About Ice Cream Cake
Cake and ice cream are popular party desserts. Combining the two favorites into a single dessert eliminates the necessity to decide which cake should be served with what flavor of ice cream. When the ice cream and cake are wrapped up into one dish, it can make it easier to buy and serve, and the ice cream cake is perceived as being a bit more special than ordinary ice cream and cake.
Identification
An ice cream cake resembles a cake and can be made from ice cream or a combination of ice cream and cake. When both ingredients are used to make the cake, the cake and ice cream is typically layered. If frosted, whip cream frosting, instead of sugar-based frosting, is often used. Whip cream frosting compliments the differing textures of the two ingredients better than sugar-based frosting.
History
A popular dessert from the Renaissance era was the trifle, made from biscuits and cream. The trifle is credited as being an inspiration for the ice cream cake. Ice cream was invented in the seventeenth century. Over time, the techniques for freezing the ice cream improved. During the Victorian era, ice cream was molded into shapes. A spongy biscuit sometimes lined the mold, and nowadays this is called a Victorian-styled ice cream cake.
Significance
National ice cream retail companies such as Baskin-Robbins, Cold Stone Creamery and Carvel include ice cream cakes as part of their product lines. These companies offer their own signature ice cream cakes, allowing them to cash in on the birthday and holiday cake market by rolling up the cake and ice cream in one package. Cookie pieces are a popular ice cream cake embellishment. Because ice cream cakes can be molded, the cakes are sometimes presented in non-cake forms, such as a log roll.
Features
Unlike a traditional cake, an ice cream cake is assembled rather than baked. The cake is baked and sliced or cut to be layered or filled with ice cream. During the assembling process, some recipes call for hard ice cream to be cut in slices, while other recipes require a slight softening of the ice cream. After assembling, the finished ice cream cake is refrozen to harden and complete the recipe.
Types
Ice cream cakes can be made from ice cream, ice cream and cake, or ice cream and cookies. When made with cookies, the cookies are usually crushed and mixed with melted butter, then added to a form pan and frozen. After it is taken from the freezer, soften ice cream is spread over the top of the cookie mixture and then refrozen. When the two primary ingredients are solidly frozen into a single cake form, it is frosted with whip cream frosting and decorated with pieces of cookies. It looks like a cake, but is actually cookies and ice cream.
