Cake Batter Ice Cream

Smooth and creamy, with the unmistakable flavor of cake batter, this no-cook ice cream is super easy to make. Plus, it is egg-free! With just five simple ingredients and an ice cream freezer, you’re on your way to a bit of self-indulgence.

So, all I wanted was an ice cream scoop. An ordinary, old fashioned, dime-a-dozen ice cream scoop. I wanted one of those not because of how great they are (not) and long-lasting (not) and ergonomically well designed (not) they are (not), but because I needed a scoop that would make a picture perfect scoop of ice cream. The picture above is great, but for an upcoming blog post I wanted a scoop that would give me a quintessentially perfect-looking serving of ice cream.

So, I went to a store which I thought could easily accommodate my needs. When the sales person approached and cheerfully asked if I needed assistance, I explained what I needed. My explanation included appropriate and descriptively accurate hand gestures. “I need an ice cream scoop. I want the old fashioned kind with a half round scooper and a trigger (hand signal with thumb pressing an imaginary trigger) and one of those little metal pieces inside the scoop that separates the ice cream from the scoop (another hand signal demonstration with my left hand shaped like a scoop and the index finger of my right hand curved and acting as the little metal piece against my left palm).

So, the girl looked at me with a bright eyed, understanding, smiley face and said, “Oh sure. Here you go,” as she reached out and snagged this marvel of an ice cream scoop…

Which creates a ‘scoop’ of ice cream that looks like this…

So, I politely said no and began to explain in more simplified and unmistakeable terminology what I wanted. “The scoop part is like a bowl. It has a slender metal piece that sweeps against the inside of the scoop to release the ice cream from the scoop. The little metal piece is controlled by a trigger attached to the upper part of the handle on the scoop. When you push the trigger, it moves the little piece of metal which cuts the ice cream away from scoop.” All of this was accompanied by a near perfect hand demonstration.

So, the still mostly smiling sales girl took two steps to her right and reached out and snagged another option. “Here you go,” she said…

“She’s not listening to me. She has her own agenda,” I thought. “Does that LOOK like it has a trigger with a little metal moving part thingy?” 

So, still not wanting to make her feel bad, I made myself behave appropriately and said, “Weeeell, actually, I already have one like that except that mine has a hot pink handle.”  The sale’s girl looked at me completely dumbfounded.

So, I tried one more time, just for fun, to explain what I needed. “I want an ice cream scoop. The scoop is rounded. It has a sweeping metal piece that moves across the inside of the scoop. There is a handle to grip. It has a trigger on the side. Push the trigger and the metal piece moves underneath the ice cream releasing it from the scoop. It is a very old, old, old type of scoop. They have been around since forever. They’re cheap. They break easily. Although it may sound a little bit crazy, I want one of those because I like the way it shapes the scoop of ice cream. Do you have anything that sounds like that?”

Her answer? “I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s one in the store somewhere. You’ll just have to look for yourself.” Then, she turned and walked away.

So, clearly there was a major communication problem. Too bad I didn’t show her a picture. I did look in other parts of the store, but came up scooperless.

Well. I was in Walmart last night…oh gosh, I’ll have to share THAT experience some other time…but I found one of those scoops. I paid waaaaaaay to much for it. Over a dollar is waaaaaaay too much money. Nevertheless, I have learned some valuable life lessons and I now have the scoop that I wanted. The ice cream for which I wanted it will be in an upcoming post. (I am SO excited…about the ice cream, not the scoop!)

That little picture at the top of the page is of Cake Batter Ice Cream. I first had cake batter ice cream a few years ago at Cold Stone and loved it. I’m so glad that some very industrious people out in the world somewhere went home and made up recipes to recreate cake better ice cream. There are a number of variations of the recipe, some are cooked custard-based ice creams and some are simple measure, stir, and toss it in the ice cream bucket types of recipes.

Because I wanted an easy, basic ice cream for this recipe, I chose a non-custard base. The recipe is very, very easy, delivering an ice cream whose texture is surprisingly smooth and whose flavor is great.

• For the cake mix, I used a boxed yellow cake mix that states that it has pudding in the mix. A white cake mix will also work well.
• Sometimes people worry about using a cake mix in this recipe because of salmonella. Salmonella is found in raw eggs, not in a standard dry cake mix. There would only be a concern for salmonella if this recipe called for the use of raw eggs, which it does not. So, rest easy about that one. There is no actual batter made, only the use of some dry, unprepared, cake mix.

If you are looking for a great 1 1/2-quart ice cream freezer, I can definitely recommend this one by Cuisinart. The bowl must be placed in the freezer for several hours prior to using, so this takes a little planning. However, I keep my bowl in the freezer so that it is always ready to go!

You may also like some of these other great cake batter recipes:

• Cake Batter Pudding Cookies
• Cake Batter Caramel Popcorn
• Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats