present.

But it turns out that ice cream sandwiches are a pretty decent gift—even if they are from an old cake mix from the back of the pantry.

This piece first appeared in print on Feb. 13, 2020.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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