Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake

This Homemade Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake recipe is better than a store-bought one! Homemade vanilla and strawberry ice cream on the soft-moist chocolate cake base, and frosted with cream cheese buttercream frosting, this eggless dessert is sure to be a big crowd-pleaser! This easy Ice Cream Cake is the perfect summer dessert and making it at home is seriously so simple.

Jump to:

• First, let’s learn what Neapolitan Ice Cream is –
• There are 4 layers in this ice cream cake:
• So let’s learn how to make this show-stopper Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake with step by step process shots. (Ingredients and recipe video is given in the recipe card below).
• Notes, pro-tips, and quick FAQs –
• More Homemade Ice cream recipes
• Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake
• Video

I am a big-time Ice cream and cake lover (I think we all are!). So I decided to combine these 2 favorites and make ice cream cake on my birthday (which was on 5th July) and make my birthday more special! 😉

You really can’t beat a combination of ice cream and cake, and rather than making just regular cake, why not making something different and combining 2 favorites into one delicious and stunning cake? Right!

Having a summer birthday has its perks and ice cream cake is just one of them which we never say no to them. It is so so good and way easier to make at home than we think.

Whether it’s for a birthday, a BBQ, an anniversary, or for a weekend binge, this recipe is sure to bring a smile to our face.

If you are looking for a stunner of a summer dessert recipe, you are at the right place!

This Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake is

• so easy to make,
• can be made ahead of time,
• looks stunning.
• and serves up the prettiest slice of cake you ever saw!

First, let’s learn what Neapolitan Ice Cream is –

In my research (source – Wiki), the Neapolitan ice cream made up of chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream originally came from immigrants from the Italian city of Naples. Early recipes used a variety of flavors; however, the number of three molded together was a common denominator, to resemble the Italian flag.

More than likely, chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry became the standard for the reason that they were the most popular flavors in the United States at the time of introduction. Anyhow, since chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry are 3 popular flavors here in the States it got a little morphed into “Neapolitan”. 

As I said, I love ice cream cake.  I think I might now prefer it over a traditional cake.  If you love cake and love ice cream, I know you’ll love this easy dessert recipe too!

Making an ice cream cake is not a lot of work. It’s pretty easy and straight forward.

But it does take time. Almost entirely hands-off time, but still. If you want an ice cream cake for a birthday party or any special occasion, I would start at least 2 days ahead.

You need a day to bake a chocolate cake and prepare the ice cream mixture, which has to freeze overnight so it’s stable enough to remove from the spring-form pan.

Then Next day you prepare the frosting and frost the cake with, and it’s best to let it sit in the freezer for a few hours before serving.

You’re always fighting the clock when working with ice cream, so give yourself plenty of time to let things chill out frequently.

I was so nervous to make ice cream cakes because I had feared the layers will either separate or just melt together and the whole thing will not look pretty!

But after trying it and with some precaution, I got great success with even layers.

It’s not as much work as it seems, though you will take a few trips back and forth from the freezer.

And yes make sure your freezer has some space. Enough to place a spring-form pan into the freezer. I would say do a test run with the pan before getting started.

There are 4 layers in this ice cream cake:

1. the eggless chocolate cake base

I am a big-time chocolate cake lover. So instead of using chocolate ice-cream, I thought of making a chocolate cake for the first layer.

I always make an eggless chocolate cake recipe from my blogger friend Sushma from spicesnflavours. She is an amazing baker and shares detailed baking related recipes on her blog. And her chocolate cake recipe comes out perfect every time.

2. Strawberry ice-cream

The strawberry layer is my favorite and always has been in any Neapolitan dessert. Instead of using store-bought strawberry ice cream, I made it from scratch.

It’s an easy process and requires only 3 main ingredients.

3. vanilla ice cream

I don’t want to brag, but as far as vanilla ice cream recipes go, this one is the best. And with only 3 ingredients, it just might be the easiest, too. and the bonus is, this doesn’t require an ice cream maker.

4. homemade cream cheese buttercream frosting + sprinkles

Ok, so I am not at all perfect in frosting my cakes. I can make frosting without any trouble. But when it comes to applying it on a cake or piping it on the cake, my hands always shiver. I don’t know what’s the reason.

But this time I can frost it well. It’s not great looking but I am quite happy.

For the frosting, I made cream cheese and buttercream frosting. The recipe is quite simple and easy.

You can also frost this cake with

• Chocolate ganache
• Whipped cream frosting
• Or just pour
• Chocolate sauce
• Caramel sauce
• Hot fudge sauce
• Or just serve and eat as it is.

The choices are endless. Either way, it tastes heavenly good.

For sprinkles, you can use any type. I have some valentine’s day special sprinkle on hand (i bought it to use it to make popcorn) so I used that. You can skip it too or use chocolate chips or coconut flacks instead.

So let’s learn how to make this show-stopper Neapolitan Ice Cream Cake with step by step process shots. (Ingredients and recipe video is given in the recipe card below).

First layer – preparing a chocolate cake

Preheat your oven at 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Line 6 inch cake tin with parchment paper.

Add lemon juice to warm milk. Stir and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, start sifting your dry ingredient. Sift dry ingredients – all-purpose flour (maida), Cocoa powder, Baking soda, and salt into a bowl. Now add in the sugar. Stir well.

Now add all the remaining wet ingredients (oil and vanilla extract) one by one into a milk-lemon mixture. Mix everything.

Add this wet mixture into dry ingredients and make a cake batter.

