When CK and I were first dating he lived in Westborough which was just a short jaunt to the Cold Stone Creamery on route 9. When you’re thin and in brand new love it’s easy to forget that one day four years later all of those trips to Cold Stone Creamery for the romantic act of sharing a decadent treat covered in peanut butter cups and brownie chunks actually will add up. But since this is decidedly not a diet blog we wont dwell. Instead I’ll just ruminate fondly on my love of cake batter ice cream.
Of course traditional vanilla cake batter ice cream is all well and good, but my favorite cake happens to be “pink cake” or in more formal terms not coined by “little Erin” circa 1984 this would also be known as strawberry cake mix.
During my birthday in June this year I had a momentary panic attack when CK and I were unable to find a box of this coveted cake for him to make for me. Until I moved away from home this was the type of birthday cake I requested almost every year of my life. My grandmother would bake the mix into pretty layers covered in white icing and decorated with pink roses edged with mint green leaves. Then in the center, in her picture perfect writing (how she manages to do this even in frosting is beyond me) would be a pink “Happy Birthday Erin!” Thankfully though CK and I were able to scrounge up a box at a grocery store in Newburyport so all was again right with the birthday continuum.
This creamy ice cream is even better than traditional cake batter varieties because well…it’s pink and it’s strawberry. The pretty color looks absolutely festive, especially when topped with a dusting of pastel jumbo sprinkles. As for that whole weight gain thing I’m doing my best to only eat a little each night for dessert.
Strawberry Cake Batter Ice Cream
Makes 1 quart
1 cup strawberry cake mix such as Duncan Hines Moist Deluxe Strawberry Cake Mix
2 eggs (Erin’s Note: if you’re worried about using raw eggs you can always substitute pasteurized eggs or egg product. You can also adapt this recipe to be used with a cooked custard base).
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 drops of red food coloring just to make sure you get the brightest possible pink color.
Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue to whisk until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream, vanilla, cake mix, food coloring, and milk and whisk to blend. At this point I like to chill the batter in the refridgerator for two hours and then freeze according to my ice cream maker’s manufacturer instructions, but if you are pressed for time feel free to skip this step.
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I blame the economy on all the can’t/hard-to-find items that previously were staples. What’s with only 4 kinds of frosting to choose from at Walmart, really?
Beautiful pictures and enough temptation to make me *want* to hunt for the ice cream machine in the Garage for the weekend. Thank you for sharing!
Yum!! What do you suppose would happen if I added some thawed strawberries……
Off to buy all the ‘stuff’! Thanks!
That’s an incredibly pretty bowl of ice cream! I don’t know how on earth you’re going to manage to eat “just a little” though. I can’t even keep ice cream in the house, it tends to get eaten so fast and cake flavors are my FAVORITE.
it’s settled. the ice cream maker is going in the freezer TONIGHT.
tonight, I say!!!!
This is adorable. I especially love the bowl you used ~ great presentation for a yummy treat.
Oh. Good. Heavens. I will be making this IMMEDIATELY. I have such a huge love for cake batter ice cream as well. And I always get it with strawberries swirled in because that was the closest I could get to my own beloved strawberry cake.
You? Are my hero!!! I will finally get that ice cream maker out of the box!!!
oh nice, so darn good looking. I love homemade ice creams. We have a Cold Stone near us, that is closing. It was not a good one, it was one of those ones that never put stuff in their ice cream. They used very little toppings, so people complained and they lost business. Dumb. The whole point of Cold Stone is all the junk they put in the ice cream.
Is the cake batter in powder form that you used or in a mixed up version?
Hi Lauren,
You use the powdered cake mix for this recipe.
ooh, you should stock up on this strawberry cake mix then
and i’m all for cake batter ice cream!
I went to a creamery a long while back that had red velvet cake ice cream. it was fan-freakin-tastic but I was so full after lunch that I didn’t get any. but I’ve dreamt about it ever since. Using this recipe for strawberry cake ice cream I’m sure I could conjour something up.
BTW, I love that you have a category for “pink things”
Oh my God! Red Velvet cake ice cream. I know they make a mix for that too. I may have to steal this idea for the holidays
So have you done the red velvet ice cream yet?
I’d never heard of cake batter ice cream before. Fabulous! K x
That’s the prettiest bowl of ice cream I’ve ever seen! I’m going to try this recipe tonight.
I use the pasteurized in the shell eggs to make ice cream. I tried the liquid stuff once and it made the ice cream taste “off”. I guess because of the additives in the liquid stuff.
Great recipe. I don’t know why I never thought to use cake mix to get that cake batter taste. Yummy. I have some egg yolks in the refrigerator so I may need to make a variation on this.
