Free 30 Delicious Ice Cream Cake Recipes by Lori Burke

Introduction
    My Mom was a great cook but as I’ve written in previous books she didn’t really bake very often.  Whenever we had a family birthday Mom would order a cake from Naples bakery.  Dad always got a cannoli cake for his birthday.  Mom loved a fresh strawberry cake.   And I usually got an ice cream cake.  
     
    The first birthday I really remember was when I was 6 or 7.  We had a birthday party at home with some of my cousins and friends from the neighborhood.  I remember we were all dressed up and there were a lot of games, balloons and presents.   My Dad was the official photographer.  
     
    The highlight of the party was when my Mom brought the cake out from the kitchen.  The kids all “ooohhhhhed.”  It looked huge and was covered in whipped cream.   The top was decorated with candles and had “Happy Birthday Lori” in big scrolling letters. There were beautiful, elaborate candy flowers and the side of the cake had rainbow sprinkles all the way around.  As we would soon discover it was made of layers of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream and devil’s food cake.  It was a work of art and tasted like heaven.  I remember Mom took a few of the flowers and wrapped them carefully in a plastic bag before putting them in the freezer as a keepsake.  We had them for years.  It was a wonderful day.
     
    When I got older and married I decided to make ice cream cakes for the kids’ birthdays and for special occasions.   I discovered the process was really very simple.  Ice cream cakes are made of layers.  You alternate cookie crumb, cake or brownie layers with ice cream layers and toppings like hot fudge, chocolate sauce or fruit.  Each ice cream layer has to be frozen before the next layer is added so these cakes take a little more time to complete.  But the process itself is very simple and the final ice cream cake is so delicious it’s well worth the effort.
    In this book I’ve shared recipes that use premium or super-premium ice cream, whipped cream, fudge sauce and other ingredients that contribute to the delicious taste of each cake but which also have a high fat content.  Because these are very rich desserts I only make these cakes for birthdays and special occasions.   For those people who are looking for healthy recipes I do offer some substitutions you can make to prepare a more heart-healthy ice cream cake.
     
    In 30 Delicious Ice Cream Cake Recipes I’ve collected the Ice Cream Cake recipes that my family and I enjoy.  I hope that you and your family enjoy them as much as we have.
     
    Lori Burke
     
     

Premium and Super-Premium Ice Cream
     
    The recipes in this book use premium or super-premium ice cream.  Premium ice cream must contain at least 12% butterfat and super premium must contain at least 14% butterfat.  That’s before any other ingredients are added. 
     
    Premium and super-premium ice creams not only have higher butterfat content but they also contain less air which makes the ice cream thicker and creamier.  They are also made with real milk, egg yolks and cream. 
     
    Häagen-Dazs® and Ben & Jerry’s® offer some excellent super-premium ice cream flavors.    In Chicago we love Oberweiss® ice cream which has 18% butter fat content and is simply delicious.   
     
    However, quality ice cream doesn’t need high butterfat content in order to taste good.  Blue Bell® ice cream is one example and gelato, while technically not ice cream according to FDA standards, is another example.
     
    There are those who swear that Blue Bell® ice cream is the best ice cream on the planet and surpasses even the super-premium ice creams in taste and texture.  It’s made with real milk, cream and natural ingredients.   Yet it only has 13% butter fat content with very little air in it.  Blue Bell has a manufacturing process that produces a wonderful, creamy ice cream that doesn’t need the higher percentage of butterfat required by the