Celebrations don’t have to involve sugar-fueled parties. This healthy ice cream cake can be turned into a gluten-free, sugar-free, and probiotic dessert. It is rich and flavorful with a balanced sweetness. It’s also incredibly easy to make.
Best of all, it can be easily customized for whatever type of cake you want! See the sections below for ideas.
A healthy ice cream cake
The simplicity of this healthy ice cream cake means that it can be customized to suit any diet. It is a great way to celebrate without having to compromise great taste for good health. Here’s how to make a cake to suit your diet:
- Gluten-Free: Use gluten-free graham cracker crumbs (affiliate link).
- Refined Sugar-Free: Use almond meal instead of a cookie base, along with fruit-sweetened ice cream.
- Low Fat: Make a cake with low-fat frozen yogurt.
- Probiotic: Kefir cultured ice cream and cultured whipping cream will add a dose of probiotics to this dessert.
- Vegan: Use vegan ice cream and whipped coconut for a dairy-free treat.
A Cake For Every Occasion
A healthy ice cream cake is perfect for all sorts of occasions. It is endlessly customizable with lots of flavor options. Because it’s so easy to make, it’s one of my go-to cakes for birthdays and summer get-togethers.
Here are a few flavors that I’ve enjoyed over the years:
- Chocolate cherry: Use chocolate wafer cookies for the base, then add a layer of chocolate ice cream and a layer of cherry ice cream. Top with chocolate whipped cream and serve with sliced cherries.
- Refined sugar-free berry banana: Use almond meal for the base, then add a layer of strawberry banana ice cream and a layer of blueberry banana ice cream. Top with whipping cream and fresh berries. (The photograph above uses banana and berry sweetened ice cream with GF graham cracker base for a balanced sweetness).
- Mint chocolate: I’ve made this version several times for my daughter’s December birthday celebration. Use a layer of chocolate ice cream and a layer of mint ice cream. Decorate the top with chocolate whipped cream and crushed mint candies.
- Cherry cheesecake: Make a graham cracker base. Top with kefir cultured honey vanilla ice cream and kefir and cherry ice cream. Serve with cherry sauce. (See the photograph below for a kefir-cultured cherry ice cream cake).
- Lovely lemon: A lemon-flavored ice cream cake is fresh and simple. It is perfect with a graham cracker base or an almond base. Use a layer of vanilla ice cream and a layer of lemon ice cream. Decorate with whipped cream and lemon zest.
Healthy Ice Cream Cake
It is easy to make a healthy ice cream cake by using sugar-free and probiotic ice cream. See the sections above for suggestions as to how to create your own unique ice cream cake.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 6” cake 1x
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Frozen
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup butter
- 1 1/4 cups of crumbs (cookie crumbs or ground nuts – see notes)
- 3 cups of ice cream
- 1 cup of whipping cream, to serve
Instructions
- Melt the butter and combine it with the crumbs to make a dough-like paste. Press half of the crumb mixture into the base of a 6″ springform pan.
- Top the crumbs with 1 1/2 cups of ice cream. If you are using store-bought ice cream, allow it to defrost slightly before making the cake.
- Place the cake in the freezer for at least 1 hour to freeze the first layer of ice cream. Then cover the ice cream with the other half of the crumbs. If the ice cream is still soft, you won’t be able to press the crumbs into a smooth layer. That’s fine, just crumble them instead. (I’m usually not patient enough to completely freeze the ice cream before adding the second layer!)
- Add a second layer of ice cream using 1 1/2 cups of ice cream.
- Refreeze the cake. When it is completely frozen (about 3 hours), store the cake in a ziptop bag in the freezer until ready to serve. Allow to defrost for 10 minutes before serving. At this point, it can be decorated with whipping cream, fresh fruit, or fruit sauces.
- See the notes below for some helpful suggestions.
Notes
- Graham cracker crumbs or chocolate wafer cookie crumbs are a traditional base for this cake. If you want to do a lower carb and refined sugar-free option, use ground nuts instead. Almond meal (affiliate link) is really easy. Otherwise, toast your favorite nuts (hazelnuts and pecans are delicious) and grind them in a food processor.
- For a really healthy ice cream cake, I recommend making your own ice cream… see the sections above for a few probiotic and fruit-sweetened ice cream recipes. Yum!
Keywords: probiotic, gluten free, egg-free, refined sugar free, spring, summer, birthday, holiday, 30 minutes or less, 5 ingredients or less
This was delicious!
★★★★★