Ice Cream Cake

Five ingredients, no oven, no mixer, no stress. Softened vanilla ice cream gets stirred with thawed pink lemonade concentrate, spread over a buttery graham cracker crust, and frozen until firm. That’s it.

The pink lemonade concentrate is doing all the flavor work here. Mixed into the ice cream, it adds a tart, fruity punch and turns the whole layer a soft pink color. The contrast against the toasty, golden crust makes this look like a much fancier dessert than five ingredients have any right to produce.

Pressing a firm, even crust matters. Pack the graham cracker mixture into the pan tightly with the back of a measuring cup or your hands. Loose crumbs fall apart when you cut slices, and you’ll lose that satisfying crust-to-ice-cream ratio.

Reserve a small handful of the crumb mixture before pressing the crust. Scattered on top, those buttery bits add crunch against the smooth ice cream layer.

Kitchen Tips

• Soften the ice cream at room temperature for 10-15 minutes before mixing. You want it scoopable and stirrable, not liquid. Melted ice cream refreezes with an icy, grainy texture.
• Freeze the crust for 15 minutes before adding the ice cream layer. A cold, set crust won’t get soggy.
• Let the finished cake sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes before slicing. A hot knife dipped in warm water gives the cleanest cuts.

Variations

• Use regular lemonade concentrate for a more classic flavor, or try raspberry lemonade for a deeper berry color.
• Swap graham crackers for crushed Oreos and butter for a chocolate cookie crust.
• Layer in sliced fresh strawberries between the crust and ice cream for fruit throughout.