When I was dating my husband, I made him an ice cream cake for his birthday. He loved it and thus a tradition was born. Every year, for the past 12 years, I have made him an ice cream cake for his birthday. Believe it or not, every cake has been a little (or a lot) different. I’ve made him a peanut butter cup ice cream cake, a cookies and cream ice cream cake, a smores ice cream cake, a tin roof sundae ice cream cake, and those are just a few I remember… This year his cake was a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake with a layer of devil’s food cake, topped with crushed Oreos and hot fudge.

Ice cream cakes are so EASY to make and so fun to create. Here’s a quick “How-to Guide” plus a few of my favorite tips.

How to Create a Simple Ice Cream Cake

1. Choose your ice cream first. Once you have an ice cream flavor, it is easy to create a cake based on that flavor. For the cake pictured above, I used one half-gallon of ice cream. Depending on the size of your cake, you may want to buy a full gallon (or 2-half gallons). It’s always better to have more ice cream than not enough; besides, who doesn’t love ice cream leftovers?

2. Decide on a cake layer or a cookie/graham cracker crust for the bottom of the cake. My husband prefers a layer of actual cake on the bottom of his ice cream cake. I prefer a cookie or cracker crust. If you are going to make a cake layer, you will need to bake the cake first and freeze the baked cake before adding the ice cream on top. To make a cookie or graham cracker crust, finely crush a large package of cookies or graham crackers. Melt 2-3 tablespoons of butter and mix the butter with the crushed cookies or crackers. Press the cookie/cracker mixture into a cake pan and freeze until firm.

3. Once you have your frozen cake bottom, you can add the ice cream on top. Set the ice cream out for about 20 minutes so that it is soft and moldable, but not melted. Spoon the ice cream onto the frozen cake bottom and then using a spatula, spread the ice cream around until you have a nice, even layer.

4. Add the toppings. (The toppings are the most fun, I think). You can put crushed cookies, chocolate shavings, broken candy bars, marshmallows, fruit, anything you love to mix with ice cream! It’s also fun to drizzle some hot fudge or caramel sauce on top. Whipped cream is also a fun topping.

5. Once you have created your cake, you will probably need to freeze it again for a couple of hours before serving.

Here are a few other tips to help you in your ice cream cake creating.

• Create your cake in a springform pan. The frozen layers will look so nice when you take off the outer edge of pan, and it will be a lot easier to cut.

• If you are going to crush cookies or graham crackers for the crust, just throw them in the blender or food processor. (I’ve wasted way too much time beating zip lock bags full of cookies!)

• If you are having trouble spreading the ice cream, dump the ice cream into a large mixing bowl and stir it with a spoon or electric mixer first. It will be easier to spread after being “whipped” a bit.

• You can add other layers of things between the ice cream and bottom. For example, I have put a layer of peanut butter on top of the crust bottom before adding the ice cream. Another time, I added some marshmallow cream for an extra layer. You just need to freeze each layer before adding something else.

• When you are ready to cut your cake, set it out a bit to thaw. If it’s still hard to cut, run your knife under hot water for a bit before slicing.

…And that’s all I know about ice cream cake! Give one a try; they really are so fun! I would love to hear about ice cream cakes you have created, or better yet, put pictures of your creations in the comments below. Happy creating!