If you like gingerbread, ice cream sandwiches and cakes… then your Christmases have all come at once (get it) because I have an ice cold Christmas dessert that is going to knock your socks off.
Living in Australia, when it comes to Christmas desserts the thought of eating Christmas pudding when it is 30-40°C (86-104°F) outside is challenging. Sure, we do it. We sweat through hot pudding with spiked custard because it is delicious. But, it really is time that we find an icy Christmas dessert that both fills you with the festive spirit and cools you down at the same time.
This post is the final of three in partnership with Lurpak butter for 2017, and we have saved our showstopper until last. These past few months I’ve brought you a delicious winter pecan and chocolate lattice pie and a spring butter and white wine mussel dish with lemon and snow pea sprouts all featuring exquisite Lurpak Danish Butter as the star.
This final Lurpak recipe is more labour intensive than the last two recipes and involves a few components but the good news is that it can all be made in advance days before Christmas and then simply put together and served as quickly as possible for your Christmas day dessert!
To break it down for you, there are four key elements:
- Gingerbread cake
- No-churn lemon cheese cake ice cream
- Salted butterscotch drizzle
- Gingerbread snowflakes
Each element isn’t difficult but you will need a little time to complete them all. The good news though is that each of the elements can be eaten individually or used in a myriad of ways, so if you don’t think you have all the elements in you to make, you can simply make some executive decisions, or use store bought alternatives.
Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwich Cake
Ingredients
Gingerbread Cake
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
- Zest of 1/2 lemon
- 115g Lurpak unsalted butter, room temperature
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup treacle
- 1 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
No-churn Lemon Cream Cheese Ice Cream
- 2 cups thickened cream
- 1 x 395g tin sweetened condensed milk
- 1 x 250g block cream cheese, softened
- 1/2 cup lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Gingerbread Snowflakes*
- 50g Lurpak unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
- 1/2 cup treacle syrup
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 2 1/2 cups plain flour
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons ground ginger
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves
- 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- Pinch salt
- Royal icing mixture, to decorate
Salted Butterscotch Sauce
- 60g Lurpak slightly salted butter
- 100g dark brown sugar
- 125ml thickened cream
Directions
Start by making the gingerbread cake first as it needs to be cooled completely before you make the no-churn ice cream.
GINGERBREAD CAKE
Preheat your oven to 180°C fan forced and place rack in centre of oven. Grease and line two 8 inch (20 cm) round removable base cake tins with baking paper.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, spice mix & lemon zest and then set aside.
In bowl of an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy (about 5-6 minutes). Add the eggs,
one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the treacle and beat to combine. Scrape down
the sides of the bowl as needed. Add the dry ingredients (in three additions) and the milk (in two additions), alternately, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Beat on low until just incorporated.
Divide the batter between the two prepared pans and smooth the top with the back of a spoon or an offset spatula. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out
clean. Remove from oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
NO-CHURN LEMON CREAM CHEESE ICE CREAM
Combine the condensed milk and cream cheese together and and beat until combined then set aside. Whip thickened cream in a glass bowl until firm peaks form then stir in 3 tablespoons of the condensed milk mixture and stir until combined. Add remaining condensed milk mixture and fold until just combined.
Place one gingerbread cake into a high sided 20cm cake tins and top with 1/2 of the ice-cream mixture. Top with the second cake and pour the remaining ice cream mixture over the top. Cover with glad wrap and place whole cake in the freezer to set completely (preferably overnight). You can make the recipe up to this point a week before you are going to serve the cake.
GINGERBREAD SNOWFLAKES
In a small saucepan, place butter, sugar and treacle syrup over a low heat stirring, until butter has
melted and sugar has dissolved. Pour into a large bowl and set aside to cool for 10 minutes.
Add egg and vanilla bean paste to butter mixture, stirring to combine. Sift flour, cinnamon, ginger, cloves,
baking powder, bicarb soda and salt over the butter mixture and mix to form a dough. Turn out onto a
lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Shape into a disc, wrap in cling wrap and allow to rest in
the fridge for 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 160°C fan forced. Line two baking trays with baking paper. Divide the dough in two
and cover one with cling film. Roll first batch of dough between two sheets of baking paper until 5mm
thick. Cut various sized snowflake shaped cookies using cookie cutters from the dough and place on prepared trays. Repeat with remaining dough. Bake for 5-6 minutes for smaller cookies and 8-10 for larger cookies. Allow to cool on trays for 5 minutes (longer for larger cookies) to harden before transferring to a wire to cool completely.
Once cooled, prepare royal icing as per packet instructions then transfer to a piping bag with a very fine writing tip and decorate cookies. Set aside to set and harden completely then store in a airtight containers for 1-2 weeks.
