This German Chocolate Ice Cream cream takes all the cake flavors and textures of those favorites and turns them into an ultra-creamy, ultra loaded ice cream that tastes like something you’d get from a fancy ice cream shop. It’s rich, chocolatey, nutty, and totally indulgent.
This German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream is a perfect one to add to my German Chocolate favorites, like our German Chocolate Birthday Cake, German Chocolate Cookies, and German Chocolate Fudge. The ice cream starts with a creamy chocolate ice cream base, swirled with chunks of moist chocolate cake, and ribbons of homemade coconut pecan frosting.
The ice cream base is extra rich and smooth, the cake chunks give it a soft and fudgy bite, and the coconut pecan swirl adds the best buttery, crunchy, caramelly goodness in every spoonful. It’s like cake and ice cream had a baby, and its the best ever.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- The Best Chocolate Ice Cream Base: With my favorite chocolate custard ice cream base this ice cream is so rich, creamy, and smooth. So delicious.
- The Best Texture: The custard ice cream base makes it extra creamy, and its stuffed with the chewy cake and crunchy frosting pieces.
- Super Fun Twist: It’s like cake with a scoop of ice cream on top, all loaded into the best gourmet ice cream!
Ingredients Needed
This is a quick overview of the ingredients you’ll need for this German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream Recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.
- Heavy cream: you can use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream for this recipe, this keeps the ice cream super rich and creamy with the right amount of fat content.
- Whole milk: this gives the ice cream the best fat levels for the best creamy ice cream.
- Granulated Sugar: Keeps the ice cream creamy by lowering the freezing point of ice cream, but also sweetens the ice cream base, and frosting
- Cocoa powder: this gives the ice cream a nice chocolate base
- Semi sweet chocolate bar: extra chocolate for an extra rich chocolatey ice cream base.
- Egg Yolks: The key to a smooth, custard based ice cream, and a custard based frosting.
- Vanilla Extract: Always adds a nice flavor
- Salt: Balances out the sweet flavors
- Chocolate Cake Pieces: Use pieces of a homemade, or store bought cake if desired. You can also use brownies, instead.
- Evaporated Milk: you want evaporated milk, not sweetened condensed milk.
- Unsalted Butter: Adds a rich flavor to the frosting, you can use salted butter if that’s what you have.
- Sweetened Coconut Flakes:
- Pecans: Adds the best crunch to the frosting
How to make German Chocolate Ice Cream
Step 1: Make the Custard Base. Whisk the eggs and a little of the sugar together until the color lightens. Set it aside. Add the milk, some cream, remaining sugar, cocoa powder, and salt to a sauce pan and whisk them together. Heat over medium until the mixture starts to bubble around the edges. Temper the Eggs. Slowly pour about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the eggs and stir them together. Then add in another 1/2 cup of the cream mixture. Once combined pour the mixture back into the pan.
Step 2: Add the Chocolate. Add the chopped chocolate bar to the mixture and stir it in until melted. Continue to cook the custard for a few minutes until the mixture is thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Chill the Mixture. Pour the ice cream mixture through a strainer into another bowl, then stir in the vanilla extract. Pour in the rest of the heavy cream. Place the bowl onto an ice bath, then cover and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Step 3: Cook the Frosting. dd the egg yolks, evaporated milk, and vanilla extract to a large saucepan and mix them together well. Add in the sugar and butter. Cook those over medium heat for about 5 to 7 minutes to let the mixture melt, and then thicken to a nice golden brown, light caramel color. Stir it almost constantly while you are cooking it.
Step 4: Add in the Coconut and Pecans. Remove the frosting pan from the heat and stir in the coconut and pecans. Let it cool to room temperature.
Step 5: Churn the Ice Cream. When you’re ready to churn the ice cream, and pour the custard base into the running ice cream maker and let it run until it’s thick, like a soft serve ice cream.
Step 6: Mix in the Frosting and Cake. Add half of the chopped cake pieces, and frosting to the ice cream machine, and let it mix in for about 5 minutes, or use a large spoon or rubber spatula to fold it in yourself. Then scoop some of the ice cream into layers in a freezer safe container, topping with more dollops of frosting and cake pieces. Freeze and Enjoy. Cover the ice cream and place it in the freezer to freeze until solid, at least 6 hours, or overnight. Enjoy ice cream scooped in a cone, or a bowl topped with extra frosting, and hot fudge sauce.
Tips and Tricks:
- Pre-Freeze the Bowl – Don’t forget to pre-freeze your ice cream machine bowl. Mine takes at least 12 hours to be frozen solid so it will churn my ice cream. Leave it in your freezer to use whenever you’re ready if you have room.
- Be Patient: This ice cream takes time because we need to cook the custard, then cool it down, make the frosting, and let it cool too. Then freeze the whole tub of ice cream to make it scoopable, so you won’t be eating this the day you make it. But I promise its all worth it.
