Churro Ice Cream Cake!
A while back I was invited to join a group of amazing and talented women in St. Louis who would meet up every so often for Brunch around the city. These women met through social media. Over time the group has grown into about 30+ women and now instead of going out to brunch, women have begun hosting potlucks. This month the potluck held was Cinco de Mayo themed.
I was pretty excited to hear that our dinner would be based around Mexican food since the one thing I probably miss most about California is the amazing Mexican food around every corner. But I really wanted to make something new and exciting that I knew no one else would be making. I love churros and have made them in the past, so I figured that wouldn't be a bad place to start. Ice cream churro bowls are too big right now and the idea of making ice cream sandwiches sounded like a lot of work.
So, I chose to do something even more difficult... A churro ice cream cake. I've never even heard of this before, but decided it would be fun to experiment with. Honestly, it was a time-consuming monster and really messy, but also really fun and delicious. I pre-made everything so that it would be much easier to assemble before the potluck, grab a few photos, freeze, and then serve. Freezing wasn't my favorite option, only because the churro became a little hard and the ice cream brand I had was very soft. So, if you can serve it right away, that might be best. It will also be much easier for you to cut as well.
I baked the churro layers in cake pans, lined with parchment. But if you like frying your dough you can shape them in the pan, remove them, and then fry them in oil. Also, you may want a brand of ice cream that hardens very well. Prepping and make the ice cream molds and dulce de leche the day before would be beneficial.
Table of Contents
Ingredients for Churro Cake Layers
- butter
- salt
- granulated sugar
- water
- all-purpose flour
- eggs
- vanilla extract
Ingredients for Churro Coating
- granulated sugar
- cinnamon
- butter, melted
Ingredients for Ice cream Layers
- vanilla ice cream (I used 1.5 containers)
Ingredients for Dulce de Leche
- sweetened condensed milk
Prep your ice cream and dulce de leche the day before if possible.
How to make Ice Cream Layers
- For the ice cream layers, prep your cake pans with parchment paper and scoop vanilla ice cream into the pan. Use a spoon to flatten and create a leveled top. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours. Remove from the pan while still in parchment and place into a large Ziploc bag and place it back in the freezer. Repeat for 2 more layers.
How to make Dulce de Leche
- Start the dulce de leche sauce you will pour the can of sweetened condensed milk into a mason jar. Place the inner lid askew on top of the jar. Place the jar in a pot and fill the pot with water up to the line where the condensed milk hits. Boil the water over medium heat.
- Use tongs to remove the lid every 30 minutes and with a long spoon stir the insides for 15-30 seconds. Keep boiling for about 3 hours. The boiling water may make the mason jar shake around and can be very noisy.
- Occasionally add more water to the pot since it will evaporate over time. Use boiling water from a tea kettle, NOT cold water as that may cause the glass to break.
- Once the milk has boiled for 3 hours, remove from heat and using tongs, take the mason jar out of the pot and place onto a plate or hot pad to dry and cool for about 2 hours. Then tighten the lid and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Overnight is best.
How to make Churro Cake Layer
- To make the churro cake layers, you will need to preheat your oven to 350° F. Prep your cake pans with parchment paper. I use a bit of oil or butter on the pan to help the parchment stick.
- In a sauce pan heat your butter, salt, sugar and water over medium heat and let boil. Once the butter has melted, add flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon. Stir until incorporated and continue to stir over heat for about 30-60 seconds. It should be smooth.
- Remove pot from the heat and add one egg at a time. Mix quickly and thoroughly before adding a new egg. You don't want the egg to cook in the heated mixture. This will be a bit of an arm work out.
- Once all of the eggs are mixed in add your vanilla extract and mix.
- Scoop your dough into the cake pan and use an offset spatula or spoon to create an even leveled top. It won't blend into the side of the pan, like a normal cake...this is a donut, don't forget. The edges might be a little oddly shaped.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the entire outside is golden brown. Remove from the oven and pull the churro layer out by the parchment and cool on a rack.
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.
- Once completely cooled brush the entire churro layer with melted butter. Lay the churro down on a cookie sheet and pour some of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top. Make sure you coat the top, side, and bottom.
- Repeat steps 10-13 for the remaining 3 churro layers.
- When you are ready to assemble alternate layering churro and ice cream layers. The more frozen the ice cream the better. Pour dulce de leche sauce over the top and allow to drip. Slice up and serve!
- Enjoy!
Other Cake Recipes to Try
Love this Recipe?
Did you make this recipe and just love it? Awesome! If you have a quick minute and could leave a star rating and comment below, I would appreciate the support and knowing your feedback! And if you’re over on Instagram, be sure to tag me in your photos!
Ingredients
Churro layers
- 1 cup unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 2 cups water
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 6 eggs
- 2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Coating for churro
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoon unsalted butter melted
Ice cream
- 3 quarts vanilla ice cream I used 1.5 containers
Dulce de Leche
- 14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
- Prep your ice cream and dulce de leche the day before if possible.
- For the ice cream layers, prep your cake pans with parchment paper and scoop vanilla ice cream into the pan. Use a spoon to flatten and create a leveled top. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours. Remove from the pan while still in parchment and place into a large Ziploc bag and place it back in the freezer. Repeat for 2 more layers.
- Start the dulce de leche sauce you will pour the can of sweetened condensed milk into a mason jar. Place the inner lid askew on top of the jar. Place the jar in a pot and fill the pot with water up to the line where the condensed milk hits. Boil the water over medium heat.
- Use tongs to remove the lid every 30 minutes and with a long spoon stir the insides for 15-30 seconds. Keep boiling for about 3 hours. The boiling water may make the mason jar shake around and can be very noisy.
- Occasionally add more water to the pot since it will evaporate over time. Use boiling water from a tea kettle, NOT cold water as that may cause the glass to break.
- Once the milk has boiled for 3 hours, remove from heat and using tongs, take the mason jar out of the pot and place onto a plate or hot pad to dry and cool for about 2 hours. Then tighten the lid and refrigerate for at least 6 hours. Overnight is best.
- To make the churro cake layers, you will need to preheat your oven to 350° F. Prep your cake pans with parchment paper. I use a bit of oil or butter on the pan to help the parchment stick.
- In a sauce pan heat your butter, salt, sugar and water over medium heat and let boil. Once the butter has melted, add flour all at once and stir with a wooden spoon. Stir until incorporated and continue to stir over heat for about 30-60 seconds. It should be smooth.
- Remove pot from the heat and add one egg at a time. Mix quickly and thoroughly before adding a new egg. You don't want the egg to cook in the heated mixture. This will be a bit of an arm work out.
- Once all of the eggs are mixed in add your vanilla extract and mix.
- Scoop your dough into the cake pan and use an offset spatula or spoon to create an even leveled top. It won't blend into the side of the pan, like a normal cake - this is a donut, don't forget. The edges might be a little oddly shaped.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until the entire outside is golden brown. Remove from the oven and pull the churro layer out by the parchment and cool on a rack.
- Mix the sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl.
- Once completely cooled brush the entire churro layer with melted butter. Lay the churro down on a cookie sheet and pour some of the cinnamon sugar mixture on top. Make sure you coat the top, side, and bottom.
- Repeat steps 10-13 for the remaining 3 churro layers.
- When you are ready to assemble alternate layering churro and ice cream layers. The more frozen the ice cream the better. Pour dulce de leche sauce over the top and allow to drip. Slice up and serve!
- Enjoy!
All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.
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