This super easy Homemade Oreo Ice Cream Cake is just a handful of ingredients and a fraction of the cost of a store bought birthday cake!
Back in April I made a homemade ice cream cake on my instagram stories for my son’s birthday. He is not a fan of lots of cake or frosting, but also loves ice cream, so an ice cream cake is the obvious solution. Instead of spending loads of money on a Dairy Queen cake, I opted to make my own and it was a roaring success.
How To Make a Homemade Ice Cream Cake:
- Start by baking your cake base in a cake pan of your choice. I baked up two 8″ round chocolate cake layers, using a devil’s food cake mix.
- Using the same pan size that you baked your cake in, line the empty pan with plastic wrap or parchment paper.
- Set your ice cream flavor out to soften slightly, then spread into the prepared cake pan and pop back in the freezer to harden.
I wanted to give my ice cream cake a little more texture and pizazz so I crushed up a bunch of Oreo cookies and mixed them with some hot fudge sauce.
PRO TIP: Don’t heat up the hot fudge sauce. Keep it room temperature or cold for easy mixing and spreading.
DIY Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake Tips:
- Make sure you have enough room in your freezer for your prepared ice cream cake. The last thing you want to do is go to pop this bad boy in the freezer and realize there is no room.
- Spread the hot fudge cookie mixture over the top of your prepared cake layer.
- Carefully pull out the ice cream layer and place it on top of the cake.
Since my son is not a fan of traditional buttercream frosting, I went ahead and spread some thawed whipped topping all over the ice cream cake. It makes for a light and airy frosting that everyone loves.
Decorate the outside of your cake with extra Oreo cookies and drizzles of hot fudge.
PRO TIP: Place a small amount of room temperature hot fudge in a zipclose bag and snip off a small corner to get a beautiful drizzle effect.
Once you’re done decorating the cake, you’ll want to pop it back in the freezer for a couple hours to let it all freeze together.
Just before serving, bring the cake out and let it sit on the counter at room temperature for at least 10 to 15 minutes so it’s easier to slice.
Think of all the delicious flavor combinations you can make! You’re going to love this super easy ice cream cake!
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Homemade Oreo Ice Cream Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cake mix, prepared into two round cakes*
- 1.5 quart Ice Cream, softened
- 1/2 cup hot fudge sauce, room temperature
- 16 Oreo
- 8 oz whipped topping, thawed
Instructions
- Prepare the devil's food cake mix into two 8-inch round cake pans, let cool completely. Wrap with plastic wrap and place each layer in a large zip-close bag and place in the freezer. You'll save one for later and use one for this recipe.
- Using the same size cake pan that you baked the cake in, line it with plastic wrap or parchment paper and place the softened ice cream in it and spread into an even layer. Top with plastic wrap and place back in the freezer until set.
- Just before assembling the cake combine 10 finely chopped Oreo cookies and ALL BUT 1 tbsp of the hot fudge sauce in a bowl.
- Place one layer of the chocolate cake on your cake stand (or large plate) and spread the hot fudge cookie mixture over the top in an even layer. Carefully place the ice cream layer on top and frost the cake with the thawed whipped topping.
- Decorate the sides and top with the remaining cookies and hot fudge sauce. Place back in the freezer until set. Just before serving take the cake out and let sit at room temperature for 10 to 15 minutes for easy slicing. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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Cheesy Broccoli Chicken Skillet Recipe
Chris
I made this ice cream cake for my 15 yr. old granddaughter’s birthday as she is not a big fan of frosted cakes. It came out absolutely fabulous.
I used this recipe because I wanted an ice cream cake that had actual cake in it; many don’t. Because we have
family members who need to be gluten free, I made some changes to the recipe. I baked a gluten free cake layer from scratch, although you could use Pamela’s Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix or even Trader Joe’s Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Brownie Mix. I made my own Cookies and Cream ice cream by adding 10 Gluten Free Oreos (crushed) to softened vanilla ice cream (I used Whole Foods 365 Vanilla). I added the Gluten Free Oreos to Mrs. Richardson’s Hot Fudge for the middle layer. Don’t skip this layer. Lastly, I frosted the cake with 1 pint of heavy whipping cream (stabilized with 1/4 tsp. cream of tartar and powdered sugar to taste), adding whipping cream rosettes around the top edge and drizzled with hot fudge. After letting it sit out of the freezer for 15 minutes, it was firm but cut easily.
Thank you for a great recipe; I will be making this again.
Melissa
Hi!
