Hot Take: Ice Cream Cake Is Better Than Regular Cake

Maybe it’s childhood nostalgia for the Carvel ice cream cake that was on the table at my birthday every year, but I’m not sure there’s anything better than two layers of ice cream sandwiching a layer of crunchy cookies.

Not convinced yet? Here are three reasons ice cream cake should be on the menu at your next celebration. 

Regular cake has its limits—there are only a handful of cake and frosting flavors to choose from. But you can use literally ANY ice cream flavor in an ice cream cake—there are no wrong answers here. And since our recipe makes a two-layer treat, you get to use two different flavors. Then, you can customize your cake even more with . . . the crunchies! While Carvel’s chocolate bits will always have a special place in my heart, crushing up your favorite cookies or candies is even better—and lets you get out some pent-up aggression too.  

Making an ice cream cake couldn’t be easier: no oven, no knife, just a freezer and some time to kill. It is worth investing in a springform pan to help with shaping and serving. And I wasn’t joking about the 5-year-olds: This recipe appears in our cookbook designed for kids ages 5 and up, My First Cookbook. Six-year-old recipe tester Benjamin declared, “It was fun, especially the cookie-crushing act!”

An assembled ice cream cake can hang out in the freezer, wrapped in plastic wrap, for up to a week, which is perfect if you’re planning ahead for a party, or if you just want to eat it on your own, slice by slice.