Homemade Ice Cream Crunch Cake

4.46 from 55 votes

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This Homemade Ice Cream Crunch Cake recipe is better than store-bought, guaranteed!! Filled with vanilla and chocolate ice cream, plus crushed Oreos and hot fudge, this is sure to be a big crowd-pleaser! If you’re looking for an even easier ice cream cake option, try my Ice Cream Sandwich Cake.

ice cream cake slice

Ice Cream Crunch Cake Basics

This no-bake, super simple recipe is made up of three different parts. All equally important and delicious.

The Ice Cream

I used two 1.5 quart containers of Breyers ice cream; one chocolate and one vanilla. That’s 3 whole quarts of ice cream OR 3/4 of a gallon if you’re counting. See my variations below to switch things up.

The Filling

Falling in love with Dairy Queen Crunch Cakes at an early age, I’ve learned that magic shell and chocolate wafer crackers aren’t going to cut it for me! Plus, I could make it better. 😉 So I used crushed OREO thins and store bought hot fudge sauce. And it was so freaking good. It was decided by all that that was the most delicious part of the cake.

The Frosting

I was going to use marshmallow fluff, but then upon further investigation, I realized it would have frozen pretty solid. I didn’t want to chance it, so I just used whipped cream. But it worked perfectly and tasted delicious. Easy to spread, easy to slice, and added a little extra creamy bite.

finished ice cream cake recipe

How to make Ice Cream Crunch Cake

While the process to making an ice cream cake is super simple, it is time consuming (freeze times) and you’ll want to plan ahead. For full recipe details, see the printable recipe card and helpful tutorial video down below.

Remove Ice Cream from Freezer + Prep Cake Pans

Remove ice cream from the freezer and defrost about 15 minutes. While ice cream is softening, line two 8-inch cake pans well with plastic wrap, leaving several inches of overhang.

Spoon + Press Ice Cream into Prepared Pans

Spoon soft ice cream into each prepared pan, pressing down to remove air bubbles as you go. Cover with plastic wrap and press down evenly to smooth the top. Freeze for 8-12 hours or until hardened.

Place Serving Platter into Freezer {1 hour before}

1 hour before assembling cake, place serving platter into freezer. (Make sure your platter can freeze!)

Make the Frosting + Refrigerate

Place heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into a large bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate.

Assemble the Cake

Remove ice cream layers and serving platter from freezer. Unwrap the tops of the ice cream layers and using the excess plastic wrap, remove layers from pans. Place chocolate layer on the bottom. Smooth an even layer of hot fudge over the chocolate layer, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Sprinkle crushed OREO thins over hot fudge and press down gently. Add vanilla layer overtop. Spread whipped cream overtop of the entire cake, add sprinkles as desired.

Freeze Cake Until Ready to Serve

Once the cake is assembled, place back into the freezer until ready to serve.

sprinkles on ice cream cake

Check Out My Tutorial Video

Be sure to watch my video tutorial to ensure success. And, if you happen to be working in a warmer kitchen, don’t be afraid to assemble the cake first, freeze again and then finish frosting and decorating.

Try Different Flavor Combinations

Using different flavors of ice cream, kinds of cookies or fillings can really allow you freedom in creating a unique and super delicious ice cream cake. Here are a few ideas! The sky really is the limit here.

  • Mint Chocolate Chip: Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream + crushed thin mint cookies + hot fudge filling
  • Butter Pecan: Butter Pecan ice cream + chopped pecans and shortbread cookies + butterscotch filling
  • Chocolate Brownie: Chocolate Brownie ice cream + chopped brownie filling + chocolate sauce filling
  • Reese’s: Reese’s Peanut Butter Ice Cream + chopped Reese’s Peanut butter cups and chopped peanuts + hot fudge sauce filling
  • Ultimate Oreo: Oreo ice cream + chopped Oreos + hot fudge filling
slice of ice cream cake on a plate

Storing Ice Cream Cake

You’ll need to store leftover ice cream cake in the freezer. Keep it wrapped well in plastic wrap or an airtight container with a lid. You can expect your cake to stay good in the freezer for about 7 days. After that, ice crystals will begin to form and the flavor of the cake will begin to diminish.

