Brownie Bottom Ice Cream Cake
This Brownie Bottom Ice Cream Cake is perfect for summer days or birthdays! Everyone will love it!
My kids are fairly jaded when it comes to desserts. When they come home from school and there is a giant plate of cookies waiting for them, they don’t even waggle an eyebrow.
Same old, same old.
Our house is generally filled with some sort of baked treat. And for the most part they don’t care. Unless it’s chocolate chip cookies. Then they act like it’s major.
MY OTHER RECIPES
But this cake. This cake gets a reaction. They actually said, “hooray” when they saw it. Who even says hooray anymore? Anyhow, I’m gonna take it as a sign.
In all honesty, the idea for this came when I asked my 8 year old what dessert he wanted for his birthday. Turns out he had been thinking it through already… Brownie on the bottom, ice cream on top with whipped cream and sprinkles, says he. So I followed his instruction. For the most part.
See, I’m not an ice cream cake person. You wanna know why? In so many words, the frosting sucks. It’s a weird whipped topping that is neither Cool Whip or whipped cream. Needless to say, I am not a fan. But I’m also, not a fan of frozen buttercream…call me crazy.
SO.
I basically owned this problem. I used chocolate frosting and put it INSIDE the cake. Like fudge filling.
So yeah, it worked and I am a genius. And now I’ve made this cake twice in 2 weeks. Hooray!
Brownie Bottom Ice Cream Cake.
It’s really super simple.
Bake up some brownies in an 8×8 or 11×7 pan. But make sure the pan has deep sides, because you are going to be topping the brownie with stuff.
Also, I used a boxed mix…and if you do as well, just note that I used the “non family sized” mix. I didn’t want the brownie to be too thick. If you would prefer to make your own brownies from scratch, well, good for you!
Let those cool in the pan. Then top it with some chocolate frosting.
You can use the canned frosting if you want or here’s my recipe for chocolate fudge frosting.
Then pop that in the refrigerator for about 20-30 minutes. During this time grab your ice cream out of the freezer to let it soften up.
We chose Cookie Dough Ice Cream. Well, because it rules. But honestly, use whatever type of ice cream you like best! I bet Cookies and Cream or Mint Chocolate Chip would be fantastic on this!
Use the whole 1.5 quart container.
The. Whole.Thing.
Spread it on as best you can. I used an off-set spatula.
Then you can cover that with foil and stick it in the freezer until you’re ready to serve it! You will need to give it at least 3 hours.
When you are ready go ahead and make some whipped cream.
And then spread that all over top…
Don’t forget the sprinkles!
And then I dare you to get a pretty picture of it. Impossible.
But it doesn’t matter because it’s so dang tasty! And this is coming from a girl who doesn’t like ice cream cake!
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PinDescription
12 servings
Ingredients
- 1 box Brownie Mix, 15-18 oz (NOT Family Sized) made according to package directions in an 8×8 pan
- 1 1/2 cups chocolate frosting
- 1.5 qts Cookie Dough Ice Cream (or your favorite flavor)
- 1 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- sprinkles to garnish
Instructions
- Spray an 8×8 or 11×7 deep-dish baking dish with cooking spray. Sides need to come up at least 3 inches to leave room for the ice cream and whipped cream layer.
- Bake brownies according to package directions.
- Let cool completely before moving on to next step.
- Spread chocolate frosting onto cooled brownies.
- Place frosted brownies in refrigerator.
- Now remove ice cream from freezer and allow to soften for about 30 minutes.
- Remove brownies from refrigerator and top with ice cream, spreading evenly.
- Cover and place in freezer for at least 3 hours.
- Before serving prepare your whipped cream. Place heavy whipping cream in bowl of stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and add in granulated sugar. Beat cream on high speed for about 2 minutes until it becomes thick.
- Spread onto ice cream cake and serve immediately.
Notes
store air-tight in freezer for up to 2 weeks. Allow to soften 10-15 minutes before serving if frozen solid.
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Oh my gosh, screw pretty pictures. This looks so mouth-watering!! Love the whole chocolate frosting layer, so clever
I want a mum like you to make me this when I came home as a kid…. So dreamy…
You know who says hooray? I do. Not even kidding. (you knew we were friends for a reason — you need a hooray person in your life)
I am so excited about this brownie cake — Jon David will LOVE IT!!!
Shelllllly- you are the best! I love putting the idea of putting the frosting in the cake. This looks phenomenal. I’m so excited to make this! I think I may layer with the chocolate frosting. Hm.
