Easy Homemade Vegan Ice Cream Cake – Gluten Free!

This homemade vegan ice cream cake looks and tastes *just like* Carvel’s classic ice cream cake- made entirely dairy free, gluten free, and with just 7 simple ingredients!! This unbelievably creamy vegan ice cream cake is no churn and so easy to make AND assemble! 

This recipe is in partnership with One Degree Organic Foods. All opinions are my own. Thank you for supporting The Banana Diaries!

This vegan ice cream cake is better than store bought:

I’m not going to lie, making a vegan ice cream cake before this recipe was a daunting and frustrating process.

Constantly running and waiting by the freezer, everything a mess, and you’d always end up with an absurdly ugly cake that made you wish you could just buy a store bought vegan ice cream cake.

Gone are those days, my friend. Let me introduce you to the ultimate vegan ice cream cake that would give Fudgy the Whale a run for its money 😉 

Trust me. I’m cake obsessed (that’s why my favorite chapter in my cookbook is the cake section), and let me tell you this is summer in cake form. 

This homemade dairy-free ice cream cake recipe is as good, if not better than, store bought, and you have all of the ease and deliciousness of the cake: layers of rich and creamy chocolate ice cream, followed by a homemade hot fudge sauce, cocoa crispies, and refreshing vanilla ice cream.

All dairy free, vegan, and gluten-free (thanks to One Degree Organic Foods Sprouted Brown Rice Cacao Crisps!).

I have to say, the brown rice cacao crisps totally make the cake- all of the joy and satisfaction of that crunchy cookie middle, but in the form of gluten free chocolate puffed rice that complements the hot fudge sauce so perfectly.

Oh and the best part? You only need 7 simple ingredients to make this homemade ice cream cake- the ice cream itself is only 3 ingredients per flavor! How amazing is that?! It’s the perfect summer birthday cake. 

So forget store-bought ice cream cakes….let’s make our own!

How to make homemade 3 ingredient no churn vegan ice cream:

Homemade vegan ice cream is kind of my thing. I have my favorites: cashew milk ice cream, vegan cookie dough ice cream, or chocolate brownie. Of course, you could use store bought ice cream (like a vegan mint chocolate chip ice cream, strawberry ice cream, or the like).

But I have to say, this simple, no churn vanilla and chocolate ice cream really do it for me. And it’s just so easy, you might as well try.

The ingredients are simple. We’ll start with the base recipe:

• Vegan heavy cream
• Vegan sweetened condensed milk
• Vanilla extract

I like to add in vanilla bean paste too for the vanilla flecks in the ice cream. Then separate half of the mixture and add in cocoa powder for the chocolate version. That’s IT!

Overview: How to make a vegan ice cream cake from scratch

In this section, we’ll go over the details of making this ice cream cake. The process is quite easy, and if you start early in the day, the ice cream will freeze enough for you to frost the cake by the afternoon.

However, you could absolutely spread the vegan ice cream cake process out over the span of 2 days, and chill the ice cream overnight!

As always, the full written recipe and instructions are found down below in the recipe card. However, we’re going to go over some helpful tips here!

The homemade vegan hot fudge and brown rice crisps:

This is my favorite part, and the best part to begin with. The hot fudge sauce is so simple, it’s almost like a vegan chocolate ganache. 

1. Heat the vegan heavy cream until hot and pour over the vegan chocolate chips.
2. Stir in the golden syrup (which will prevent the ganache from hardening too much in the freezer) and set aside to cool. 

Pour out the One Degree Organic Foods Sprouted Brown Rice Cacao Crisps as well for assembly in just a few moments.

The vegan ice cream:

While the vegan hot fudge is cooling, you can make the ice cream:

1. Cream the vegan heavy cream until it reaches soft peaks, like a whipped cream.
2. Pour in the vegan sweetened condensed milk and fold to incorporate.
3. Divide the mixture between two bowls evenly. You’ll have about 420 g of ice cream batter per bowl.
4. For the vanilla: Add in the vanilla extract and vanilla bean paste, and mix to incorporate.
5. For the chocolate: Add in the cocoa powder and mix to incorporate.

Assembling the ice cream cake:

Now for the fun and super easy part: assembling! I recommend using a springform pan lined with parchment paper over a cake pan, as it will be easier for removing the ice cream layers once frozen all together. 

To start:

1. Pour the chocolate ice cream to the bottom of a parchment lined springform pan.
2. Spread the cooled hot fudge on top.
3. Sprinkle the One Degree Organic Foods Sprouted Brown Rice Cacao Crisps over the top in an even layer.
4. Smooth the vanilla ice cream on top of the crisps.
5. Chill the ice cream cake covered in the freezer for at least 4 hours, or overnight.

When ready to frost, you’ll make either vegan buttercream or vegan cream cheese frosting. Carefully remove the walls of the springform pan, and spread the frosting on top. Decorate with sprinkles and store in the freezer until 15 minutes before you’re ready to serve!

Sprinkles and decorations:

Now for the fun part: decorating! I used Baking Time Club’s vegan sprinkles (the entire site is vegan!), but do note that the shipping time does take a bit. It took about a week and a half for my sprinkles to arrive, but so worth it.

You can also reserve some of the frosting to color and pipe onto the cake, like I did! 

A coating of vegan caramel sauce or a homemade vegan magic shell would also be delicious! And if you want to jazz up the ice cream cake, add a layer of peanut butter after the brown rice crisps!

How to store an ice cream cake

Once you’ve decorated your cake, you probably want to store it before you’re going to serve. I recommend storing the cake in the freezer with the decorations on. 

After 15 minutes in the freezer, you can gently place it into a cake box. The ice cream cake will last up to 3 months in the freezer!

You are just going to love this homemade vegan ice cream cake! I cannot wait to see your beautiful decorations and hear how it came out for you. Trust me, this will be your go-to ice cream cake recipe to make!

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below so that others can find this recipe.

As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there!

Happy vegan ice cream cake making!

Want to save this recipe for later? Add it to your favorite recipe board on Pinterest!

If you make this recipe, please be sure to leave a comment and a rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ below. This helps others to find the recipes! As always, I absolutely love to see your beautiful creations on Instagram and Pinterest, so be sure to tag me there as well!

Print