When you put the whipped cream on the cake and decorate, do you wrap it in plastic wrap again when putting back in the freezer or just leave it open to air? Trying to make this 2 days ahead of time and don’t want to have it ice over.
Thanks!
Shawn
If you’re making it a couple days in advance I would try to cover it. If you don’t have a cake cover that will fit in your freezer, try placing toothpicks on top of the cake and then lightly covering with plastic wrap. The toothpick should help to not have the plastic wrap touch the cake. Hope that helps!
Tiffiny
Hi!
I’m making an ice cream cake for my daughter and I wanted to see how far in advance i can frost/decorate it.
Jen
Made this for my son’s 14 birthday today! It was a huge hit thank you so much! I never knew how easy it was to make ice cream cake
Judi
How many servings does the 8” cake make!
Amber Koshney
So we used this recipe and tweaked it to taste preference. My daughter’s 15th Brownie layer (instead of cake) and used Latte or Mocha Oreos. And coffee ice cream. YUM!
Shawn
LOVE that idea for a brownie layer!! My husband would die for that! 🙂
Leigh
I have made this recipe several times now. It’s the top request from my kiddos for their birthday cakes. I let them switch up the layers (for my daughter’s birthday today she wanted vanilla cake with chocolate ice cream). However we never change the oreo/ hot fudge filling and cool whip frosting. The filling is THE BEST!
Zee
Made this for my husband’s birthday today and I’m quite impressed with how easily it came together (I’ll admit, I was nervous going into it)! I don’t think I’ll be buying anymore DQ cakes Thanks again! Your recipe was, by far, the easiest to follow!
Shawn
Yay! Happy birthday to your husband. 🙂
Christina Caasi
Trying this right now for my son’s birthday tomorrow!!
Tiffany
I made this for my son’s 14th birthday. Super easy and it was delicious.
Shawn
Yay! So glad you all enjoyed it and Happy Birthday to your son!
Rebecca
This was so easy and was so good! I’m not a fan of the ice cream cakes that are all ice cream and the combination in this recipe is perfect! Loved it!
Shawn
I’m so glad you liked the combo of cake and ice cream in this!
Lisa
Easy and excellent….we made the cake from scratch..next we’ll make the icecream from scratch too..made it for our son’s 16th birthday..he absolutely loved it..a definite hit for our family.
Shawn
Love it! So glad you enjoyed the recipe Lisa!
Amy
Great and easy recipe! Here’s a tip, cut the Oreos in half first and use the ones that didn’t make it as crumbs for the middle so you don’t end up stuffing your mouth at the end like I did.
Melissa
Your comment was both helpful and amusing to me, Amy 🙂
Rachel R
Hello.
Question is my cake layer shrunk in size after I let it cool. End result-my ice cream is much bigger than the cake on bottom.
How can I fix this for next time I make this?
Thank You.
Rachel
Latisha Simmons
This ice cream cake is amazing! I made mine look a little fancier b/c it was for a birthday, but used same ingredients. Everyone LOVED it. I cant wait to make it again. I normally don’t write reviews, but this cake is amazing!!!!!!!
jasmine espinoza
Please and Thank You!
jasmine espinoza
Do you have a youtube Channel because this looks like a great recipe but I need more of a visual 🙂
Shawn
I do have a YouTube Channel, but I do not have a video of this recipe…yet. There are lots of pictures above in the blog post that should help you along though. All of my recipe videos will be at the top of each blog post if there is a video for that specific recipe.
PN Davis
This sounds amazing! Thoughts on transporting this cake in a cooler with ice packs?
Shawn
I would try dry ice if you’re planning on transporting anywhere far. But I think ice packs in a cooler would work for a shorter trip. 🙂
Leslie
Is the chocolate cake part supposed to be frozen too?
Shawn
The chocolate cake does not need to be frozen in order to assemble, but it will be frozen once it’s assembled. It thaws quickly under the ice cream layer.
Tina
Can I use brownie mix and add an additional egg to make it more cake-like? Or should I stick with devil’s food cake?
Thank you
Tina
Shawn
Brownie bottom would be great!
Wendy Maida
This is a very simple recipe and it turned out awesome. I bought the mini Oreos to decorate the outside of the cake instead of trying to cut the Oreos.
I am making a Snicker one today with Snicker ice cream and Snicker candy bars.
Shawn
Love the idea of making it a Snicker cake!
Kasie
I make this every year for my husband’s birthday! It’s a huge hit and really easy.
