Rainbow Unicorn Ice Cream Cake is homemade and decorated as My Little Pony and lots of rainbow candy! Surprise: the inside is colored as well!
My daughter loved My Little Pony when she was turning 3, and she requested my Homemade Ice Cream Cake, so we came up with this Rainbow Unicorn design.
I love ice cream cakes for birthdays because they are so versatile. You can do the traditional no bake Oreo crust, a brownie crust, or a chocolate chip cookie crust. You can change the flavor of the ice cream, and the Cool Whip top is virtually a blank canvas for any theme you desire, such a beach scene in this Mermaid Ice Cream Cake. The surprise inside of this cake is that the ice cream is colored in bright neon colors!
I originally wanted to make a rainbow arch using Airheads Xtremes but could not find them anywhere, so I settled for the Airhead Xtremes Bites which ended up making a super cute rainbow pathway. I got most of the candy at Party City, but I wanted to try finding some online options due to partial closures of stores right now. I've included the links below.
I used striped lollipops in rainbow colors to line the outside of the rainbow path.
I made a little arch out of a sour rope candy and propped it up with toothpicks. Extra Cool Whip dollops served as "clouds" to anchor the ends of the rope.
Ella wanted this toy dinosaur on the cake, so I made extra crushed cookies and gave him a crushed cookie dirt pile to play in, some blue sprinkles for a little stream of water, and some fish sprinkles. I can envision a very cute dump truck theme with cookie dirt as well!
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Cake Interior
Rather than using both vanilla and chocolate ice cream like in the original recipe, I chose to use only vanilla so I could color the ice cream different colors to fit with the rainbow theme.
I colored the ice cream 4 different colors using McCormick Neon Food Coloring. Then scooped in alternating colors onto the cookie crust. I used a small silicone spatula to spread the ice cream carefully, smoothing the surface before freezing to set up.
While the cookie-based crust is amazing, the homemade fudge layer really takes the cake (ha). Each time I make this, I'm told that it is far better tasting than a Dairy Queen ice cream cake (which is pretty much what I grew up on!).
It's pretty easy to make as well; it just takes some time to freeze the cake between the addition of layers. The final layer before decorating is the Cool Whip, which can also be colored as you see fit. I'll be posting another ice cream cake soon where I colored the Cool Whip to fit the theme.
I think this time I made the cake I spread some crushed cookies on top of the fudge too. Dairy Queen cakes also have that crunchy cookie layer.
The colorful inside is a surprise for party guests!
I can say for certain this cake was a hit with both the kids and the adults, and most importantly with the birthday girl herself!
Candy Decorations
- Airheads Xtremes Bites
- Nerds Rope Rainbow Candy
- Wilton butterfly sprinkles (I can't find a similar product but these unicorn sprinkles are GORGEOUS and now I want them!)
- Colored striped lollipops (these are not the same but are cute rainbow colors)
- Wilton colored sugar sprinkles
Gluten Free Option
I have used Glutino or Great Value brand (Walmart) gluten free sandwich cookies to make an entirely gluten free ice cream cake. Any brand of gluten free sandwich cookies should work.
Looking for More Rainbow Desserts?
Painted Rainbow Cookies
Rainbow Brownie Ice Cream Sandwiches
Looking for More Ice Cream Cakes?
Check out my Mermaid Ice Cream Birthday Cake, Brownie Peppermint Ice Cream Cake, Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Cake, and original DQ Copycat Homemade Ice Cream Cake. These Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwiches are great too!
Looking for More Birthday Party Ideas?
Check out these other themed cakes and parties:
FROZEN Cake and Birthday Party
Under the Sea Birthday Party
Mermaid Ice Cream Cake
Cinderella Cake and Birthday Party
Daniel Tiger Cake and Birthday Party
Butterfly Cupcakes
Very Hungry Caterpillar Cupcake Cake
Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday Party
Penelope Bird Cake and Cookies Birthday Party
Winter Wonderland 1st Birthday Party
Sesame Street Birthday Party
📖 Recipe
Rainbow Unicorn Ice Cream Cake {My Little Pony}
Equipment
- 9x13-inch glass dish or metal pan
Ingredients
For the crust layer:
- 2 ½ cups crushed chocolate sandwich cookies such as Oreos
- ½ cup 1 stick melted butter
- ½ cup granulated sugar
For the ice cream layer:
- 12 cups vanilla ice cream (about two 1.44 quart containers, depending on the depth of the pan)
- Food coloring (if desired )
For the hot fudge layer:
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- ⅔ cups semisweet chocolate chips
- 12 ounce can evaporated milk
- 1 stick butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
For the topping:
- 8 ounces of Cool Whip (thawed per package directions)
For the decorations:
- Airheads Xtremes Bites
- Nerds Rope Rainbow Candy
- Wilton butterfly sprinkles
- Colored striped lollipops
- Wilton colored sugar sprinkles
Instructions
- Combine 2 cups crushed cookies with melted butter and sugar. Press into a 13x9-inch pan (or two 9-inch round or springform pans). Freeze for 15 minutes.
- Divide ice cream into 4 medium bowls. Color as desired. Scoop alternate colors on top of crust until all ice cream has been scooped. Carefully spread the ice cream evenly, smoothing the surface of the layer with a silicone spatula. Freeze for 3 hours.
- To make the fudge sauce, combine the powdered sugar, chocolate chips, evaporated milk, and butter in a saucepan and bring to a boil for 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Cool to room temperature.
- Spoon the fudge sauce on top of the ice cream layer and smooth with a silicone spatula. Freeze until firm.
- Color Cool Whip if desired. Spread Cool Whip on top. Decorate to fit any theme!
Emily j says
This made my daughters 5th extra special! Loved it and she loved decorating it.
Meghan says
Thank you for sharing that! So happy she loved it!