Pour it into a 6-inch springform cake pan and bake in a preheated oven of 350 degrees F (180°C) for 30 minutes. Check out the cake after 25 minutes by inserting the toothpick. If the toothpick comes out clean, it is ready. If not, bake it some more time.

Let the cake cool down in the pan for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, take out the chocolate cake from the pan and let it cool down completely on the wire rack.

Meanwhile, let’s prepare ice creams –

In a bowl, whip heavy cream on medium-high until soft peaks form. Then add in condensed milk and whip it until stiff picks forms. Your ice cream base is ready.

Divide the mixture into 2 parts in a separate bowl.

Vanilla ice cream

For vanilla ice cream, take one of the prepared ice cream bases, add in vanilla extract, and gently mix the mixture. Keep this mixture into the fridge until we prepare the strawberry ice cream mixture.

Strawberry ice cream

Take washed strawberries into a blender jar and blend it into a smooth sauce.

Now take another part of the ice cream base, add in strawberry sauce, and pink color (optional). Gently fold it until well combined. Keep this mixture aside.

Assemble everything –

Line the sides of a 6-inch spring-form pan with parchment paper (see below in the notes how to prepare the parchment paper for baking pan sides). The parchment paper should stick up above the top edge of the pan since the cake will probably be a little taller than your pan. You can also put a cardboard cake circle in the bottom of the pan.

Trim the chocolate cake from the top to make it even.

Put the chocolate cake at the bottom of your pan.

Top cake with the strawberry ice cream and spread into an even layer. Place the pan into the freezer for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take out the pan from the freezer and carefully add vanilla ice cream and spread into an even layer.

Allow ice cream cake to freeze completely about 8 hours or overnight.

Let’s prepare butter cream cheese frosting –

Take room temperature butter in a bowl. Note – your butter should be soft but not melted).

Whip the butter using hand beater till light and fluffy.

Now add cream cheese and mix using hand beater for a minute or till fully blended.

Add condensed milk. Beat until stiff and well combined.

Take the ¼ of the frosting in a different bowl and add pin color. Mix until the color is well combined. Keep the ¾ of the frosting as is.

Your condensed milk butter-cream cream cheese frosting is all ready to use. Keep both the bowl covered in the refrigerator until you are ready to frost the ice cream cake.

Frosting the ice cream cake –

Take out the prepared frosting from the refrigerator for 15 minutes ahead of time.

When the ice cream cake is frozen, remove the cake from the spring-form pan and remove parchment paper.

Take the cake on a turntable or flat surface.

Cover the top and sides of the ice cream cake with prepared white frosting. If you start noticing your ice cream is melting while Appling the frosting, place the cake for 30 minutes in the freezer and then finish the remaining work.

Now take a piping bag fitted with Wilton 1M nozzle (you can use your choice of the nozzle). Add pink frosting into the piping bag and start piping into swirl motion on the edge of the cake. (refer video for a better idea). You can pipe your choice of design.

Add some sprinkles of your choice on top of the cake.

Place this cake carefully in the freezer for a couple of hours before serving.

Your Neapolitan ice cream cake is ready. Slice them and enjoy it!

Notes, pro-tips, and quick FAQs –

• Freeze the strawberry ice cream layer for 30 minutes before adding vanilla ice cream.
• Let the cake sit in the freezer overnight.
• Try to frost the ice cream cake fast or place the cake in the freezer every 10 minutes while frosting the cake. In short, make sure the ice cream is not melting.
• To make this dessert completely no-cook, use chocolate ice cream instead of baking the chocolate cake from scratch.
• Instead of making ice cream at home from scratch, you can use store-bought strawberry ice cream and vanilla ice cream. This will save some time and effort.
• You can skip the pink color in your strawberry ice-cream.
• Run a sharp knife under hot water when slicing, this helps create a clean cut.

Can we use any cake pan?

For baking a cake, you can use any cake tin. But make sure the size of the cake tin (In which you are baking cake) and the size of spring for pan (in which you are going to combine ice cream and cake) both are of equal size.

I used a 6-inch diameter and an 8-inch height springform pan. I baked chocolate and assemble everything in the same pan.

You can use an 8-inch cake pan too for baking and assembling them. Baking time may vary a little bit in this cake.

What if I don’t have a springform pan?

6-inch springform pans are best for this recipe so that you can easily remove the cake once it’s been assembled.

If you do not have a spring-form pan, line your pan with clear cling wrap before adding your parchment paper. You can use the clear warp to lift your cake out of the pan once it’s assembled and frozen.

You want to bake your cake in the same pan you’ll use for layering the ice cream and cake together so that the cake layers fit in the final pan you use for layering. Also, make sure your pan is tall enough to fit all the layers well.

How many days this do cake stay fresh?

This cake stays up to a week’s cover in the freezer.

Can we use the store-bought ice cream?

Yes! As I told you in the notes section, you can use any store-bought ice cream of your choice to make this Ice cream cake.

Can we skip the frosting or use other frosting or toppings?

Of course! You can use any frosting of your choice. No rules! I have mentioned all the substitutions above.

Can I double the recipe?

Yes! You can double or triple this recipe. Just make to use a bigger springform pan for baking the cake and assembling the ice cream cake.

How to line the sides and base of the cake tin with parchment paper?

Place the cake pan on a piece of parchment paper and trace around it with a pencil, then cut out the circle with scissors.

For the sides, measure the height of the pan and make tick marks on the paper. Then cut out the strips. Secure ends of the parchment paper with tape (according to the size of your baking pan.

More Homemade Ice cream recipes

Cheesecake ice cream

Pista ice cream

Gulkand ice cream

Tender coconut ice cream

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Warm regards,

Dhwani.