More Ice Cream Cake Recipes to Try!

More Favorites from Lauren’s Latest

Try this Homemade Ice Cream Cake Recipe out today! Whether it’s for a birthday, a BBQ, an anniversary or just because, this recipe is sure to bring a smile to your face. 🙂

Printable recipe card is below as well as a super helpful video! Enjoy!

ice cream cake slice
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4.46 from 55 votes

Homemade Ice Cream Cake

This Homemade Ice Cream Cake recipe is better than store bought, guaranteed!! Filled with Oreos and hot fudge, this is the ultimate dessert.
servings 12 servings
Prep Time 13 hours
Total Time 13 hours

Ingredients

  • 1.5 quart container vanilla ice cream
  • 1.5 quart container chocolate ice cream
  • 3/4 cup hot fudge sauce
  • 12 OREO thins crushed
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • rainbow sprinkles or other decorations as desired.

Instructions

  • Remove ice cream from the freezer and defrost about 15 minutes.
  • While ice cream is softening, line two 8-inch cake pans well with plastic wrap, leaving several inches of overhang.
  • Spoon soft ice cream into each prepared pan, pressing down to remove air bubbles as you go. Cover with plastic wrap and press down evenly to smooth the top. Freeze for 8-12 hours or until hardened.
  • 1 hour before assembling cake, place serving platter into freezer. (Make sure your platter can freeze!)
  • Place heavy cream, sugar and vanilla into a large bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. Refrigerate.
  • To assemble cake: remove ice cream layers and serving platter from freezer. Unwrap the tops of the ice cream layers and using the excess plastic wrap, remove layers from pans. Place chocolate layer on the bottom. Smooth an even layer of hot fudge over the chocolate layer, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Sprinkle crushed OREO thins over hot fudge and press down gently. Add vanilla layer overtop. Spread whipped cream overtop of the entire cake, add sprinkles as desired and freeze until ready to serve.

Video

Nutrition

Calories: 742kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 41g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Cholesterol: 133mg | Sodium: 316mg | Potassium: 632mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 70g | Vitamin A: 1425IU | Vitamin C: 1.7mg | Calcium: 312mg | Iron: 2.5mg
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Keyword: frozen dessert, ice cream cake

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Recipe Rating




74 Responses
  1. Mary

    Hi. I’ve been making these for years. Mine always fall apart in the middle. The layers don’t stay together. I do not make separate ice cream layers. I do a layer at a time and freeze in between. Any idea why the layers separate?

  2. Deb

    This was amazing and easy! I brought it to a Birthday Party and it was a hit. I used Tillamook’s Mint chocolate chip and Rocky Road ice creams. I Only used 1 quart of each and put each in an 8 inch cake pan and froze them overnight and it was plenty. I used about 3/4 of a jar of hot fudge sauce but probably would use a full jar next time. Also used thin Oreos, put them in a bag and crushed them up. I also drove about 20 minutes to the party and it stayed frozen in a cooler bag with some ice thingies. For decoration I just put some of the hot fudge in a bag with a tip and squeezed spirals all around it and it was beautiful. Thanks so much for the recipe and I’ll definitely make this again.

  3. Kass

    A great filling that taste just like the carvel cakes is mixing magic shell chocolate ice cream topping (that stuff that hardens on your ice cream when it gets cold) and nabisco chocolate wafers. Just plain chocolate. You put wafers in a food processor and pulse then squirt magic shell until still crumbly but moist enough to blend together. You don’t want wafers soggy. That’s it.

    1. Lauren

      As long as its covered well, you can keep it in the freezer for 1-2 weeks. But you do run the risk of the ice cream getting freezer burnt.

  4. Lily

    Thank you for taking the time to write the receipe and do a video. My question is, I’m making a bottom layer of vanilla, and top layer of butter pecan.
    YOu suggested: Butter Pecan: Butter Pecan ice cream + chopped pecans and shortbread cookies + butterscotch filling

    So, on top of the vanilla layer is where I’d do chopped pecans, crumbled shortbread cookies, and top it with (room temperature) butterscotch filling.. then the butter pecan layer, right??

