Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake Vs. Homemade Ice Cream Cake

homemade ice cream cake before fudge topping

In my weekly meal post on Friday, I mentioned the ice cream cake that we had for our joint birthday celebration (husband and self). I know that Dairy Queen cakes are a popular item for many families. And they are quite good I think. However, as we were trying to keep our food costs down for our little party, and as I did have homemade ice cream waiting in the freezer, making our own ice cream cake seemed like a good use of our supplies and budget.

A note, our ice cream cake wasn't a replica of a DQ one. Dairy Queen cakes have a cake layer, some sort of mid-layer like cookie crumbs, an ice cream layer and frosting or whipped topping (I'm not sure). Our homemade cake had a cake layer bottom, ice cream layer top, and a hot fudge sauce topping served on each slice. I opted for a hot fudge topping instead of icing or whipped topping as it was easier and we had everything we needed on hand. Our homemade version was definitely a simplified ice cream cake. But simple meant it was more do-able.

To make this cake even less daunting to prepare, my steps were both spread out and helped along by other family members. I had made a chocolate fudge brownie ice cream in late February, using whipping cream, cocoa powder, sugar, vanilla, and a 1/4 batch of homemade brownies cut into dices. I kept this ice cream in the deep freeze for these weeks, waiting for our birthdays. My daughters baked the cake layer in a springform pan the day before our celebration. After taking the cake out of the pan to cool, I washed and dried the pan, readying it for assembling the ice cream cake. Later that day (when the single cake layer was cooled), I put the cake back into the springform pan and spread the ice cream (softened up in the microwave briefly) onto the cake. I wrapped the base of the spring form pan in plastic as the ice cream was leaking a bit. I popped the cake back into the deep freeze overnight. The next morning I made a hot fudge topping (sugar, water, cocoa powder, salt — bring to boil, stir in slurry of corn starch/water, bring back to boil, cook 2-3 minutes, stirring. Remove from heat, stir in half-cup of chocolate chips — improves the texture IMO). I scooped the topping into a pitcher, reheating it in the microwave just before pouring onto individual servings of ice cream cake. The whole cake was very do-able, perhaps not as "fancy" as a DQ cake, but do-able and economical. It was a help that my daughters baked the cake layer. However, if I had to do all of the cake on my own, I could have baked the cake layer a week or so in advance and kept it in the freezer until I was ready to assemble the cake.

A cost comparison

As far as being frugal, I estimated our homemade ice cream cake, including the hot fudge topping, cost between $3.50 and $4.00 and had 7-8 servings at about 50 cents per serving. A Dairy Queen cake runs about $35 and serves 8-10 at about $3.50 per serving. When I did the math on serving cost of the DQ cake I was shocked. I know these cakes are very popular. I just couldn't imagine paying that much per serving for a birthday cake.

The ice cream cake wow-ed my family. And truly, this was easier than baking a traditional frosted cake and having ice cream on the side.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers: One Last Week of Meals Prepared by My Daughters

Friday (my husband's birthday)
Nacho bar with tortilla chips, ground beef, refried beans, cheese, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, olives, sour cream, nacho cheese sauce, guacamole, plus scratch spongecake with lemon glaze

Saturday cookout (joint birthday celebration with our son and daughter-in-law)
hot dogs, kielbasa, buns, potato salad, grape tomatoes, fresh strawberries, stir-fried vegetables and rice, blackberry lemonade, scratch ice cream cake

Sunday
ham and cheese sandwiches and tomato soup, leftover desserts

Monday
Pasta Tina (cannellini beans, garlic, olive oil, chicken soup base, pureed and served on cooked pasta), garden salad, first-of-the-season rhubarb sauce

Tuesday
chili (canned chili enhanced with canned tomatoes, additional cooked beans, bell pepper, and cheese), blueberry muffins (packaged mix)

Wednesday
meatball subs (frozen meatballs, canned pasta sauce, hot dog buns, topped with cheese then broiled), honey-mustard carrots, canned green beans

Thursday

homemade chive and garbanzo hummus, crackers, raw vegetables, Cole slaw

Since my husband and my birthdays are 6 days apart, we have our bigger celebration (with our son and daughter-in-law and exchange gifts) on a single day somewhere near both birthdays (sometimes between the two or sometimes much later). We chose the Saturday after my husband's birthday this year. I told my daughters I would handle most of the food for this day, as they've been doing so much this month. But I also promised myself I would choose the easy way out for everything. I bought a deli potato salad, fresh produce to serve plain, and a stir-fry "kit" that was marked down as the sides. I bought hot dog buns instead of making them. For the dessert, my daughters baked the cake portion of the ice cream cake and I used the ice cream I'd made in late February for the ice cream layer. This was more expensive than a usual dinner for us, but far cheaper than a restaurant meal. My thinking is almost always "use what you have." With a fire ring and plenty of wood, a cookout makes sense for us. I have a simple ice cream maker, so back in February when I had a glut of whipping cream, I made a batch of ice cream to be used for this birthday celebration.And I have the right kind of cake pan (a springform) for making an ice cream cake. I do try to use the tools we already have.

This past month has been such a treat to not have to cook dinners. I think I've learned a few tricks from my daughters. Will I return to my all-from-scratch cooking, or will I adopt some of their shortcuts? Time will tell. On Sunday, we return to our regular meal cooking schedule. All good things must end.

How were your meals this past week? Any stand-outs?