My family is the very same way, but for this? The would totally say hooray too!
AMAZING!!
HOORAY!!
I want this cake!
Can you say…best mom ever?! I feel like this is everything Baskin Robbins WANTS to be…but seriously isn’t.
Ugh, this cake looks amazing. Your kids must think you’re a wizard.
Best.birthday.cake. EVER. Using the frosting INSIDE really is genius!
Pretty sure I would shout hooray if I saw this too! Looks delicious 🙂
I’m seriously enjoying the store-bought aspects of this epic treat. I mean, I went to baking school this year, and sometimes I’m all: seriously? I need something NOW. Screw you, Scratch! (And then I eat a bag of chips.) I’m pretty sure I need to make this cake immediately.
Exactly how I feel!
I mad this for my family and they liked it but couldn’t eat the brownie it was to hard. I had an aweful time cutting through it. Any tips?? I didn’t burn the brownies I even pulled them out a little early so they were soft. But now of that matters when you freeze it. Wonder how an Oreo crust would work.
That’s strange. I have made it twice and while the brownie does firm up in the freezer, it can be cut through and eaten without an issue. I am sure an oreo crust would work great too, though!
I haven’t made it myself yet, but is it possible that because you took the brownie out early, it was “soft” but also dense? Then when frozen it makes it even harder to cut through? I would think if the brownie were more “cake-like” it would be easier to eat when frozen.
Helloooooo beautiful! LOVE this!
This is absolutely fabulous! Love the frosting IN the layers!
HOORAY 🙂
I want me some of this ice cream cake! Now!
Oh this looks ridiculous and I mean that in the best possible way. Do you think using Brownie Batter ice cream would be overkill? Yeah I didn’t think so. 🙂
HAHHAA! Never!
Just out of curiosity…what is your favorite boxed brownie mix?
I really like the Ghirardelli Brownie mixes! They are super good!
Thats what I typically use! Just wanted to see if I was missing out on anything 🙂
This looks unbelievably good! I’ve heard those Ghirardelli brownie mixes are great, and that Turkey Hill ice cream looks so rich and creamy. Wish we had it out here so I could get it easily!
Oh wow! This looks and sounds amazing! That frosting layer sound divine.
My niece was very excited about something yesterday and I joined in by saying “Hooray!” She looked at me all serious and said “Stop it.” So, I guess “hooray” is definitely out. Tell your family.
Love this! Want this. Must make this.
Is there a chance to get adopted by you?
I’d waggle my eyebrows to death and give you nicknames like ‘world’s best gooey melting cookie ice crem MUMMY’ every day!
Holy YUM! I don’t even know where to begin with this, I love everything about it! 🙂
now I think that those are beautiful photos! What a fantastic idea! I’d say hooray for this!
Oh I’ve been dreaming of ice cream cake recently! My mom used to make them in the summer, and I haven’t had one for so long! This looks perfectly delicious!
My son told me he wanted a cake with sugar cookies, ice cream, chocolate sauce and whipped cream. Trying to figure that one out….
umm, that sounds amazing!!!! I need to get on that one!
I love this idea for an ice cream cake!! Seems so easy!
Oh my goodness! My boys are going to dive face first in that sprinkle top! Yum! So cute!
Simple and delicious! I love ice cream cakes. Thanks for sharing.
Ok, when is the next holiday or pot luck??? I’m on a diet (and shouldn’t have even READ this recipe but…… Let’s see…..Payday Friday! That’s a holiday in my book! Let’s celebrate!!!!
My 15 year old requested an ice cream cake for his birthday. Not one I made either. I was a little insulted but then i realized it’s because we ALWAYS have cake or cookies or something working in the kitchen so it’s just something he’s not used to getting very often. At least that’s how I’m going to interpret it.
This does look good. I like the chocolate frosting in the middle. I think brownies always need frosting.
Ok so my birthday is in 10 days…
I NEED this!!! And I have a feeling I will be making it for myself. Or at least making it for my fiance’s birthday. And mint-chip ice cream would be AMAZING, you’re right! Though, cookie dough is fab, so I don’t know how I’ll choose!
I just love you, Shelly. I love how your dessert mind works!
Oh my! That looks so good and easy to do! You had me at box mix and cookie dough ice cream!
This may just be the best kind of ice cream cake ever!
This looks absolutely delicious! I was wondering if you can use store bought whipped cream? I don’t not have a stand alone mixer:(
You are a genius!! This looks fantastic! 🙂
This looks amazing!
