Food & Cooking Recipes Dessert & Treats Recipes Cake Recipes 7-Layer Ice Cream Cake 3.3 (178) 3 Reviews Colorful and fun, this easy ice-cream cake is made with store-bought ingredients. By Martha Stewart Martha Stewart Martha Stewart is a bestselling author, entrepreneur, and lifestyle expert who has taught millions of people through generations the joy of entertaining, cooking, gardening, collecting, crafting, and home renovating via her eponymous magazine, Martha Stewart Living, Emmy-winning television shows, and 99 books (and counting). Based in Katonah, N.Y., where she helms her 156-acre Bedford Farm, Martha is America's first self-made female billionaire. Editorial Guidelines Updated on July 5, 2023 Rate PRINT Share Prep Time: 30 mins Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Servings: 8 Want to try a colorful, fun, and delicious dessert this summer? Make this easy ice-cream cake. With seven stunning layers, it looks spectacular but is simple to put together using store-bought pound cake, ice cream, sorbet, and wafer cookies. Best of all, there's no need to turn the oven on—though there is stovetop cooking needed for the fluffy meringue topping. If that seems like too much, skip it or use whipped cream instead. The hardest part of this recipe might be planning ahead. This dessert needs time in the freezer to set (at least an hour, but preferably longer). Then again, it's a simple make-ahead dessert you can prep up to three days in advance—and one that everyone will adore and request over and again. We made sure to include a few flavor swaps so you can try different combinations next time. 25 Frosty Treats That Start With Store-Bought Ice Cream Johnny Miller Flavor Swaps Consider the below recipe a blueprint and try out some of your favorite flavor combinations. Sorbet: Switch the raspberry sorbet for mango, strawberry, or another bold, fruity flavor. Ice cream: We think vanilla is the perfect complement to the other flavors in this layered ice-cream cake, but strawberry ice cream or pistachio are good options, too. Don't swap in an ice cream with large chunks; it would make the cake difficult to slice. Topping: Substitute whipped cream for the meringue topping to make this ice-cream cake a no-cook dessert. Whipped cream is also less sweet. 7-Layer Mocha Ice-Cream Cake Use marble, chocolate, or plain pound cake for a mocha version. Replace the vanilla ice cream with coffee and use chocolate sorbet. Alternatively, use chocolate ice cream and coffee sorbet. Use chocolate wafer crumbs—or go for contrast by using vanilla cookie crumbs if you have a chocolate pound cake. 7-Layer Lemon Ice-Cream Cake Use a lemon pound cake with vanilla ice cream and lemon sorbet. Swap the chocolate wafer cookies for vanilla or lemon. Ingredients 1 frozen pound cake (10 ¾ ounces) in aluminum loaf pan, unthawed, or 1 homemade 4 ½-by-8 ½-inch pound cake, room temperature 2 cups raspberry sorbet, softened 1 cup vanilla ice cream, softened ½ cup coarsely chopped chocolate wafer cookies 2 large egg whites Cream of tartar ½ cup sugar ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract Directions Slice cake and line pan: Remove cake from pan and cut horizontally into 4 slices. Line pan with plastic wrap, leaving 6-inch overhang on 2 sides. Build cake layers: Build cake layers in pan in this order: bottom cake slice, 1 cup sorbet, cake slice, 1/2 cup ice cream, cookie crumbs, 1/2 cup ice cream, cake slice, 1 cup sorbet, top cake slice. (If necessary, return ice cream to freezer as you work.) Wrap and freeze: Wrap in plastic and freeze at least 1 hour (or up to 3 days). Make meringue topping: In a heatproof bowl, lightly whisk together egg whites and pinch of cream of tartar. Set bowl over (not in) a pan of simmering water and whisk until whites are foamy. Slowly whisk in sugar and cook, whisking, until sugar is dissolved (to test, rub some between your fingertips). Whip meringue topping: Remove bowl from heat and, with an electric mixer, beat on medium-high until stiff, glossy peaks form, about 6 minutes. Add vanilla and beat 1 minute. Remove cake from pan and top with meringue: Remove cake from pan, trim sides if desired, and dollop meringue on top. Other Ice-Cream Cake Recipes to Try: Fudgy Ice Cream Cake No-Bake Banana Split Cake Blondie Ice-Cream Cake Cherry-Cheesecake Celebration Bombe Vanilla-Raspberry Baked Alaska Originally appeared: Everyday Food, May 2012 Rate It PRINT Updated by Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer Victoria Spencer is an experienced food editor, writer, and recipe developer. She manages the Martha Stewart recipe archive and is always curious about new ingredients and the best techniques. She has been working in food media for over 20 years.