    Thanks for your help! Happy Thanksgiving

    1. Lauren

      I would use all butter pecan ice cream (or maybe the bottom layer as butter pecan and the top as vanilla) with the filling being chopped pecans, crumbled shortbread cookies and butterscotch filling (ice cream sauce).

  5. Kris B

    5 stars
    Soooo delicious and beats store-made! Instead of freezing a cake plate, I used a frozen marble board (we had one for mixing ingredients into ice cream like Coldstone.)

  6. Shannon

    5 stars
    I want to make this with a layer of chocolate chip cookie dough!!
    Does anyone know of a GOOD EASY recipe?
    I’ll be using Blue Bell ~ two step ice cream.
    I’m trying to decide if I should make a fudge brownie or a layer of thin Oreos.
    Any suggestions?!?!?
    Trying to stay with the ice cream flavors!!
    Thank you

  7. Susanne

    5 stars
    Made this for my son’s 10th birthday. It was delicious, and the whipped cream frosting was divine (and I usually don’t like whipped cream or frosting)! Thank you for this great recipe.

  8. Justine Bruzewski

    So far this cake looks great. I used cake for the bottom layer though. The only thing is about the ingredients, you should specify WHIPPED CREAM instead of heavy whipping cream (which is liquid) and what I tried using 🤦🏼‍♀️

    1. Lauren

      If you look at the recipe card, it states in step #5 to whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla before using. So the listed heavy whipping cream in the recipe card is correct.

      1. Justine Bruzewski

        I tried that and it didnt work? Maybe I did it wrong? I am by no means a very experienced baker. I ended up using whipped cream instead and it worked well.

    2. Kathleen Kuper

      You have to whip the whipping cream in a mixer ( make sure mixer bowl is just out of freezer) on medium/high with a tablespoon of sugar and a dash of vanilla, whip until it thickens and the end process is whipped cream
      Voila!

    1. Lauren

      You don’t have to necessarily freeze it for a certain amount of time after you add the cream, its just more to keep the ice cream frozen until you’re ready to serve. You can freeze this days in advance!

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  10. Louise

    5 stars
    I made this ice cream cake yesterday!!!
    so simple watch the video first… I used cookie dough ice cream then put on the cold hot fudge and then a layer of vanilla bean ..topped it with cool whip … Next time I would use Oreos and cream ice cream instead of the vanilla bean… or add crushed Oreos with the hot fudge …
    Thanks for a great recipe!!! Stored perfectly on the plate in the Tupperware cake keeper… just set it in the deep freezer 🙂

  11. vkynj

    I’m going to make this for a birthday party this coming weekend – Aug. 3, 2019. I think I’ll freeze my pans for 15 minutes before I add ice cream to keep things extra cold – – and I am thinking about using either a 9″ or 10″ springform pan to assemble the entire thing, instead of 2 pans. and just layer it in the one pan.

  12. BRENDA KINGPAPPAS

    used to own basking robbins you need to keep the ice cream a solid as you can when you thaw and mix in you lose the air which is part of why it is creamy keep everything including the cake as frozen as you can a freezer at a ice cream place is well below 0 not just enough to freeze a flash freezer is 25 or more below

  13. joanne morgan

    My friend worked at Baskin Robbins and made ice cream cakes. Cake layer on bottom, Soften the first kind of ice cream enough to spread and throw it back into the freezer. remove and add 2nd cake. Freezer. soften the next ice cream, spread and freeze again. That is the secret that she had. Keep it frozen while you work. Also keep the cake plate or whatever you plan to put the cake on, in the freezer. if it’s room temp it will start to melt the ice cream.

  14. Molly P

    I put my ice cream layers in the deep freezer overnight but when I tried assembling them they started melting so fast. I had put a cookie sheet in the deep freezer for over an hour. What am I doing wrong? I popped it back in the freezer but there is already a layer of melted chocolate ice cream all over the cookie sheet.

