We have recently made our trips to Leivadia and Vilia, and we got our interviews from Ms. Voutyrakou, Mr. Faliakakis and Mr. Orfanoudakis (in Greek). In the meantime we had made a dessert that we have not talked to you about yet. It is the ice cream cake we made for the birthday of Giorgos and Maritina in early June.

In our new summer article we learn the history of ice cream cake, see examples of ice cream cakes and other plated desserts that include ice cream, and make an ice cream cake with hazelnut dacquoise and caramelized hazelnuts.


If we wanted to give a definition of ice cream cake we would say that it is a dessert with sponge cake or cake at its base, then ice cream in layers of different flavors and on top sauce, icing, fruit, cookies or chocolate decorations.
After a little research we found that little is known about the origin of ice cream in a cake version. We read that ice cream cakes probably appeared in England in the 18th century, where they were enjoyed by rich lords and ladies, at a time before the invention of the freezer. Ice cream cakes became more popular in the 19th century, in the Victorian era, when we learned that they were made with ice cream and fruit in decorated molds. But it was only after World War I that ice cream cakes became available to everyone, thanks to the widespread use of the freezer. Another case in which the history of a sweet is closely linked to the technological development of societies.
And if you have not whetted your appetite yet, it will definitely happen after we see various examples of delicious, exuberant ice cream cakes, but also other, more delicate plated desserts with one of the main ingredients being ice cream…
Ice cream cakes
Traditional Neapolitan ice cream cake, with layers of chocolate cake, chocolate ganache, strawberry and vanilla ice cream, covered with whipped cream:

Ice cream cake with a brownie base, honeycomb and chocolate sauce (see our article on honeycomb here):

Tiramisu ice cream cake:

Martha Stewart ice cream cake with three types of chocolate:

Berry and almond flavored ice cream cake:

Ice cream cake with peanut butter and chocolate ice cream, vanilla ice cream, crunchy cookies and caramel sauce:

Plated desserts
Ice cream sandwich made of crispy philo sheet filled with spicy ice cream, sprinkled with pistachio and accompanied by half a poached peach:

Honey and lemon thyme ice cream, with pear flavored with lime and ginger, by chef Laurent Jeannin:

Lemon ice cream, rosemary parfait, berry jelly and lime-flavored meringue:

Pierre Hermé Miss Gla’Gla, ice cream in various flavors between two rectangular macarons:

Having got a lot of ideas for our next creations, it’s time to share the recipe for our ice cream cake… Try it, it is cool and delicious!
Ice cream cake

Our recipe
Hazelnut dacquoise
Dacquoise is a meringue disk enriched with nuts. It can be an alternative base for cakes, like ours! We also used dacquoise as a layer on our 2019 birthday cake. You can see the recipe here.
For our dacquoise we will adapt a recipe from our favorite professional book The Art of French Pastry by Jacquy Pfeiffer.
Ingredients
Hazelnuts | 100 gr |
Powdered sugar | 100 gr |
All-purpose flour | 10 gr |
Egg whites | 4 |
Cream of tartar (optional) | a pinch |
Salt | a pinch |

How to make hazelnut dacquoise
Step 1: Grate the hazelnuts in the blender to become a powder, being careful not to blend them too much so that they become a paste. Add the flour and beat for a minute.

Step 2: Separate the egg whites from the yolks and put them in the mixer bucket. Add the cream of tartar (to stabilise the volume of the meringue) and the salt.


Step 3: Beat the egg whites into a shiny, firm meringue. You will understand that it is ready when it does not come off the bowl if you turn it over.

Step 4: With careful movements add the grated hazelnuts to the meringue, folding with a spatula. You have to make gentle movements so that the meringue does not lose its volume.


Step 5: Spread the mixture in a cake springform pan and bake at 180°C for 5 minutes and at 150°C for 30 minutes. Then let your base cool to room temperature.

Ice cream
This is the easiest ice cream we have ever made. We discovered it by chance when we had a large amount of whipped cream left over and in order to preserve it we put it in the freezer. After a few hours we discovered that it had become like ice cream!
Ingredients
Vegetal whipping cream (with sugar) | 250 ml |
How to make the ice cream
Step 1 and only: Whip the vegetable cream into a whipped cream and spread it over your dacquoise. The put the cake springform pan in the freezer.

Caramelized hazelnuts
Ingredients
Hazelnuts | 100 gr |
Sugar | 70 gr |

How to make caramelized hazelnuts
Step 1: In a frying pan, add the hazelnuts and place the sugar in the center. Warm over medium heat.

Step 2: After a while start to mix the hazelnuts with the sugar with a wooden spoon. The sugar will start to melt in a while. Stir constantly for another ten minutes or until your hazelnuts are caramelized.


Step 3: When you see that the hazelnuts have caramelized nicely, place them on a non-stick surface and wait for them to cool. Be careful not to touch them directly as they will burn a lot.

Step 4: After they have come to room temperature, finely chop your caramelized hazelnuts.

Step 5: After the whipped cream has frozen a bit, take the cake pan out of the freezer and add the caramelized hazelnuts into the center. Then put the cake pan back into the freezer for several hours.


Your ice cream cake is ready! Before serving, thaw it for ten minutes to make it easier to cut.

Enjoy all and everyone!
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Reblogged this on Smorgasbord Blog Magazine and commented:
When I was a child you could buy frozen cakes with icecream.. not just Arctic Roll which was delicious but full on birthday cakes with layers of sponge and different flavours of icecream.. Whilst looking for a dessert recipe to make for a celebration, I popped into Eat Dessert First Greece to see what that creative team had been up to… and their new summer article has a recipe for the most amazing ice cream cake..bookmarked and will be used very soon.. Take your appetite with you and enjoy.
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Dear Sally, we are truly glad that you liked our recipe and thank you once again for the support! Let us know how your ice cream cake turns out!
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My pleasure and I will do that…xxx
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❤️❤️❤️
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Wonderful recipe.. pity there is only two of us…still you are only young once..thanks again for a superb dessert.. hugs Sally
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Thank you so much for your nice words once again dear Sally! Greetings from Greece! Hugs, Giorgos and Eliza
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Thanks Giorgos and Eliza.. for another amazing recipe..xx
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🙏🙏😊😊🌹🌹🌹
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So many ice cream cake choices! How could I possible choose?
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It is really a tough decision dear Liz! 😊😊😊😊🙏🙏🌹🌹
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Reblogged this on NEW OPENED BLOG > https:/BOOKS.ESLARN-NET.DE.
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Thank you so much dear friends for the reblog! 🙏🙏
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Who can resist ice cream cake certainly not me when it looks so delicious 🙂
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We can’t resist ice cream cake too! Thank you so much dear Carol for your kind comment! 🙏🙏😊😊🌹🌹
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My pleasure 🙂 x
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Scrumptiously Yummy. Great Post for today. Sweltering here today!!
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Thank you so much our dear friend Goff! We wish you a happy and sweet day!
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Many thanks. Have an amazing weekend.
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