Shawn
Awesome!! So glad to be a part of the festivities! 😉
Carol
The tip about using the hot fudge was great! My son loves the color royal blue, so I made buttercream frosting in that color and the dark chocolate fudge cake from Duncan Hines. Everyone at the party said the cake was great! Thanks for your website!
Shawn
Wonderful! I’m so glad it worked out well. Thanks for the comment!
Heather
I just made this for my son’s 17th birthday because he wanted a mint chocolate chip one and nobody carried them. So I made this with mint chip ice cream and used Keebler chocolate mint cookies instead of Oreos. Came out great and more importantly, my son loved it!
Shawn
I bet it’s amazing with mint chip ice cream! Happy birthday to your son!
Michelle
This was fantastic and so easy to make! I made a homemade Devil’s Chocolate Cake (followed the King Arthur flour recipe) and baked it in a 9 x 13 pyrex glass dish. I greased & lightly floured, plus put in parchment in the bottom – it came out of the pan super easily. Wrapped in plastic & put in freezer. Then I lined the same dish with plastic wrap & put in a softened 1/2 gallon container of Breyer’s Cookies & Cream Ice Cream. For the center I used a jar of Hershey’s hot fudge & 12 crushed Oreos. I was taking the cake to a party (not at home) in 100 degree heat, so decided to assemble it in the pyrex dish. I layered the cake, filling & ice cream, then popped back in the freezer. I made a whipped topping – whipped 2 cups of heavy cream, 6 Tablespoons of sugar & 2 teaspoons of vanilla – and layered it all over the top, letting it fill in any gaps along the sides of the dish. I halved the Oreos to make a border along the sides & put back in the freezer to set. Then I took some colored frosting I was using for cookies to write HAPPY BIRTHDAY and didn’t bother drizzling additional hot fudge. A delicious, easy cake – great for a blazing hot day!
Shawn
That’s so awesome! I’m so happy you enjoyed the cake!
ASHLEY PLUMMER
Ahhhhmmmaaaazzziiinnng!!! Making for my second time tonight! First time I made it for my own birthday, tonight im making it for someone else’s birthday! The only thing I did differently was use the fluffy white frosting instead of buttercream, topped it with crushed oreos and drizzled with butterscotch. Yummm
Shawn
Aww!! So glad you like the cake! I bet it looked BEAUTIFUL!!
Inez
Hi instead of the hot fudge sauce is there an alternate?
Shawn
The hot fudge is thicker and needed to keep from oozing out the sides of the cake.
Ce Ce Kimrey
Can I make this in a 9 x 13 casserole dish?
Shawn
I’m sure you could do that! I would just make the chocolate cake in a 9×13 and double the rest of the ingredients to make it fill the whole 9×13 cake. Enjoy!
RHONDA SPECK
There are recipes for sturdy whipped cream or stabilized whipped cream which allow you to make a whipped cream frosting with heavy cream (no chemicals) that will not deflate at room temperature. Some call for cream cheese (this is what I used before) and some for unflavored gelatin. Give one of these a try instead of Cool Whip.
Shawn
You can definitely make your own stabilized whipped cream for this recipe in place of the Cool Whip. 🙂
Betsy Elliott
I made this cake for my sister in law and she loved it..my nephew already put in his request for his birthday next week. Tonight I have started to make it for my sister who is a vegan. If you weren’t aware, they have non dairy ice cream and whipped cream which taste fabulous and for the cake I substitutes bananas instead of eggs..Oreo cookies are also vegan! So far looks great!
Shawn
That sounds awesome Betsy! I’m so glad you guys are enjoying the cake!
Deborah Carrico
I used dream whip and put food coloring to make my dream whip purple as it’s my daughter’s favorite color then spread over entire cake made my own frosting w saving a little dream whip (uncolored)..powdered sugar and butter , I then used other food coloring whipped the frosting and wrote happy 24th birthday on cake with it. Make a couple pretty flowers as well ,,it wa AWESOME TY for tue ice cream cake know how ..d.m.carrico
Shawn
What a great idea! I bet the cake looked beautiful!
Jessica
Planning to make this today for my son’s birthday next week. He specifically requested an oreo ice cream cake. I’m planning to do both cake layers with ice cream since he isn’t a big “cake” person. Can’t wait!!!!
Jennifer
Curious about the two layers of cake…the picture shows one layer of cake and one layer of ice cream, right?
What did you do with the second layer?
Also, I assume you used 8” pans?
Thanks!
