I made this cake for Little Boy #1’s birthday party a couple of weeks ago, and I had to share it with you because it was so very GOOD and EASY to put together. He always requests an ice cream cake, and while the cakes from our favorite ice cream shop are good, they can be a little pricey! Homemade is the way to go here.
I’ve made ice cream cakes before, but what I love about this one is that you make it in a springform pan. This makes it foolproof. Your cake turns out round and even every time. This cake has a layer of fudge and chopped peanut butter cups inside that I didn’t take a picture of. Because I didn’t want to serve an ice cream cake with a piece cut out. You’ll have to just trust me – they’re in there.
I also love the versatility here. You could really use any kind of crushed cookie, any flavor of ice cream, and top it with your favorite kind of chopped up chocolatey candy.
My best tip for making this ice cream cake nice and smooth is to use a metal spatula (offset if you have one) dipped in hot water over the outside of the cake. This will slightly melt that outside layer of ice cream and smooths out any bumps or uneven spots.
PrintPeanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake
The easiest way to make an ice cream cake!
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 package Oreo cookies
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 2 containers (1 pint 1 quart) vanilla ice cream
- 11 ounce jar hot fudge topping
- 14.8 ounce package Reese’s mini peanut butter cups, chopped
Instructions
- Using a food processor or blender, crush the Oreo cookies. In a large bowl, combine crushed Oreos with 6 tablespoons of melted butter and stir until well combined.
- Spray the bottom of a 10 inch springform pan with nonstick spray and press the Oreo crumbs into the bottom of the pan. Press firmly, and allow the Oreos to go up the side of the pan slightly.
- Place the pan in the freezer to chill the crust, and set one container of ice cream out at room temperature to soften for 10-15 minutes.
- When the crust has chilled, spread the ice cream evenly over the crust. Place in the freezer to chill for 1 hour.
- Warm up the jar of hot fudge topping according to directions in the microwave and spoon over the ice cream, reserving about 1/4 of the jar to drizzle over the ice cream at the end. Sprinkle half of the chopped mini peanut butter cups over the fudge and return to the freezer for 1 hour.
- Soften second container of ice cream at room temperature, and then spread over peanut butter cups. Refreeze until firm.
- To remove the cake from the pan, run a hot knife (dip in hot water) around the edge and then unlatch the sides of the pan.
- Use an offset spatula or knife dipped in hot water to make the ice cream smooth on top.
- Spoon the reserved hot fudge into a plastic bag and snip off the corner. Drizzle over the top of the ice cream cake in a crosshatch pattern, and sprinkle remaining chopped peanut butter cups over the top. Freeze until ready to serve.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories: 636
- Sugar: 57g
- Sodium: 466mg
- Fat: 34g
- Saturated Fat: 15g
- Unsaturated Fat: 5.1g
- Trans Fat: 0.2g
- Carbohydrates: 80g
- Fiber: 3.1g
- Protein: 9g
- Cholesterol: 47mg
This looks amazing!!
Thanks Carolyn!
Julie – this cake looks so perfect! You have one lucky son. I’ve never made an ice cream cake but I seriously need to try it. I think I’ll stick with your flavor combo, too – sounds amazing!
Hope you get a chance to try this Raquel! My cake decorating skills are lacking but even I could pull this one off!
Simple ingredients yield such a beautiful result – that is one gorgeous cake! I used to do lots of ice cream cakes for my boys in the summer months. I am so in love with that cake pedestal. Do you remember where you got it?
Thank you Valerie! Yes, I bought the cake stand a year ago from World Market. Just checked their site and they still have it!
http://www.worldmarket.com/product/mobile/edin+pedestal+stand.do?sortby=bestMatchesDescend&from=Search
I made the cake as said, but the ice cream is still soft after being in the freezer for a good time? Do I leave it in the freezer longer or is it just the ice cream I bought?
The time it takes to refreeze the ice cream could vary depending on how cold your freezer runs. If it’s too soft, just keep it in a the freezer for a few more hours.
Hi,
I’m making this for my hubby’s birthday and I can’t wait! This looks soooo yummy!! Thanks for the awesome recipe girl!!!
Xoxo
H
Hope you all enjoy and happy birthday to your husband!
I made this cake for my son’s 16th birthday. He has a gluten sensitivity so I used GF sandwich cookies for the crust. It was wonderful and a huge hit! Thank you for the recipe and inspiration!
That’s so great Lori!