    1. Francie

      Sounds dumb, but did you NOT take the 2nd layer out until it was ready to put on top of the bottom layer? Also when I frost a cake, i cut strips of wax paper, maybe few inches wide, and insert the strips about 1/2 way under the bottom layer of the cake. All the drippings go on the wax paper and when you are done, just CAREFULLY pull the wax paper strips out from under the bottom layer and your cake plate is clean!

      1. joanne morgan

        And you can make it in any shape that you make a cake. Oblong 9×13, square, whatever, just as long as it’s tall enough to hold the ice cream. Be sure to keep it in the freezer between each step.

    1. Linda Smith

      5 stars
      Thank you for the idea! I made it a little different to save the time it takes to freeze. I used parchment paper on my cake carrier, Then put the crushed Oreos in it. I bought a round tub of cookies & cream ice cream, let it sit out 15 minutes, and used a warm cloth to thaw it more. Next I cut it in half, leaving it round. I used some of the extra ice cream to smooth and even it out. Then pushed whole Oreos into the sides, half Oreos on top, crushed Oreos all over. No whipped cream.

  15. Sara

    I made this cake for a party tomorrow. What is the best way to store it in the freezer until then? Currently it is in a pan covered in cling wrap.

  16. Kim L Hudson

    How long do you need to take the cake out of the freezer before slicing? I will be making this and traveling for about a half hour before I can get it back into a freezer. Any suggestions on transporting this?

  17. Anna

    I have been wanting to make this recipe for months and will make it for my birthday next week! Would 9 inch pans work and the sides don’t go higher than 1 inch or so.

  18. Devin

    3 stars
    WARNING to those who might be planning to bring this somewhere: Breyers, the brand she suggests tastes great, but it will not freeze solid enough to last for any amount of time out of the freezer. You should plan to serve immediately and not be able to salvage your leftovers unless you use a different brand. I made this for a friend at work, and brought it with me in a cooler filled with ice. It was already runny after my fifteen minute commute. Even after putting it back in the freezer compartment of my mini-fridge, it was a puddle by lunch time. This is a great recipe for a party at home, but maybe stick with store bought if you’re going somewhere.

    1. Nanny Sue

      5 stars
      I love Ice cream cake !!!! This is the Bestest Birthday Cake I ever made. My Granddaughter Lauren’s Birthday was on January 12th, she turned 14!!!! Wow time sure does fly by fast..She flipped over this cake. My birthday gift to my family is to make their favorite birthday dinner, dessert & memory-something you can”t buy .Everyone flipped over it! Thank you “Lauren” this was so easy & fun to make.

  19. Darleen Green

    5 stars
    I thank you for the tips on making an ice cream cake. It was easy I used press and seal freezer wrap worked so good my cake pans were clean lol. I pressed the cookies into the ice cream then covered and froze the layers. No hot fudge. I stacked them easy. Used a cake board. No worries on freezing a cake plate.

  20. Alesia Schmit

    5 stars
    I made this cake for my husband’s birthday but with mint chip and grasshopper cookies. SO good. Next time I’m adding more fudge sauce 🙂 Thanks for sharing!!

  21. Tamara H

    5 stars
    Our family loves this cake and we enjoy experimenting with different flavors. Thanks for a fantastic recipe! There is no going back to DQ cakes now!

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  23. The Farmer's daughter

    5 stars
    I use 2 cups whipping cream whipped with 8 oz. softened cream cheese, assemble, frost and freeze the night before….

  24. Catherine

    I make a version of this but use a box mix brownie with fudge frosting for the bottom. It’s been the requested birthday cake for a while now. But the oreos thins is genius.

  25. Arlene Basso

    I am making this today for my son’s 30th!! Do u recommend warming the hot fudge sauce to make it easier to spread or does it spread evenly right out of jar? I’m using Smuckers. Thanks!

  26. Anne Marie

    This looks amazing! I have a little guy who would rather eat ice cream than cake…plan to try this for his next birthday treat.

  27. Andrea

    My birthday is coming up on the 27th and Dq ice cream cake is my favorite dessert. Might have to make this one instead of the store bought option ????

    1. Shagufta Hills

      Hello
      I m looking a ice cream peach cake recipie. I made it more than ten years ago i loved it but cant find it.

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