*These will make far more cookies than you need for the top of your cake, so feel free to make gingerbread men, bells and trees also to serve during the festive period.
SALTED BUTTERSCOTCH SAUCE
To make the butterscotch heat a medium heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add butter, and when melted, add sugar and cream, whisking until well combined. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then cook for 5 minutes, whisking regularly. After 5 minutes remove from the heat and set aside at room temperature to cool completely. Store in the fridge for 3-4 days and simply warm in the microwave microwave on low heat for 20-30 seconds to return to a drizzle state before using on the cake.
ASSEMBLY
When ready to serve, transfer the cake from the cake tin to a cake stand and drizzle the butterscotch sauce over the top. Push decorated gingerbread snowflakes into the top of the ice-cream cake and serve. The no-churn ice cream will come out of the fridge rock hard so you will have enough time to dress the cake and have the ice cream and gingerbread cake soften to the perfect consistency for eating.
That is gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous. The presentation, the layers and those cookies! What a great chef!
Amanda, this cake is absolutely gorgeous and sound decadently delicious!What a perfect dessert for the holidays!
Oh my goodness, this cake looks absolutely amazing and your photography is gorgeous! I’m so impressed. I’ll will definitely be making this recipe and will be following you!
This looks fantastic! Although I live where it is winter in December, it is always warm (I’m in Arizona), so I love the idea of a frozen holiday dessert.
What a fantastic ice cream cake! This would be stunning on a holiday dessert table, and when you use quality butter I’m certain it’s equally as delicious.
A gingerbread cake recipe, TOTALLY YES! The photos were just making me mouthwatering.
Such a terrific dish! This looks gorgeous — and tastes even better, I’m sure. Congrats on the new little eater in your life!
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Hi! This looks AMAZING! If i was to make this a week beforehand does this mean i leave the cake in the freezer for a whole week and just take it out before I serve it??
Hi Nicole, absolutely! I would make the cake and icecream layers put it together and keep that frozen. Then I’d make the gingerbread snowflakes and keep them in an airtight container in the cupboard until ready to serve. I’d make the butterscotch sauce a couple of days before and keep it in the fridge. Then all you need to do is unmold the cake, heat the sauce in the microwave for 10 seconds, pour it over the top and add the snowflake gingerbreads on top and serve.
Thank you Amanda!! This is perfect! I cant wait to make it. I am gingerbread obsessed 🙂
Wow, this cake looks extremely well – I haven’t tried any cake for quite a while because I’m on a pretty restrictive diet, but as it’s Christmas already I can let myself loose a little bit I guess 😛
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Thank you for sharing this! Perfect post! I cant wait to make it! Very inspiring post!
Dropping by to say thank you for sharing this recipe. This absolutely looks gorgeous that I prepared this last Saturday. My family loved it. It was so delicious and they keep bugging me to make one again.
Looks so delicate 🙂 Excellent job making me feel bad for wanting to destroy it with a bite lol
I’m putting my hand up to bring dessert to the family Christmas table.
What is not to love about the Gingerbread Icecream Cake.
A showstopper for sure.
Great recipe thanks for sharing
What a great idea. Well done on this.
I bet the whole family loved them especially with your warm Australian weather.
Wow! This is perfect for Christmas! Can’t wait to bake and try this! Thanks for sharing xo
Thanks for sharing this! Great recipe
Nice recipe. Deu água na boa agora
awesome recipe thank you for sharing it…!
Absolutely perfect guide to make sandwich cake. I tried cooking by using your article and it really worked for me. I was quite confused in some places. It would be better if you can make videos too.
Wonderful recipe Amanda… Thank you so much for sharing this beautiful article.
Awesome, This cake is yummy and it looks beautiful. I am looking for Christmas cakes, this is perfect for that. We will prepare for this Christmas. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome, This cake is yummy and it looks beautiful. I am looking for Christmas cakes.
Your gingerbread ice cream sandwiches look simply delicious. What’s your best tip for making the best peppermint cookies?
Your gingerbread ice cream sandwiches look simply delicious. What’s your best tip for making the best peppermint cookies? 🙂 thanks for your sharing
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Yum! These look delicious and so cute! I love your tip about coating the measuring cup with oil when using treacle, I will definitely be doing this when measuring out all of my sticky ingredients! Thanks Amanda!
Once the cookies are completely cooled, use a palette knife or similar wide bladed knife, to place a layer of ice cream on one cookie, topping it off with a second cookie to create the sandwich. Use the knife to smooth around the edges and trim off the excess ice cream.