Easy vegan berry ice cream cake recipe with a hint of 'cheesecake' made with only 4-5 ingredients! The vibrant colors makes it a perfect centerpiece for celebrations.
It's bushfire season in Australia (and the country happens to be on fire) so I need something to cool me down and cheer me up. This vegan ice cream cake recipe hits the spot in so many ways. It is:
- light to eat
- fruity and creamy
- easy to make
- colorful so it makes me happy!
- a fun take on vegan cakes
Which vegan ice cream should I use?
I might be stating the obvious but if you want a creamy cake, make sure you use a store-bought CREAMY vegan ice cream!
But why does it matter?! Berries have a high water content so when berry puree is mixed with ice cream, the berries crystalize and makes the ice cream a little icier than normal. So you need a high-fat creamy ice cream to balance out the water content of the berries.
As a result, this homemade ice cream cake is definitely still creamy, but not as creamy as the original ice cream! If you're more of chocolate ice cream person, see my ultimate chocolate vegan ice cream cake.
How to make this healthy ice cream cake super creamy?
To minimize any chance of iciness in the cake, we need to remove the water in the berries while keeping their flavor.
You can do this by placing the berries in a small pot and simmering them until the berries are concentrated and turn thick and jammy. I would not recommend just squishing the juice out of the berries as you'll be removing a lot of the flavor.
Alternatively, you can use berry jam instead of whole berries. For simplicity, I used just fresh/frozen berries for this recipe because it still results in a cake which is delicious and creamy.
Making the berry ice cream layers
It's easy to make this vegan ice cream cake, but it's a little tedious when you make a layer, freeze it, make another layer, freeze.... get the point?!
Freezing each layer allows the cake to have more defined layers. It's not essential to wait until each layer freezes.
However, if you don't you'll end up with more of a swirly cake rather than a layered cake.
Make sure you read the whole vegan cake recipe before you start making it. To make the cake efficiently, I'd recommend:
- Making the raspberry and blueberry ice cream in your food processor. Add the raspberry ice cream to the tin and freeze. Put the blueberry ice cream in an airtight container and freeze.
- Spread the jam and freeze.
- Remove the vanilla ice cream from your freezer to soften. Add the softened ice cream to the tin and freeze.
- Spread the jam again then freeze.
- Remove the blueberry ice cream from your freezer to soften. Add the softened ice cream to the tin and freeze.
Short on time? Make a simpler version of this healthy ice cream cake!
If you're short on time or ingredients, you can completely omit any of the layers or omit the jam in the recipe. The cake will still work but it'll just be shorter in height. I've never heard anyone complain about a short cake ;).
For example, you can make the cake with just the blueberry and vanilla ice cream layers! Or you can make just one flavor with jam swirled throughout it.
I hope you enjoy this vegan cake recipe :).
Check out my other vegan ice cream recipes
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Vegan Berry Ice Cream Cake
Ingredients
Ice Cream Cake
- ½ cup (65g) raspberries, fresh or frozen
- ½ cup (75g) blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 1 lemon, zest and juice (optional)*
- ~4 ¼ cups (1kg or 1L) vegan vanilla ice cream, softened**
- ½ cup (160g) raspberry jam
To decorate
- ½ cup (65-75g) raspberries and blueberries, fresh
Instructions
- Line a 22 cm (8.6 inch) long loaf tin or 20 cm (8 inch) cake pan with baking paper so the paper hangs over the sides.
- Add the raspberries and half of the lemon zest and juice to a food processor and process until as smooth as possible. Add 400g of the softened vanilla ice cream to the food processor and pulse until combined.
- Spoon the raspberry ice cream into the loaf tin. Use a spoon or spatula to smooth the surface. Set aside the tin in the freezer for 1 hour or until set.
- Scoop half the raspberry jam onto the raspberry ice cream and spread with a spoon or spatula. Return the tin to the freezer for 30 minutes or until set.
- Scoop 200g of the softened vanilla ice cream into the loaf tin. Use a spoon or spatula to smooth the surface. Return the tin to the freezer for 1 hour or until set.
- Scoop the remaining raspberry jam onto the vanilla ice cream and spread with a spoon or spatula. Return the tin to the freezer for 30 minutes or until set.
- Add the blueberries and the remaining lemon zest and juice to a food processor and process until as smooth as possible. Add the remaining (400g) of the softened vanilla ice cream to the food processor and pulse until combined.
- Spoon the blueberry ice cream into the loaf tin. Use a spoon or spatula to smooth the surface. Set aside the tin in the freezer for 2 hours or until set.
- To serve: Remove the ice cream from the tin by pulling on the baking paper. If it doesn't pop out, carefully run the tin under warm water then remove. Use a sharp knife to cut portions out of the cake. Top the cake with fresh berries and serve immediately. Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month.
Notes
Nutrition
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Hi,
Your desserts are always soooo beautiful.
I'm cooking for a diabetic.
I make ice cream with frozen bananas and nut butter. Would you ever consider making an ice cream base(to replace the vanilla ice cream) with bananas and no sugar? Would love a chocolate one or one like you did with blueberries and raspberries... Actually, chocolate and raspberries sounds good too. Thank you 🙂
Thanks
Hi Deborah, thanks for your kind words!
I have another ice cream cake recipe here which uses frozen bananas. It's multi coloured but you're welcome to make it with just blueberries and raspberies or chocolate. However, since the ice cream has a higher water content (from the bananas), the rainbow cake is quite solid straight from the freezer. I hope it helps!
This is aesthetically pleasing! I think I'm going to make it for my birthday because those are my favorite colors (and its healthy too, lol) !! :3 thank you for sharing this AMAZING recipe!! <3
Thanks Nourah! They're my favourite colours too haha. I hope you enjoy making it 🙂
Please make a video! Cake looks so perfect and healthy
Oh I'd love to one day, thank you!
Sounds delicious but this is not vegan.
How? I used 100% vegan ingredients?