hot fudge sundae cake
I realize that given the sheer number of two and three-layered, springform-bound and buttercream-shellacked I keep in the archives, you’d imagine that I had some pretty spectacular birthday cakes growing up. You’d be correct, but they were almost never homemade, not because I was suffering from cake-neglect, but because the only one I requested every year for my birthday was an ice cream cake, preferably from Carvel. Okay, from Carvel, you know, the one in the strip mall at the end of the main road. The Carvel ice cream cake was, to me, as perfect as a June birthday cake could be — a layer each of chocolate and vanilla ice creams, separated by a smattering of Oreo-ish cookie rubble, coated with a suspiciously unbuttery buttercream and scattered with colored sprinkles. It was perfect. I loved it. I saw no reason anything should ever change.
Estimated Nutrition (whole recipe, rough)
Counts 13 of 18 ingredients — the other 5 aren't in our nutrition table and contribute nothing above, so the real totals are higher.
What these numbers assume — 13 portions →
| Ingredient | Portion assumed | kcal |
|---|---|---|
| Flour | 1 cup (125g) all-purpose | 455 |
| Chocolate | 1 oz (28g) semisweet | 155 |
| Milk | 1 cup (244ml) whole | 149 |
| Butter | 1 tbsp (14g) | 102 |
| Cherry | 1 cup (138g) | 87 |
| Egg | 1 large egg (50g) | 78 |
| Corn | 1/2 cup kernels (82g) | 77 |
| Honey | 1 tbsp (21g) | 64 |
| Ice Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Cream | 1 tbsp (15ml) heavy | 51 |
| Sugar | 1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated | 49 |
| Vanilla | 1 tsp extract (4ml) | 12 |
| Salt | 1 tsp (6g) | 0 |
| Fudge | not in our table | 0 |
| Sauce | not in our table | 0 |
| Cake | not in our table | 0 |
| Bean | not in our table | 0 |
| Syrup | not in our table | 0 |
Totals for the whole recipe, adding one typical portion per ingredient — listed above. Quantities in the recipe are not counted, so this is a rough guide only — not suitable for medical or dietary planning.
Ingredients
- 2 pints or 1 quart chocolate ice cream + 2 pints or 1 quart vanilla ice cream + about 14 ounces chocolate cookies, ground (such as Oreos or
- ) or 2 3/4 cups ground cookies + bottled hot fudge sauce + canned whipped cream + jarred marachino cherries. Below are the instructions to make each or any of these elements on your own. Then, choose your own adventure. What matters is that all roads lead to The Summer Cake To End All Summer Cakes,
- 4 cups heavy cream, divided
- 1 split vanilla bean (for vanilla batch)
- 3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder and 5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (for chocolate batch)
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 10 egg yolks
- 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract, divided
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks), cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
- 1 large egg
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 2/3 cup heavy or whipping cream
- 1/2 cup light corn syrup or golden syrup (honey should work as well, but I didn’t test it this time)
- 1/3 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, ideally Dutch-processed
- Heaping 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt or level 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 6 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped (or, about 1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips), divided
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup heavy or whipping cream
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- Maraschino cherries
- Colored sprinkles