Shawn
This recipe uses only one layer of the cake. You can wrap the other layer in plastic and freeze for another use. I did use 8 inch pans. Hope this helps!
Lauren
Hi! Just wondering what/how to cover it with in the freezer…. I don’t want to mess the topping up! Thank you!!
Shawn
If its in the freezer for a couple of hours no covering is OK. If you need it in the freezer longer, take it out of the freezer after 30 minutes and cover it with some plastic wrap. Hope this helps!
Rachael
Cannot wait to try this. I just have to ask wher did you find that cake stand? I love it!!
Shawn
I believe I found this cake stand at a Home Goods!
Hannah
I wanted to comment because I actually MADE this recipe and I found most of the other posts, although very friendly, were not at all helpful. I had no clue how easy it would be to make an ice cream cake. This was a great recipe and easy to follow.
Make sure you allow the time to compile all of the pieces. Shawn is for real when she says not to warm up the table spoon of fudge during the drizzle at the end. I had a heck of a time getting it out of the jar so I microwaved it for 5 seconds. It made the whipped topping run off within seconds. Speaking of that topping….. I would recommend keeping it in the refrigerator as soon as you get home from the store instead of putting it back in the freezer with your ice cream. It is not spreadable when it is hard, but room temperature is pretty runny, so you need it somewhere in between. I struggled with this topping in general. I don’t like all the high fructose corn syrup in the stuff, but I couldn’t think of a good substitute and the cake seriously needs a topping. so I just went for it. And of course it looked great and tasted great. The stuff just freaks me out. I decorated the cake exactly how Shawn did because it was so easy to do and impressive-looking. I used a Ghiradelli’s boxed chocolate cake and it was AMAZING. And I had the Trader Joe’s hot fudge fondue in jar and it was perfect mixed with the oreos for the middle layer. Don’t leave that middle layer out. This is what MADE the cake; my whole family would agree.
If you are like me and are afraid of making an ice cream cake, don’t be! Just try it! It is so much easier (and cheaper) than you think!
Shawn
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Hannah, and thank you for your comment!
Moira
Try Tru-Whip instead of Cool Whip. It has no hydrogenated oils or high fructose corn syrup and its gluten-free, non-GMO and kosher!
Di
Super easy….thanks! I placed in freezer for a few hours and now the frosting has partly melted off, and a bit of the ice cream too! Freezer must have ran it’s defrost cycle. Any ideas to fix it…soften cool whip to re-spread without thawing ice cream again?
Shawn
The cool whip should soften before the ice cream does since it should be in a thinner layer, then you’ll be able to spread it again!
Felicia
Hi Shawn! I’m making this for my sons bday Saturday.. I have one question, on step one it says to put the cake layer in freezer in plastic bag.. is that just for the extra cake layer you aren’t using or do you need to freeze the cake layer?
Shawn
Hi Felicia, sorry if that sounds confusing in the recipe. You’ll freeze both layers, but wrap them separately. You only need one layer for this recipe, so you can save the other for a later time (the cake will last for months in the freezer if wrapped properly). Hope your son enjoys the cake!
Felicia
I’m actually using both tonight, I’m going to make two cakes… So do I need to wrap them or can I just place them on a plate in freezer?
Shawn
They’ll stay fresher if you wrap them, but it’s your call! Hope you enjoy!
Mary
Making this for my son’s 13th birthday. Thank you
Christina
Making this for my son’s 13th birthday on Christmas eve! Thank you for sharing!
Laura
How far in advance could we make this?? Thinking about making it for our wedding cake and would like to have it made a week to 2 weeks before.
Thanks!
Shawn
As long as you cover it well, I think you could make this at least a week or two ahead of time. Just remember to let it sit at room temperature for at least 20 to 30 minutes so it’s sliceable! Congrats on the wedding! 🙂
Lita Johnson
Hi, Excited to try this recipe for my boyfriend’s birthday! How far in advance can it be made? (Can I make it on Thursday if I plan to serve it on Sunday?)
Shawn
You can definitely make it in advance! Just make sure you cover it in the freezer and pull it out of the freezer for at least 10 to 15 minutes before trying to slice it. Enjoy!
Melissa
Making this for my son for his 12th birthday he’s so excited
Shawn
So fun!! Happy birthday to your son!
email qna
I love anything relates to ice cream 🙂 Can’t wait to try this recipe. Thank you for sharing!!
Diana Lopes
I LOVE ice cream cakes! Will definitely make one of these over the weekend!
Shawn
Hope you enjoy it! 🙂