Fried Ice Cream Cake (No Fry)

5 from 6 votes
11 Comments

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This fried ice cream cake is an easy but decadent frozen dessert. You will love the sweet and crunchy corn flake topping!

Fried ice cream with a crunchy corn flake topping surrounded by cherries

Fried Ice Cream Cake

This fried ice cream cake [ice]screams summer! You are going to love all the flavors and textures going on here. It’s cold and sweet with a perfectly crunchy topping and bursting with churro flavor. If you are looking for the perfect summertime dessert to take to your next potluck, your search is over.

No-Fry Fried Ice Cream

I am a huge fan of fried ice cream, but I also love being able to cheat and make “non-fried” versions that taste just as good. I love how this recipe can make enough for a crowd and you don’t have to fry individual balls of ice cream. It takes very little prep and clean up is a breeze (no messing with frying oil). It’s an overall win-win!

A 9x13 pan with ice cream and a corn flake topping over the top


The Sweet, Crunchy, “Fried” Topping

For this recipe we use a Corn Flakes topping but you can easily swap it out with a different kind of cereal. Try it with Rice Krispies, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Frosted Flakes, Cinnamon Frosted Flakes, or Honey Bunches of Oats.

Tasty Variations:

You can make all kinds of creative variations when it comes to ice cream cake. Here are a couple of our favorites:

Cinnamon Churro Fried Ice Cream

If you love churros as much as we do, you need to try this Cinnamon Churro Fried Ice Cream variation. The thing that puts this dessert over the top is the churro ice cream. We found some Cinnamon Churro ice cream at our local Albertsons store. It is a cinnamon churro ice cream with a honey bun swirl and actual churro pieces. Now imagine that with crunchy fried cinnamon-sugar layers and you have churro fried ice cream. YUM! For this recipe, just simply swap out the vanilla ice cream for churro ice cream. 

Raspberry Fried Ice Cream Cake

Our Raspberry Fried Ice Cream Cake is a fruity twist on this traditional ice cream cake. You can use raspberry, huckleberry, blackberry, or any kind of fruity berry ice cream for this recipe. We also use cinnamon Frosted Flakes for this recipe take make it even easier. Give it a try!

What’s in Fried Ice Cream Cake?

  • Ice cream – We usually opt for vanilla. We like using vanilla bean because of the flavor but French vanilla still tastes great. You can also use a cinnamon swirl ice cream or churro ice cream. 
  • Corn Flakes cereal – This is what makes the crunchy topping, well… crunchy!
  • Butter & Sugar – Butter and sugar hold the crunchy topping together so it doesn’t just crumble and flake off the ice cream. 
  • Cinnamon – Cinnamon rounds out the flavor and makes 
  • Toppings: Whipped cream, chocolate fudge sauce, caramel, honey, and/or maraschino cherries
A close up of a fork holding a piece of fried ice cream cake

How To Make Fried Ice Cream Cake

  1. Melt butter and sugar together in a large skillet (nonstick works best) over medium heat
  2. Add cornflakes (or cereal of choice) and stir well to combine
  3. Put half of the cereal mixture on the bottom of a baking dish
  4. Spread softened vanilla ice cream over the top
  5. Spread remaining Corn Flake mixture over the ice cream
  6. Place in the freezer and freeze for 6+ hours or until completely frozen.
  7. Cut into squares and serve with optional whipped cream, cinnamon and sugar, and cherries. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and/or caramel topping. 

More delicious frozen summertime treats

Fried ice cream with a crunchy corn flake topping surrounded by cherries

Fried Ice Cream Cake

5 from 6 votes
This fried ice cream cake is an easy but decadent frozen dessert. You will love the sweet and crunchy corn flake topping!
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 0 minutes
Freezing time 6 hours
Total Time 6 hours 15 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Servings 12

Equipment

  • Sauce pan
  • 9×13 Baking Pan
  • Spatula

Ingredients

  • ½ gallon Vanilla Ice Cream (softened)
  • ½ cup butter
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 3 cups crushed corn flakes crushed
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Optional Toppings:

  • whipped cream
  • cinnamon/sugar mixture
  • maraschino cherries
  • hot fudge sauce
  • caramel sauce
  • honey

Instructions

  • Soften ice cream in the refrigerator.
    In a medium-sized saucepan, combine butter and sugar and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly.
    A large pan with melted butter
  • Remove from heat and add crushed cornflakes and cinnamon. Stir gently until all of the crushed cornflakes are covered in the mixture.
    Place half of the cornflake mixture in a 9×13 glass baking dish and press down evenly along the bottom of the dish.
    A 9x13 pan with ice cream and a corn flake topping over the top
  • Spoon softened ice cream over the top and carefully smooth over with a spatula or knife. Then, evenly sprinkle the remaining mixture over the top of the ice cream.
    Softened ice cream spread out in a pan to make fried ice cream cake
  • Cover and freeze for 6+ hours or overnight. Cut into serving-sized squares and top with desired toppings.
    A plate of fried ice cream cake with a corn flake topping, ice cream toppings, and cherries

Nutrition Information

Calories: 344kcalCarbohydrates: 67gProtein: 5gFat: 8gSaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 20mgSodium: 499mgPotassium: 99mgFiber: 2gSugar: 22gVitamin A: 1293IUVitamin C: 12mgCalcium: 9mgIron: 17mg

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About the author

Erica Walker

Erica lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband, Jared, an attorney, and her three beautiful girls. Beyond the world of recipes, she loves adventuring with everything from kayaking, to cruising, to snowboarding and taking the family along for the thrill ride.

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Comments

  1. Hello! I have your cookbook and have a recipe for the no fried fried ice cream with a raspberry sauce included. Is this the same recipe? Unfortunately we have misplaced the book and so we have been searching high and low for that specific recipe!

    1. We don’t have that recipe on our site yet, but I have the book right here so I’ll give it to ya!
      1 C Butter
      1 C Brown Sugar
      3 C Crispy Rice Cereal
      1 C Sweetened Coconut Flakes
      1/2 C Chopped Pecans
      1/2 Gallon Vanilla Ice Cream
      In a saucepan over medium heat melt butter. Add brown sugar and mix until dissolved. In a large bowl, combine cereal, coconut, and nuts. Pour melted butter and brown sugar over cereal mixture and stir until coated. Press half of cereal mix into the bottom of a 9×13 pan. Cut ice cream in 1 inch slices and spread evenly over mixture in pan. Spread remaining cereal mixture evenly over ice cream. Place in freezer for at least one hour. Cut into squares and serve with raspberry sauce.

      Raspberry Sauce
      2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
      3/4 C Water
      1 Pint Fresh or Frozen Raspberries
      1/3 C Sugar
      1/3 C Orange Juice
      In a small bowl, whisk water and cornstarch until blended. In a medium saucepan, combine raspberries, sugar, and orange juice. Slowly add cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened.

  2. 5 stars
    Nothing better than ice cream & churros in our opinion! This was a hit with some friends of ours. We will be making this all the time!

  3. Where is the Albertson’s that you get your ice cream? Does any other store carry this ice cream? What else could you use in place of if you can’t find the brand you used?

    1. Hi Cathy- You can find it at Safeway, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Randalls, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons. Our Albertsons is in Idaho but they are common in the Pacific Northwest. I don’t know of any brand that makes churro ice cream like this. Hopefully you can find some in one of these stores! It’s AMAZING!