Peppermint Brownie Ice Cream Cake (And My 21st Birthday)

Be still my beating heart. Layers of chocolate brownie glued together with creamy, peppermint ice cream – topped with chocolate fudge and peppermint bits. It’s the stuff dreams are made of. It also happens to be my 21st birthday cake. And it is good.

This recipe is a combination of a few of my favorite recipes – a double batch of this Ultimate Brownie recipe and the filling from this Frosted Peppermint Pie (plus some chocolate fudge and chopped peppermints on top). Put together, they make a beautiful peppermint brownie ice cream cake that is perfect for any holiday gathering! What’s even better is that you can freeze individual slices of this ice cream cake to pull out and thaw for later dessert “emergencies”!

It has become my tradition to make a new recipe for each birthday cake, then post it. I usually try not to post recipes that require several steps (and long ingredient lists), but I’m a foodie at heart, and sometimes I like to have an excuse to make and blog something extravagant. If I blog an involved recipe for no reason, I often get flack about it from disgruntled readers, but when I say, “It’s my birthday!” they usually don’t fuss too much.  😛

Projects from previous years:

• 18th – Peppermint Brownie Cheesecake
• 19th – Mocha Cake
• 20th – Chocolate Cake with Whipped Chocolate Buttercream

Don’t be scared – this Peppermint Brownie Ice Cream Cake actually isn’t that hard. It just takes a little extra planning.

If you’re a fan of peppermint (it’s only the *best* Christmas flavor in existence, amiright?), check out some of my other peppermint recipes! I have more in the plans, including a peppermint frappe that’s already done and photographed, a chocolate layer cake with white chocolate peppermint filling (whether it will work or not remains to be seen), and peppermint ice cream sandwiches. If you’re not following my blog via email, I highly suggest you sign up (in the sidebar to your right if you’re on a computer, or down closer to the bottom of the page if you’re on mobile) so you don’t miss any posts!

Stay tuned for an Easy Chocolate Cake Truffle recipe coming next Monday! Need some holiday recipe inspiration? Check out this roundup of some of my favorite healthy holiday recipes!

Please excuse the quality of the picture below; our living room/kitchen don’t have very good lighting for photography. (Side note – by the time this picture was taken, that piece of cake had gone through a photography session [hence the short stub of candle], fallen on the floor and suffered structural damage, and collapsed on my plate.)

As always, check out the Notes section of the recipe for extra info. Check out the links in and below the recipe to see the products I use and recommend. Some of the links included in the recipe and blog post are affiliate links, which means that if you make purchases through these links, I make a small commission to help defray the costs of running this blog (at no extra charge to you). Thanks for your help!

You may also enjoy:

• Starting THM
• my recipe index
• my recipes grouped by fuel type, allergy info, and theme
• Christmas-themed recipes
• my peppermint recipes
• my previous birthday cake recipes
• a roundup of my favorite healthy Christmas recipes

You can pin this recipe here:

If everything goes as planned, my cookbook will be released (and preorders will be shipped) December 9th! If you haven’t grabbed a copy already, you can do that here. These would make great Christmas gifts!

Peppermint Brownie Ice Cream Cake (And My 21st Birthday)

 

Author:

Briana Thomas

Serves: 12

Print

 

THM:S, low carb, sugar free, gluten/nut free (see Notes section for allergy substitutions)

Ingredients

Brownies

• ⅔ c. Briana's Baking Mix
• ⅔ c. oat fiber (use gluten-free if necessary)
• ⅔ c. cocoa powder
• ¼ c. THM Gentle Sweet (or more, to taste)
• 2 T. THM Super Sweet Blend
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. xanthan gum
• ½ tsp. salt
• -
• 1 c. salted butter, softened
• 1 c. unsweetened almond milk*
• 1 c. water
• 2 eggs
• ¼ c. egg whites

Peppermint Ice Cream

• 2 c. heavy whipping cream
• 2 c. unsweetened almond milk*
• ½ c. cottage cheese
• 1 T. vegetable glycerin (not optional)
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• ½ tsp. Watkins Peppermint Extract
• ¼ tsp. THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
• ⅛ tsp. salt
• 4 drops red food coloring, optional (or use a natural red food coloring of choice to the desired strength)
• 1 tsp. glucomannan
• 10 sugar-free peppermints, coarsely chopped

Fudge**

• 3 T. salted butter
• 2 T. refined coconut oil
• 2 T. cocoa powder
• 2 tsp. THM Super Sweet Blend
• 6 T. heavy whipping cream
• -
• Additional chopped sugar-free peppermints for garnish

Instructions

1. BROWNIE: Whisk the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients and beat until smooth. Pour the brownie batter into a greased 9"x13" pan and smooth the top. (For foolproof removal from the pan, you may wish to consider lining the pan with parchment paper.) Bake at 350* for 25 minutes. Let the brownies cool, then refrigerate until completely chilled.
2. ICE CREAM (make after brownie is chilled): Blend all the ice cream ingredients except the peppermints in a blender until smooth. Churn the mixture in an automatic 1.5-qt. countertop ice cream churn. When the ice cream is done churning, transfer it to a shallow container, stir the chopped peppermints in by hand, and freeze for 40 minutes (or until the ice cream is firm enough to support a layer of brownie as you assemble the cake).
3. ASSEMBLE: Cut the brownie layer in half lengthwise so you have two pieces of brownie that are 13" long. Carefully remove them intact from the baking pan and place one on a serving platter. Top the brownie with half the ice cream and smooth it with a spatula, then top that with the other piece of brownie. Spread the remaining ice cream on top. Freeze the ice cream cake in a level spot in your freezer (this is important) until it is structurally solid.
4. FUDGE: Melt the butter and coconut oil together. Whisk in the cocoa powder and Super Sweet Blend. Whisk in the cream, but only whisk until the mixture has thickened. If you whisk it too long, the fudge will clump.
5. ASSEMBLE: Pour and/or spread the fudge mixture on top of the ice cream cake, then top with chopped peppermints. The fudge layer will harden quickly on the cold cake. Wrap the cake in tinfoil and freeze solid. The cake can be stored in the freezer for a few days if necessary.
6. SERVING: Slowly thaw the ice cream cake in the refrigerator for 3 hours before serving. Let the cake sit out at room temperature for half an hour, then slice into 12 slices with a sharp knife. Serve. Freeze leftover cake slices between wax paper or tinfoil so you can thaw them individually as the need arises (10-15 seconds in the microwave on "defrost" works great).

Notes

*Use carton (not canned) coconut milk in place of the unsweetened almond milk for a nut free option. Most people with nut allergies can handle coconut, but check with your doctor first to make sure.
**The fudge layer is optional. You could just omit it and sprinkle the top ice cream layer with chopped peppermints for garnish.
If you don't have any of my baking mix on hand, you can try substituting THM Baking Blend. You'll probably need a few extra tablespoons since my mix is drier and soaks up more liquid.

3.5.3226

• Vitamix Blender (5300 Certified Refurbished) – Amazon
• Cuisinart 1 1/2 qt. Automatic Ice Cream Churn
• Oat Fiber
• THM Oat Fiber (gluten-free)
• THM Gentle Sweet
• THM Super Sweet Blend
• Xanthan Gum (iHerb)
• Vegetable Glycerin
• THM Pure Stevia Extract Powder
• Glucomannan (Amazon)
• Xylitol-Sweetened Peppermints

You may also enjoy:

Peppermint Brownie Cheesecake and my 18th Birthday Cream Cheese Chocolate Chip Brownie Cake Pumpkin Cream Cheese Brownie Cake Single-Serve Birthday Cake Ice Cream