Easy Strawberry Ice Cream Cake

This delicious strawberry ice cream cake is simple to make and full of yummy strawberry flavor! Two layers of ice cream, strawberry topping, and a golden Oreo crust make this the perfect summer dessert!

I’ve always been a big fan of ice cream cakes for some reason, but I always thought they were too daunting to try and make.

Turns out I was wrong, and they’re actually very simple to make!

I made this Oreo ice cream cake a while back that’s perfect for chocolate lovers but what about if you prefer strawberry?

Then this strawberry ice cream may be one of your new favorite things! It’s full of layers of strawberry flavor, multiple flavors of ice cream, and even a crunchy Oreo crust!

It’s the perfect addition to a summer birthday party, a backyard bbq, a bridal shower during the summer months, or anytime you just need an easy ice cream cake to bring somewhere. And isn’t that really all the time?

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Golden Oreo crust – the crust on this ice cream cake is made of those yummy golden sandwich cookies so it tastes kind of like a graham cracker crust or shortbread crust and the perfect complement to the ice cream.
• Easy – there’s nothing to making this cake other than really just making the layers of the cake and putting them together!
• Simple ingredients – you can see all of the ingredients below, but it really just uses things that are readily available not only in local grocery stores but in all of them!

Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

• Whipped topping – this is really just cool whip or a generic version of cool whip. You could also use homemade whipped cream if you like, Cool Whip is just easier. Make sure it’s thawed before you try to use it so it’ll spread on nicely.
• Butter – you’ll want to use unsalted butter in this recipe so the salt doesn’t detract from the sweet flavor of the ice cream cake. Also, melt it then let it cool before using.
• Ice cream – you need both vanilla ice cream and softened strawberry ice cream for this strawberry dessert. I recommend going with just something basic rather than something with a lot of mix-ins but it should be fine either way.
• Strawberries – you’ll want to use fresh strawberries for the strawberry sauce in the middle of this cake and fresh strawberries for the strawberry crunch layer on top! I just bought store-bought ice cream for this frozen cake but if you have an ice cream machine and want to make your own, more power to you.

How to make strawberry ice cream cake

Making this strawberry ice cream cake is a cinch. You just need to make each individual layer (all easy) then put them together and freeze! It’s a bit time consuming because you’re dealing with ice cream and layers that need to be frozen but the wait for this perfect dessert is totally worth it!

First, line the bottom of a 9″ springform pan with parchment paper. This will help your crust from sticking to the bottom of the pan when it’s frozen. You could also use an 8-inch pan if you want but the layers will be a little thicker.

Now, begin making this delicious dessert by crushing 24 Oreo cookies in a food processor. Then then blend in the melted butter with the crushed cookies. It should be soft and crumbly but come together when you grab a pinch full of press it together gently.

Take the Oreo mixture and press it into the bottom of your prepared springform pan to create the crust or base of your ice cream cake. Make sure to press it all around the bottom so that the bottom of the pan is completely covered.

Once your crust is done, spread the softened vanilla ice cream over the crust in the bottom of your pan. Be careful so you don’t dig into the crust while you’re spreading the ice cream or you’ll end up with holes in the bottom of your ice cream base.

The easiest way to spread the softened ice cream is with the back of a spoon or with a rubber spatula.

Using a fork or potato masher, mash 1/2 of the strawberries (you can either do this whole or slice strawberries first to make it easier) and spread them over the layer of vanilla ice cream (all the way to the sides of the pan) in an even layer, then place the pan in the freezer for an hour.

After you remove the pan from the freezer, spread the strawberry ice cream over the layer of strawberries. Freezing the fresh berries gives you a solid layer to top with the ice cream.

If you try to add it on top and smooth it into one layer before freezing them, you’ll end up with a jumbled mess of strawberries and ice cream mixed together.

Top with a layer of whipped topping and smooth that over top of the strawberry ice cream, again trying not to dig into the ice cream layer as much as possible so you can a nice visible second cake layer of just ice cream.

Cover the cake pan with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 6-8 hours until it is completely firm. Overnight is best, but you definitely want to freeze for at least six hours.

Remove the cake from the freezer and allow it to thaw for 5-10 minutes before removing it from the pan and moving to either a cake stand or serving plate.

Dice the remaining fresh strawberries and garnish the cake with the strawberries and crushed Oreos to get the taste of strawberry crunchies (kind of like a strawberry shortcake ice cream cake with the cookie crumble topping) before serving.

Slice the strawberry ice cream and serve immediately with even more diced strawberries and cookie crumble son the side in case people want to add more!

If not serving immediately put back into the freezer until you’re going to serve it.

This cake is thick with various layers of ice cream and ice cream topping, so I recommend cutting it into smaller slices than you’ll see in these pictures. You’ll probably want to do about half of the size of these slices!

Expert Tips

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the freeze for up to 3 months!

Add sprinkles or use a funfetti ice cream instead of vanilla to make this a fun ice cream cake for birthdays!

Mix it up with different flavors throughout the year with different flavors of ice cream and even different flavors of Oreos in the crust!

Recipe FAQs

More Easy Frozen Treats

If you like frozen treats, these are some of our favorite frozen eats and sweets!

• Birthday cake ice cream – a delicious birthday treat full of sprinkles and cake batter flavor!
• Beach cake – this fun beach themed cake starts with an ice cream cake then gets topped with beach treats!
• Cake shake – a chocolate milkshake with an entire piece of cake in it, a Chicago classic!
• Oreo ice cream cake – ice cream sandwiches, Oreos, and chocolate get combined in this yummy treat!
• Frozen hot chocolate – the perfect cool down treat during hot summer months!
• Key lime icebox cake – a delicious chilled cake that combines the iconic summer flavor of key lime!