I might have said this last summer too. But I feel like I am really embracing ice cream this summer…and using berries in desserts too! In the last month or so, I feel like I’ve made a new ice cream recipe every other day. And I still have more coming (the next two are chocolatey and both are unreal). It’s funny because ice cream isn’t the easiest to work with since it melts so fast. It always makes for a challenging time when it comes to photos. But man, ice cream is so good. I loved ice cream as a kid, but I have an even deeper appreciation for it now that I’ve experienced new flavors beyond my prized chocolate DQ peanut butter cup blizzards (still the best though). Anyway, my point in all this is that I’ve got many creamy, ice cold, sweet desserts coming your way. I’m super excited about them. And we’re starting off with a real favorite. Normally I love chocolate, but there’s something so special and so delicious about this cake. I’ve wanted to make something like this for a long while now. I love the idea of a simple pound cake layered with lots of ice cream. But I wanted to think of a way to make the cake even more special and more delicious. So I went with a vanilla butter pound cake, creamy strawberry ice cream, sweet jam and then the real secret? Blackberry gelato, which is even lighter and creamier than ice cream. It’s a real Italian summer kind of treat.
The details – let’s talk cake
As you can see, I did bake my own homemade pound cake. It’s just so easy to do and to me, homemade is always best. My recipe uses a good amount of butter, sour cream, eggs, and vanilla, so it’s very flavorful, rich, soft, and fluffy. It’s perfect for layering with sweet berry ice cream. That said, if you want to use a store bought pound cake, by all means please do so! I get that you might not want to turn your oven on. Or that you might just not have the time. Store-bought is great in a pinch and will be delicious!
Moving along…the ice cream and gelato
I love to use a mix of creamy strawberry ice cream and then either blackberry or raspberry gelato. If you’re trying to find blackberry gelato, you’ll probably have to get it from a local spot or specialty shop. We have a local brand that sells it, but I couldn’t find anything similar in the store. If you’re shopping at the grocery store, try Talenti black raspberry chocolate chip gelato. That’s what I used for this cake and it’s soo delicious. The chocolate chips make it even more special too. For the strawberry ice cream, I used Tillamook Oregano strawberry ice cream, which never fails. You’ll swirl the ice cream and gelato together, then layer it with the pound cake. I added jam in between each layer for an even sweeter almost juicy bite. Once the cake is assembled just freeze until extra cold.
Finish it up…
Whip a little cream, then spread it over the top of the cake. Add more jam and lots of fresh berries and slices of stone fruit (I used plums). Then simply slice and enjoy every last creamy, berry-filled bite of ice cream cake. To sum this cake up…it’s sweet, heavy on the ice cream, but with just the right amount of vanilla buttery cake. It’s so creamy (it’s the combination of ice cream and gelato), but a little soft and almost juicy from the jam. It’s pretty perfect, and every bite leaves you wanting another…which admittedly is a very dangerous thing. Plus, it’s especially easy to make, which is why I’m proclaiming this as your go-to summer cake!