Your son is a genius for requesting and your are genius for creating this. Thanks for sharing! *hurries of to buy ice cream and brownies*
This looks so delicious! I can’t wait to try it. One question, instead of making the whipped cream, would it work if I used Cool Whip instead?
Oh absolutely! That would work great!
My dear m-i-l always got ice cream cake from our local DQ – not my fav, but this – can’t wait to make it!
I make my son’s birthday cake every year, he found your cake on pintrest and I made it today for his bday…so yummy!
Awesome! Love this!
It looks plenty cute to me. And it looks like I want to eat the whole thing by myself. Fantastic.
I want to be a kid in your house. This is pretty much the best thing I have seen all week.
About how many people does this serve?
serves 12
Wow girl what a treat!!! Can I eat this for breakfast?!
Brownies and ice cream…my husband’s favorites. I love this, Shelly!
This is heaven. The only thing that could make it better is the addition of peanut butter.
I am totally pretending it is my birthday so I can make this cake! LOVE it!
This looks amazing!! Why two weeks for freezing though? Do you have to freeze it for that long or could you eat it the same day you make it. I’m impatient! lol!
Oh no! You can freeze it for up to 2 weeks (to store it!) Definitely don’t wait 2 weeks to eat it!! 🙂
I tried making this once! Except on a much smaller scale since the birthday girl already had another cake.
This looks delicious!! I love how you added the frosting in the middle!
You know why you like it so much? Because it’s not cake. It’s a brownie with ice cream, frosting, and whipped cream. You have made an ice cream brownie. Not an ice cream cake.
Great recipe. I made this for my husbands birthday and he loved it. Rather than chocolate frosting I used a thin layer of hot fudge topping and ground up chocolate chips (used a mini food processor). I put that on right after the brownie layer. Since the cake was just for two I used an 8×8 pan and used half of a family size brownie mix. I cut the brownie ingredients in half (one egg instead of two, half the oil). Came out very good- like a thick crust instead of a brownie portion. I might use cool whip instead of making whipped cream next time just to make it a little faster.
I tried birthday cake ice cream and it tased so good! My family said it was beautiful. It was actually possible! I just took some of that edible spray and the BOOM! It was a dream come true!
Love this ideal. Much better than a DQ cake. I’ll probably make it with brownies with hidden veggies (zucchinni maybe?).
Wow, the ice cream cake look SO GOOD. I’m sure the taste as well. I love Ice cream & I love brownies. Never tough to combine both. So Cool! I will try it someday with my home made vanilla ice cream.Great Recipe 🙂 Thanks.
Sounds fab! How long before the ice cream starts melting and getting yucky/messy? Just wondering how long of a drive it could sit through if I made it and brought it somewhere…? I can usually travel with a DQ cake from store to home and that’s about a 20min. drive.
Looks so good! I have a niece and a nephew with birthdays next month and I’m sure that they would both really love this as their birthday cake. Thanks for sharing!
What square pan did you use? I used our 8×8 pyrex for the brownies and the bottom 2 layers are sitting in the fridge right now and I have maybe an inch for ice cream :/ and I know I got the normal brownies, not family sized. So I just think my dish wasn’t deep enough! Looks like it will HAVE to overflow 🙂
I used my 8×8 pan… very strange that it would overflow.. maybe my pan has higher sides than yours? You could certainly make it in a 9×9 pan and just have a thinner brownie layer. Just adjust bake time for the brownie!
Ice cream cake is my favorite and I never knew it was actually this easy to make. :p I personally despise traditional frosting (I think it’s too sweet) and am the weirdo who will sit there and scrape most of it off the top of a cupcake before eating. Thanks for this! Gotta try it sometime.
This looks amazing. Kind of like a DQ ice cream cake! Thanks for sharing. I can’t wait to make it. =)
Also, would it be totally horrible to use Cool Whip instead of homemade whipped cream?
I made this tonight, everything is great BUT my brownie turned out horrible from being frozen.. I did everything perfect!!! Kinda sucks.. is there any tips or specific brand u use!! And ill try again… thx so much
How long did you let it sit out before slicing?
I am making this for my small group tonight and thankfully used an 11x 9 Pyrex. I haven’t even made it to the whipped cream step and my dish is filled to the brim! (I just purchased my Pyrex dish, so maybe the newer Pyrex dishes are more shallow?)
I love how easy this recipe is…thank you, Shelly!
