Hawaiian Ice Cream Cake

This Hawaiian Ice Cream Cake is pure summer indulgence. It’s so so good. Cold and creamy with a coconut and vanilla wafer crumb base, that’s to die for. Layers of bananas and pineapple, to whisk you right off to Hawaii itself. It’s summer excellence. It deserves gold stars, heart eyes, and all the feels! This dessert is a must this summer! So, let’s get to it!

This ice cream cake came together much easier than I imagined. The hardest part was trying to get the parchment to stick in between the base and the springform part of the pan. Seriously! And that’s total unnecessary, but I wanted to be able to lift it off the pan to get pretty photos. Well worth my struggle for these sweet pics.

So, I do need to talk about inspiration for a minute. I’m a huge Dairy Queen fan. Their blizzards are my weakness. I never turn down a trip to DQ. My blizzard of choice is generally a peanut butter cookie dough concoction. In the summer month, however, I tend to shift to Hawaiian blizzards. They’re a perfect combo in the hotter months, fresh ripe bananas, sweet pineapple all whipped together in the famous soft serve, delish!

So taking inspiration from that tasty treat, I wanted to create an ice cream cake that combined all those flavours and would be just as dreamy as the original. I wanted to add coconut, that was a non-negotiable for me. I’ve had some blizzards with coconut and some without, some toasted and some not. For this cake though, I wanted a bit of both. So, I made a crust with vanilla wafers and a handful of sweetened coconut, and then topped the cake with toasted coconut, just to give a hint of the nutty flavour.

I added a layer of nice ripe bananas, crushed pineapple and a quart and a half of ice cream. I also added an extra layer of the coconut crumb mixture to the centre to break it all up, and then sandwiched it all together. It’s heavenly. Seriously, the perfect summer dessert. Frozen to cool you off on a hot summer day and sweet enough to satisfy your dessert craving.

How to make Hawaiian Ice Cream Cake

Let’s talk about how you can make this, too. Ice cream cakes aren’t the take your time type of recipes. You want to work quickly, or you’ll end up with a puddle. My suggestions is to place your springform pan in a rimmed baking sheet so if the ice cream does start to melt, you won’t have it all over your counters.

Make the crust first. I pulsed Nilla wafers in my food processor until they became crumbs. Mix those with the coconut and the butter and then press two cups into the bottom of a springform pan. Take the ice cream out at this point, and set it aside to warm up a bit. I could’ve taken it out before I made the crust, but I wasn’t sure how quickly it would melt.

Next place a layer of cut up bananas on top of the coconut crumb base, followed by half the ice cream. Spread the ice cream with an offset spatula until everything is covered and the ice cream is relatively smooth. You might have to work it a bit to spread it out. Then sprinkle on the extra crumbs and spread them out.

Top that with a can of crushed pineapple and spread that out, as well. Finish with the remaining ice cream and spread that out until it’s smooth. You’ll want to freeze this for at least 6 hours in a chest freezer. And lastly, if you want to decorate, just add a dollop of whipped cream and a few slices of fresh pineapple.

It’s an easy recipe. No baking, which is a welcome change in the summer months. No one wants to turn on the oven in July or August, let’s be honest here. A frozen dessert, is the best this time of year and this Hawaiian Ice Cream Cake is no exception.

Loved Hawaiian Ice Cream Cake? Check out these other delicious dessert recipes, I’m sure they’ll hit the spot:

• Milky Way Rice Krispies Squares
• Grandma’s No Bananas Foster Sauce
• Grandma’s Oatmeal Coconut Lace Cookies

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If you get a chance to make this or any other recipe on the blog and want to share. Please feel free to tag @candyjarchronicles or use #candyjarchronicles on Instagram, so I can see your post. I’d love to see what you’re cooking in your kitchen!

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