I’m thinking this would be even more amazing if 1 container of ice cream was peanut butter chocolate and 1 container was chocolate!
YES!
I made for my husband’s birthday and…WOW!! He loved it…as did everyone else. I wasn’t sure I could make it look as professional as the one in this photo, but the directions are simple and it looked great. My husband will be choosing this cake for birthdays for a long time to come. Thanks!
I’m so glad Lynette!
I am confused by what is in the parentheses. What size container for the 2 containers of ice cream? 1 pint or 1 quart? Please help I want to make this for my hubby and was making the shopping list. Thanks! Sounds Delish!!
Barb, I see how that is confusing. The label on the brand of ice cream I used (Great Value) says 48 FL OZ or 1 Quart 1 Pint, and I used two of those containers. I think ice cream used to come in a half gallon usually but now they are a little smaller so the measurement is a little awkward. Hope that helps!
This comment answered my question (darn those tricky labels)! Hubs is more of an ice cream guy than a cake guy and he adores peanut butter cups. My tot and I are looking forward to surprising him with this for his birthday.
I hear ya! Enjoy!
Thanks for asking this question. I was just making my shopping list and was confused as well.
Excited to make it for an early Christmas dinner.
Thank you! That was my question as well.
When it is in the freezer, do you cover the spring form pan with foil, or plastic wrap? Also, can this be made 2 days in advance? Thank you.
Sorry just getting back to you! Yes, it can be made in advance and you can just cover with foil or plastic wrap.
I have a question when you do the crust did you leave the creme in the oreos or did you leave it out, and how did you do the fudge in the center just spread it out ? Thanks
Randi, thanks for your questions. I did not remove the creme, and it just sort of blends in. I warm up the fudge slightly so help it spread better.
I had never made ice cream cake before and my husband wanted one for his birthday. So I decided to give this one a whirl and it was SO yummy and super easy to make! It was a huge hit! Thanks for sharing 😉
So happy to hear that it was a hit Kristyn!
have you ever tried to make this in a 9×13 spring form? I am planning to make it this weekend for my son’s 1st communion and need a larger cake. Just curious on the ratio. If I would need to double the recipe or just add 1/2 to the existing recipe if that makes sense. Thanks!
No, I haven’t tried that size pan before… they make a rectangular springform?!? This recipe is pretty easy to adapt though, so I bet you can make it work. Enjoy!
Thanks for the quick response. Yes I was surprised to see that but yes they do make a 9×13 springform , I found them on Amazon.
Think I can make this 10 days in advance… ?
Sure thing! So nice to have it waiting in the freezer for a special occasion.
Made this cake as my first ice cream cake. It was delicious but a mess. I wish I had read the comments below first so then I would have known to freeze it longer. I figured that the recipe would have said that more time may be needed if 1 hour wasn’t enough. It just sounded confidant that it would only be that much time. Next time I’ll know better, but it was good.
Son wanted ice cream cake for his 16th birthday. Didn’t want to buy one, so I came across this while searching for a recipe. Used extra Oreo (because…why not?) for the base, vanilla ice cream for the next layer and peanut butter & chocolate ice cream for the final layer. Made it ahead of time to make sure it was frozen. Son was shocked to see the final result. Husband was so impressed, he had to take a picture of it (that’s impressive for him).
Only drawback was I was trying to make it while working, so unwrapping the mini pb cups was a bit tedious/time-consuming. My fault, not the fault of the recipe. 🙂
Thank you for such a great recipe! A true keeper.
Love this Sunny! So glad it was a hit.
Hi excited to try this so thank you. I don’t have a springform do you suggest a different type of dish or pan I can use?
when using the spring form pan and you release the sides what is the easiest way to take off the bottom of the pan
I think I just left the cake on there to serve if I remember correctly.
Ice cream cake might be my favorite and it sounds like this one would be amazing!
Do you recall what size the package of Oreos was? They come in different sizes, so I was just curious! Was it just the 12 pack or will I need more?
I’d love to leave a photo of my son’s birthday cake that was inspired by yours. I made a mint chip oreo. It was a hit!
My daughter found your recipe right after you posted it. I’ve made it EVERY YEAR for her birthday and multiple other birthdays ever since. It is an absolute favorite. Thank you for sharing!
We are currently making this. We doubled the ingredients and used a roaster size pan ( lol ) using peanut butter flavored ice cream with crushed take 5 candy bars it is going to be epic