Use cake, pie to doctor up ice cream

Surely I’m not the only person who has spent the past 20 years trying to recreate that one perfect ice cream moment from my youth.

Long before cake batter ice cream became commonplace, I found a tiny ice cream shop serving scoops of cake ice cream. As in, chunks of cake — fully baked and frosted — had been mixed into vanilla ice cream.

It was rich and sweet and creamy and cakey in ways cake batter ice cream can only dream of.

And I never found it again.

So this summer I created my own version, which is easily made by mixing softened vanilla ice cream with purchased cakes. To keep the portions manageable, I used cupcakes, but larger sheet cakes would be fine if you’re making ice cream for a crowd.

To highlight the frosted goodness of this treat, be sure to select cupcakes or cakes with brightly colored frosting.

While I was shopping for cupcakes, I noticed mini lemon meringue pies. So if you’re shopping for cupcakes to chop up and mix into ice cream, it isn’t much of a leap to consider doing the same with a lemon meringue pie.

Cake Ice Cream

Start to finish:: 1 ½ hours (10 minutes active)

Servings: 4

1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened enough to mix

2 frosted yellow cupcakes, roughly chopped

1 frosted chocolate cupcake, roughly chopped

In a large bowl, combine the ice cream and chopped cupcakes. Gently stir until well mixed. Transfer to a container just large enough to hold the ice cream, then cover tightly with plastic wrap, pressing it onto the surface of the ice cream.

Place the ice cream in the freezer until firm, about 1 hour.

Lemon Meringue Pie Ice Cream

Start to finish:: 1 ½ hours (10 minutes active)

Servings: 4

1 small (1 pound) lemon meringue pie (or half of a large pie)

1 pint vanilla ice cream, softened enough to mix

Pinch finely ground salt

Pinch cinnamon

Place the pie in a large bowl. Spoon the softened ice cream over it, then sprinkle on the salt and cinnamon. Using a large silicone spatula, carefully stir the pie and ice cream together, breaking up the pie as you mix.

Transfer to a container just large enough to hold the ice cream, then cover tightly with plastic wrap, pressing it onto the surface of the ice cream. Place the ice cream in the freezer until firm, about 1 hour.