Looks sooo yummy 🙂
Tyler
http://www.onelittleblackdress.com
I found you through pinterest and now I am making this for my son’s birthday party tomorrow! It looks so good…
This cake is so delicious! I just made it for my husband’s birthday! I will make it again for sure! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Hi Shelly,
I can’t wait to make this! So many awesome birthday memories involving ice cream cakes, but brownies are even better! Can you please tell me what pan you used? Brand name? Where you got it? It looks nice and deep and I would love to find one like that. Is it 3 inches high? Any info/help would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Channa
It’s actually a Pyrex pan, 7×11. I like the depth of it a lot. It was super cheap.. here’s a similar one.. http://www.amazon.com/Pyrex-Storage-11-Cup-Rectangular-Plastic/dp/B0000CFTPI/ref=sr_1_1?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1396789349&sr=1-1&keywords=7×11+glass+dish
Oh this looks delish – even better with Turkey Hill ice cream! We’re living overseas right now and can’t get our Turkey Hill fix, but we’ll be trying this for sure, TH or no TH! :-).
It was my turn to bring birthday treats for a co-worker today at school. I made 2 of these in a 9 x 13 size. Let me tell you I was TOTALLY queen for the day (kinda stole the thunder from the birthday girl, LOL) They were BEAUTIFUL, and OH so delicious. I made the mistake of making them in the portable foil pans…the super tall lid on them was GREAT, but every slice I made cut through the metal pan. Oh, well. This is definitely going into my “DO AGAIN ASAP” recipe folder!
Looks amazing! I’m going to make for my sons Bday this weekend. Question… Can u make the whole thing and put it in the freezer? I’ll prob use cool whip instead and was wondering if it would mess it up if I put it on before we are ready to serve it? Thanks!!
That will be fine! Just pull it out to thaw about 30 minutes before you’re ready to serve it!
I made this yesterday for a friend’s birthday and it was phenomenal! Boxed brownies, followed by some canned fudge icing, topped with a few crushed birthday cake Oreos, then cookies and cream ice cream, some crushed regular Oreos, then homemade whipped cream (with some added stabilizer so it would freeze well until being served today). I toolkit out 20 minutes before being served, and it was perfect.
I love making decadent desserts from scratch, but it was so wonderful to take some shortcuts – and even better that it turned out to be one of the best desserts I’ve ever made!
Thank you for such a great recipe.
wow I was on Pinterest and someone pinned your recipe..this is amazing and I can’t wait to make it for my family. We are not huge dessert eaters so when I make something this it’s a definite treat
Thanks for sharing your talents and your recipe.
Hello Just wondering if you can freeze the whip cream as I want it made ahead of time not during the party. Looks Delicious!!!
Sure, you could do that! Or what you could do is use Cool Whip instead, it will freeze and thaw nicely for you!
Made this for a BBQ. I used hot fudge sauce instead of chocolate frosting. Chocolate chip ice cream. Used a 13×9 pan. More ice cream, whipped cream, etc.,. So good!
I made this for my son’s girlfriend for her b-day. She loves anything brownie. But it turned out perfect! The best brownie desert I have ever had. I used cookie dough ice cream being as it’s her favorite flavor. I also used Betty crocker fudge brownies. Along with milk chocolate frosting and real whipped cream. I will make this again and again and again. We all absolutely loved it! Great recipe no matter what you want to call it.
I made this today and it was really fantastic with our Memorial day cookout. I debated my pan choice a while… thinking my 8×8 wouldn’t leave enough height for ice cream and whipped cream, I split my brownie batter between 2 loaf pans. It was perfect as far as accommodating all of the layers, but the brownie layer was too thick and super rich. Next time ( oh yes, there will definitely be a next time) I’ll use my spring form or a 13×9. Can’t wait to try Blondie bottom, strawberry jam, vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and then garnish with fresh strawberries. Thanks so much for the recipe. My family thinks I’m a master chef tonight!
★★★★★
Will be making this for my daughters birthday this weekend. I see that recipie stresses not to use family sized box of brownie mix. Need to double recipie for a larger crowd..use larger pan and double all ingredients? Thanks!
Use a 9×13 pan and double the ingredients 🙂
Thanks can’t wait to try it!!! ?
Thank you for such a great recipe! I made it for a church function and It got rave reviews.
Since it was “going to church” I did find a way to dress it up.
I made it in a springform pan, lining bottom and sides with parchment paper. I left it in the pan and followed all directions until just before the whipped topping was added. At that point I released it from the pan and pulled off the parchment paper from the sides only. Then I covered the sides with cookie crumbs. I topped that with the whipped topping and some sprinkles.
Thanks again.
Great idea using the springform pan!!
My family loved it. Awesome Idea it was delicious.
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