- Chill your Cake and Frosting: Before adding the cake pieces and frosting chill them for about an hour in the fridge. This will help them hold their texture.
- Store Bought Frosting: You can use a can of store bought German Chocolate Cake Frosting if desired. I think making my homemade recipe is worth it, but if you want to save some time, go for it.
Storage Instructions
Keep the ice cream in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month, for best results. Seal the container tightly, or press plastic wrap right on the surface of the ice cream to help prevent the ice cream from forming ice crystals.
This German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream is the perfect mash-up of two favorite desserts. It’s chocolatey, coconutty, nutty, and totally incredible. Its a new favorite you’ll want to keep in your freezer all year long.
More Ice Cream Favorites
If you make this German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream Recipe please leave a comment and 🌟 rating letting me know what you think! If you post the photo on Instagram, please tag me – I’d love to see what you’re making!
German Chocolate Cake Ice Cream
Ingredients
For the Chocolate Ice Cream Base:
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream (divided)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder (sifted after measuring)
- 4 oz semi sweet chocolate (chopped)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp salt
For the German Chocolate Frosting:
- 2 large egg yolks
- 6 oz evaporated milk
- 3/4 cups granulated sugar
- 6 TBS unsalted butter
- 3.5 oz sweetened coconut flakes
- 3/4 cups finely chopped pecans
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup chopped chocolate cake
Equipment
Instructions
For the Chocolate Ice Cream Base:
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk the egg yolks with 1/4 cup of the sugar until the color of the egg yolks starts to lighten. Set aside until needed. 4 large egg yolks, 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- Add 1 cup of the heavy cream, the milk, remaining sugar, cocoa powder to a large sauce pan. Stir them together. 2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup whole milk, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- Heat the mixture over medium until the mixture just starts to bubble around the edges.
- Slowly add 1/2 cup of the chocolate cream mixture into the egg yolks, while you stir them together. Add another 1/2 cup of the mixture, while stirring the whole time.
- Slowly pour the chocolate custard mixture back into the sauce pan and continue to heat it over medium heat.
- Add in the chocolate pieces, and let them melt into the mixture, stirring until smooth. 4 oz semi sweet chocolate
- Cook the mixture for another 5 minutes or so, until the mixture starts to thicken, enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract, salt, and remaining cup of cream. 1/2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 tsp salt
- Pour the mixture through a strainer into a large bowl, on top of an ice bath. Let it sit for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally as the mixture starts to cool down to room temperature.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, or a lid and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours, up to overnight.
For the German Chocolate Frosting:
- Add the egg yolks, and evaporated milk to a large sauce pan, and stir them together until well combined. 2 large egg yolks, 6 oz evaporated milk
- Add in the sugar and butter and stir them into the mixture as much as you can. 3/4 cups granulated sugar, 6 TBS unsalted butter
- Cook the mixture over medium heat for about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring almost constantly, until it turns to be a golden brown color, and thickened.
- Remove the custard mixture from the heat, and stir in the coconut, pecans, and vanilla. 3.5 oz sweetened coconut flakes, 3/4 cups finely chopped pecans , 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Let the frosting cool to room temperature.
For Making the Ice Cream:
- When you are ready to churn the ice cream, remove the mixture from the fridge. Start the prepared ice cream maker churning and pour the chocolate mixture into the ice cream maker. Let it run according to the manufactures instructions, or until the ice cream is thickened like soft serve. (Mine says about 25 to 30 minutes)
- Add half of the frosting, and half of the cake pieces to the ice cream, and gently fold them into the ice cream with a rubber spatula. 1 1/2 cup chopped chocolate cake
- Scoop about 1/3 of the ice cream mixture into a 2QT container, top with additional drizzles of coconut pecan frosting, and pieces of cake. Followed by another 1/3 of ice cream, more frosting, more cake. Then the final ice cream, frosting and cake pieces.
- Cover the ice cream and freeze for an additional 6 hours, up to overnight.
Notes
- Pre-Freeze the Bowl – Don’t forget to pre-freeze your ice cream machine bowl. Mine takes at least 12 hours to be frozen solid so it will churn my ice cream. Leave it in your freezer to use whenever you’re ready if you have room.
- Be Patient: This ice cream takes time because we need to cook the custard, then cool it down, make the frosting, and let it cool too. Then freeze the whole tub of ice cream to make it scoopable, so you won’t be eating this the day you make it. But I promise its all worth it.
- Chill your Cake and Frosting: Before adding the cake pieces and frosting chill them for about an hour in the fridge. This will help them hold their texture.
- Store Bought Frosting: You can use a can of store bought German Chocolate Cake Frosting if desired. I think making my homemade recipe is worth it, but if you want to save some time, go for it.
Nutrition
german chocolate cake ice cream 1300 / 20
german chocolate ice cream 720 / 13
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