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Retro Recipe: Carnival Ice-Cream Cake

Created January 10, 2017
Angel food cake, ice cream and three kinds of fruit pack this show-stopping frosty cake with incredible texture and unforgettable flavors.
Retro Recipe: Carnival Ice-Cream Cake

This cake, discovered in the 1975 iteration of Betty Crocker’s Recipe Card File, combines everything we love about summer desserts: juicy fruit, frosty ice cream and light-as-air angel food cake. Even better, it’s so fun to make. 

You start by tearing up an angel food cake, dividing the pieces among three bowls and tossing each one with different flavored powdered soft-drink mixes. (A perfect task for little helpers especially!) Then, in a lined tube pan, layer the sweetened cake pieces with partially thawed frozen fruit and softened ice cream, cover and pop it in the freezer overnight. (See recipe below for all the details!) 

As far as what fruit to use, the combinations are endless. The original recipe calls for peaches, raspberries and strawberries, but blueberries, blackberries, nectarines, cherries, mango or pineapple would work beautifully too. Craving more fruit flavor? Substitute your favorite fruit ice cream for the vanilla. Or go all in on one flavor! The resulting cake is spectacular when sliced, with flecks of fruit, cake and an abundance of ice cream. It’s a party on a plate!

Retro Recipe: Carnival Ice-Cream Cake

Ingredients

    • One 10-inch round angel food cake
    • 2packages (0.14 oz each) strawberry-flavored unsweetened soft drink mix
    • 2packages (0.14 oz each) orange-flavored unsweetened soft drink mix
    • 2packages (0.14 oz each) black cherry-flavored unsweetened soft drink mix
    • 1/2bag (16-oz size) frozen strawberries, thawed and sliced
    • 1/2gallon vanilla ice cream, slightly softened
    • 1/2bag (16-oz size) frozen peaches, thawed and chopped
    • 1/2bag (16-oz size) frozen raspberries, thawed

Directions

  • 1Tear cake into bite-size pieces. Divide among 3 bowls. Sprinkle strawberry drink mix over cake in 1 bowl, orange over the second and black cherry over the third. Toss each lightly with fork until cake pieces are well coated with drink mix.
  • 2Line 10-inch tube pan with foil. Place strawberry cake pieces in pan; spoon strawberries (with liquid) onto cake. Spread one-third of the ice cream over the strawberries. Repeat layers with orange cake pieces, peaches (with liquid), half the remaining ice cream, the black cherry cake pieces, raspberries (with liquid) and remaining ice cream. Cover and freeze 12 to 24 hours until almost ready to serve.
  • 3About 60 minutes before serving, place cake in fridge. About 30 minutes before serving, unmold on chilled plate; remove foil. Serve immediately.

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