I’m not a big ice cream person, but this photo is making me drool! May I ask where you got the jumbo pastel sprinkles? They’d be so cute on cupcakes, too.
Boy, hearing about the scarceness of cake mixes, I’m thinking I should stock up on one I made for my (adult) daughter’s birthday yesterday. Do you remember Zingers? I made cupcakes with Pillsbury’s Moist Supreme Classic White cake mix (with pudding in the mix), filled with raspberry jam, frosted with white buttercream frosting, then dipped in (shoveled on) sweetened shredded coconut. First bite, my daughter shouted “Zingers!” I usually don’t use cake mixes, but it worked out well.
LOVE your blog, recipes & photos! Watson’s “ugh boots” pic on XoXo, Erin yesterday was too cute!
Hi Dani,
The Jumbo Sprinkles that I used were from Crate and Barrel but I bet you can easily find some online.
Best,
Erin
Wow – this looks amazing! I love cake batter ice cream but never considered the possibilities of differently flavored cakes.
(And I love the jumbo sprinkles. So cute!)
Thanks for the great desert idea! This would go nice when having friends over or just for ourselves. Strawberry is good anytime!
Cake mix in ice cream? Who would have thought? Although once you do stop to think about it, it makes perfect sense.
And it will make you sad to know that I am a Ben & Jerry’s girl, through and through (worked there for 2 years).
I agree, cake batter ice cream is the best and this looks especially yummy! Cool new website too – congrats!
Looks delicious! What kind of cake mix would you use to try and re-create Cold Stone’s regular cake batter flavor? White? Yellow?
Jen – I would use a yellow cake mix.
So I have a question for you… (as my ice cream maker is churning away in the background). You mentioned that this was a creamier than normal ice cream… did it fully freeze in your ice cream maker or did you have to finish it off in the freezer? I can’t seem to get mine to freeze.
They never fully freeze in my ice cream maker. It just churns the cream, milk, etc… into a semi-frozen soft-serve type texture. You have to freeze the mixture afterward for a hard consistency. Note: I use the KitchenAid attachment.
Hello from one Erin to another! I have a very serious question and I hope you have time to reply! Last year at Halloween time my mom and I were checking your site for recipes for something tasty to take to our family get together we have ever year. WE found smore bars, or smore brownies on your website (we think)! We baked them and we made them and everyone loved them! We are going to the same get together and promised those yummy treat to find that the recipe is gone. I have scanner your previous posts searching in vain for this recipe. We are starting to think that we are nuts and there was never a recipe. If you could help me in any way, you would have two very happy women…and about 100 other people that expect them at this party would be happy too! If you can help lead me to the post I am missing I would appreciate it sooooo much! Thank you! Erin
OH Delish!!! So thats how you get the cake batter flavor in, duh use cake batter!!
Hello Erin,
My name is Josephine Flores. I love your blog! I’m sitting here practically drooling over the pictures and you have an amazing voice.
I am writing to let you know that I run an international (French, Britain, Australia, and America) woman’s community and would love if you would become a contributor and join our community. We actually just did a post about how therapeutic baking can be:
http://www.powderroomgraffiti.com/love-it/better-than-sex/baking-is-the-new-black.html
Not that it’s a great incentive but you do get paid a little cash for every post that gets posted on Powder Room Graffiti.
I also wanted to ask your if you would add us to your blogroll! I look forward to hearing from you, and if you have any question, suggestion, or comments, please feel free to contact me.
Best,
Josephine Flores
I might have to make this instead of a traditional cake for Jayan’s first birthday party!
Your ice cream is soooo pretty – bet it tastes delish too! Making this one soon
so you have to have an ice cream maker? i was sooo going to try then when i get home but i dont currently own an ice cream maker. please let me know.
So sorry…I don’t really know of any other way to make proper ice cream without some sort of machine.
Do you think the same recipe would work the same to create Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream (Using Red Velvet cake mix)?
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I made Red Velvet Ice Cream last night using the box mix and it turned out amazing! I had to convince myself not to eat it all as it was coming out of the machine.
Erin, do you sift the cake mix first? It was so lumpy no matter how much I mixed it. There are still some lumps in the finished product, but not enough to turn me off of it.
Um, I’m going to need to know where you got this bowl from…
Jeannette,
It’s actually just a little white ramekin that I bought in a store in Salem, MA (http://pmousse.com/). It was part of a set that contained two white and two blue dishes. I think you can probably find the same thing at any specialty cooking store.
Best,
Erin
This looks fabulous! I’m making it today! It’s perfect, because I JUST bought a couple of boxes of strawberry cake mix on a whim! Must be meant to be!
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