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Birthday Cake Ice Cream

A custard-style ice cream made with two types of vanilla extract, almond extract, and rainbow sprinkles for a party-worthy ice cream that tastes like a homemade vanilla cake. No boxed or packaged cake mix required!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword cake batter ice cream, funfetti ice cream, homemade ice cream
Cook Time 20 minutes
2 days
Servings 1 quart of ice cream

Equipment

  • 1 fine mesh strainer
  • 1 large heatproof mixing bowl (with a pouring spout, if possible)
  • 1 large whisk
  • 1 soup ladle
  • 1 medium saucepan with handle
  • 1 large bowl to fill with ice and water (the mixing bowl should be able to rest inside this bowl without being fully immersed in the water)
  • 1 rubber spatula
  • ice cubes
  • ice cream machine with ice cream churning bowl
  • 1 freezer-safe storage container that can hold 1 quart of ice cream 

Ingredients

INGREDIENTS FOR MAKING THE ICE CREAM BASE (Recommended: Day 1)**

  • 5 egg yolks
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar DIVIDED
  • 1 cup 2% or whole milk
  • 1¾ cup heavy cream
  • ¼ tsp kosher salt

INGREDIENTS FOR CHURNING THE ICE CREAM (Recommended: Day 2)

  • 1 tbsp imitation vanilla extract
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • ½ tsp almond extract
  • ½ cup of rainbow sprinkles

Instructions

PREP INSTRUCTIONS – MAKING THE ICE CREAM BASE (Recommended: Day 1)

  • Place your ice cream freezer bowl into the freezer for tomorrow.
  • Fill a large bowl halfway with the ice cubes and cold water. Set aside.
  • Gather all the Equipment you’ll need (see above) so they’re within arm’s reach while you’re cooking.

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS – MAKING THE ICE CREAM BASE (Recommended: Day 1)

  • In the mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs yolks and 6 tbsp of the granulated sugar until thick, about 30 seconds. Set aside.
  • In the saucepan, whisk together the remaining 6 tbsp sugar, milk, cream, and salt.
  • Place the saucepan over medium-high heat and warm the mixture until it’s just starting to simmer; this means tiny bubbles should just start appearing around the edges of the saucepan. The mixture will de-thicken right before it begins to simmer. This should take about 10 minutes.
  • Remove the saucepan from the heat and place on a potholder next to your mixing bowl.
  • Carefully ladle a little hot liquid from the saucepan into the mixing bowl, whisking the egg yolks the entire time. Repeat this process with a few more ladle-fuls of hot liquid, then slowly stream the remaining hot liquid into the egg yolks, whisking the entire time to prevent the egg yolks from curdling.
  • Pour the combined mixture – the ice cream base – from the bowl back into the warm saucepan, once again whisking the entire time.
  • Return the saucepan to the stove on medium heat. Heat the mixture, stirring continuously with a rubber spatula, until the mixture thickens and thickly coats the back of the spatula, about 10 minutes. When the base is ready, you should be able to create a clear trail when you run your finger on the back of the spatula.
  • Place the strainer over the empty mixing bowl you used earlier. Carefully strain the base into the mixing bowl to catch any pieces that might have curdled while cooking. Discard whatever the strainer catches.
  • Place the bowl with the ice cream base into the ice water bath, making sure that no water leaks into the bowl.
  • Stir ice cream base occasionally until it’s cooled, about 40 minutes.
  • Once the base is cool, cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

PREP INSTRUCTIONS – CHURNING THE ICE CREAM (Recommended: Day 2)

  • Place your ice cream machine on your work surface. Place the frozen churner bowl and paddle into the machine and turn the machine on according to manufacturer’s instructions.
  • Pop your freezer-safe storage container into the freezer to chill.
  • Measure out ½ cup of rainbow sprinkles. Set aside.

CHURNING INSTRUCTIONS (Recommended: Day 2)

  • Remove the chilled ice cream base from the refrigerator. Uncover and whisk in the vanilla and almond extracts.
  • Pour the chilled ice cream base into the freezer bowl of your ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer’s instructions.
  • When ice cream is almost finished churning, gradually add the sprinkles to the ice cream base while the ice cream maker is still going. Be sure to pause at regular intervals to make sure the sprinkles are interspersed evenly throughout the ice cream.
  • Once ice cream is done churning, use a spatula to guide ice cream into the freezer-safe storage container. Freeze until Birthday Cake Ice Cream is solid, at least 4 hours, though best overnight.

Notes

**While you can make ice cream all in one day if you have a really great freezer and/or quick-cooling ice cream machine, I recommend making the ice cream base one day and churning the base on a separate day. This gives the ingredients a chance to get sufficiently cold.