Brownie Peppermint Ice Cream Cake
Brownie Peppermint Ice Cream Cake has a brownie bottom crust, peppermint stick ice cream, homemade hot fudge sauce, whipped topping, and crushed peppermint on top. Delicious holiday flavors with festive colors.
Peppermint Stick Ice Cream is one of my all time favorite ice creams. As much as I love Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, it’s very different than peppermint ice cream in my opinion. I love the crunchy pieces of candy cane in peppermint ice cream.
My girls often request Dairy Queen Copycat Homemade Ice Cream Cake for their birthdays. I’ve made them in different flavors and with many different decorations on the top (like this Rainbow Unicorn Ice Cream Cake). One year Ava requested peppermint ice cream inside her birthday ice cream cake, and I was so excited. The homemade fudge layer goes so well with the peppermint.
For my own birthday this fall, I decided I wanted to make a peppermint ice cream cake with a brownie crust. After making the Rainbow Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches, I knew it would work well. The concept is not unlike my aunt’s famous Grasshopper Pie, but with peppermint ice cream rather than mint chocolate chip. Thankfully the stores had just started carrying peppermint ice cream before my birthday!
Check out this Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Cake that uses a Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake for the crust!
This ice cream cake was SO good! It’s so festive and perfect for the holidays, but I could see it working for Valentine’s Day as well. Some people associate ice cream with warmer weather, but I think seasonal ice cream is a great winter treat!
Recipe Details
Prepare the Springform Pan
Ice cream cakes work well made in a springform pan because the outer ring of the pan is removeable. This means you can slide the cake onto a cutting board for easier slicing.
To prepare the springform pan, I like to cut a parchment or waxed paper circle the size of the pan and stick it to the inside of the springform with a little bit of butter. Then I rub butter on top of the parchment and around the sides of the pan.
Make the Brownie Crust
When I was developing the Rainbow Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches recipe, I needed a brownie that would be easy to bite even when straight from the freezer. I started with Best Gooey French Brownies because of how gooey they are at room temperature. I cut down the flour and changed up the chocolate a bit for the ice cream sandwiches. These ended up working great, so I knew they would be a good base to an ice cream cake as well.
The butter and chocolate are melted in the top of a double boiler. This can also be done in a heatproof bowl set on top of a pot of simmering water. You’re just trying to melt the chocolate gently with indirect heat. After the chocolate and butter are melted, the chocolate mixture is set aside to cool.
The flour and salt are sifted together in a small bowl. The sugar, eggs, and vanilla are whisked together in a large bowl.
Then, the cooled chocolate mixture is mixed into the egg mixture. After that is combined, the flour mixture is folded in just until it is blended. The batter is then transferred to the prepared pan.
The brownie crust is baked just until a toothpick inserted 1 inch away from the sides of the pan comes out clean. This ensures that the brownie is not overbaked and will remain softer when frozen.
After the brownie comes out of the oven, I used the back of a large spoon to press the crust down to make it thinner. This is the same method from my aunt’s Grasshopper Pie crust.
I set aside the crust to cool while I made the hot fudge sauce.
Make the Hot Fudge Sauce
This hot fudge sauce is super quick, much less time consuming than Homemade Ben & Jerry’s Hot Fudge Sauce. I actually think this sauce is great for ice cream cakes because it works well frozen, but I’ve tried it warm on ice cream and much prefer the Ben & Jerry’s version for that!
All of the ingredients except for the vanilla extract are combined in a small saucepan and heated to a boil. The mixture is boiled, stirring occasionally, for 8 minutes, then removed from heat. The vanilla is added, then the hot fudge is cooled to room temperature before being added to the ice cream cake. While the fudge is cooling, you can begin assembly of the cake.
Assemble the Peppermint Ice Cream Cake
The ice cream cake assembly is very easy, but it does require freezing steps in between each layer. First, the softened ice cream is added on top of the cooled brownie crust and frozen for a couple hours. Then, the cooled fudge is added on top and frozen until set. Finally, the whipped topping is added. You may certainly use homemade whipped cream if you prefer.
The top of the ice cream cake can be decorated immediately and frozen until ready to serve, or you can decorate it right before serving. I prefer to decorate and then freeze the entire thing so it’s ready to go.
How to Cut an Ice Cream Cake with a Brownie Crust
When I first started making the Homemade Dairy Queen Copycat Ice Cream Cakes, I noticed it was hard to cut through the frozen Oreo crust. I’m very protective of my nonstick bakeware, and only use a plastic lettuce knife in cake pans. I now know what to expect and prepare to put some muscle in when cutting through the cookie crust.
For this cake, I used a springform pan to make it easier to cut. This allowed me to remove the sides of the cake and slide it onto a large cutting board. Then I was able to use a quality chef’s knife to cut through the crust, rather than risking damaging the bottom of my pan.
Gluten Free Brownie Ice Cream Cake
Use a measure for measure gluten free flour, like Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Baking Flour in place of all purpose flour.
Looking for More Ice Cream Desserts?
Check out these other desserts featuring ice cream:
Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Cake
Rainbow Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Homemade Ice Cream Cake {Dairy Queen Copycat}
Mermaid Ice Cream Birthday Cake
Grasshopper Pie
Rainbow Unicorn Ice Cream Cake {My Little Pony}
Roasted Cherry Brownie Sundaes with Cherry Port Sauce
Homemade Ben & Jerry’s Hot Fudge Sauce
Homemade Cinnamon Ice Cream
Raspberry Sorbet
Homemade Mint Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
Homemade French Vanilla Ice Cream
Brownie Peppermint Ice Cream Cake
Equipment
- 9-inch springform pan
Ingredients
For the Brownie Crust:
- 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
- 8 ounces bittersweet chocolate
- 6 tablespoons sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons flour (all purpose or gluten free)
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
For the Hot Fudge:
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 6 ounces evaporated milk
- 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the Cake Assembly:
- 1 carton peppermint stick ice cream, softened (approx. 1.4 liter container)
- 8 ounces Cool Whip (thawed)
- crushed candy canes, sprinkles (optional)
Instructions
Make the Brownie Crust:
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut a circle of parchment paper and place inside bottom of a round 9-inch springform pan. Grease paper and sides of pan with butter.
- In the top of double boiler or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, melt the butter and the chocolate. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
- In a small bowl, sift together flour and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla. Stir in cooled chocolate mixture until well blended. Fold in flour mixture until just combined.
- Transfer batter to the prepared pan. Bake for 10 – 15 minutes until a toothpick inserted 1 inch away from the outer edge comes out clean.
- While the brownie is still warm, using the back of a large spoon, press down on the crust all over to make it thinner.
- Cool brownie crust until it reaches room temperature before proceeding to add the ice cream. Meanwhile, prepare the hot fudge sauce.
Make the Hot Fudge:
- Combine first 4 ingredients of hot fudge sauce in a saucepan and bring to a boil for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Cool to room temperature. Meanwhile, begin cake assembly.
Assemble the Ice Cream Cake:
- Spoon softened peppermint ice cream on top of brownie crust and smooth the surface. Freeze for 2 hours to set.
- Add cooled hot fudge sauce on top of ice cream layer and freeze until firm.
- Spread Cool Whip on top. Pipe on extra Cool Whip if desired, and sprinkle with crushed candy canes or sprinkles. Freeze until ready to serve, for at least 3 hours.
