Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream

my birthday gift to you all

My 40th birthday is breathing down my neck this month and so I wanted to turn one of my favorite desserts into ice cream and share it with you all as bonus free recipe! I loved ordering strawberry shortcake from a local restaurant and requested various versions of strawberry cakes for my birthday over the years. I even served strawberry cake at our wedding.

If you want a bright, easy to make summer dessert that will wow your friends and family, you need to make this strawberry shortcake ice cream. It is incredibly easy but feels more elevated with the notes of basil and added “short cut shortcake” to it.

You will want to plan ahead a little bit more than my other ice creams and can collect the final infinity stone of Neapolitan ice cream by making my chocolate and vanilla as well.

I love this recipe for when strawberries are ripe and fresh with a hint of basil for brightness.

As always, I’ll link my favorite ice cream supplies here.

• 1 lb strawberries chopped and destemmed

• 1 tbl water

• 1 tbl maple syrup

• 1/4 cup basil leaves

For the base:

• 12 oz half n half

• 12 oz heavy whipping cream

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 1 tsp vanilla bean paste

• 1/4 cup maple syrup

• One box of simple mills vanilla cake mix + what’s needed on the back (Or your favorite boxed cake mix)

For this recipe, you will make your strawberry puree in advance and let the basil leaves sit in it for a minimum of four hours or overnight (the easiest).

Destem and roughly chop your strawberries, add them to a blender with the water and maple syrup. Blend until smooth and then strain the seeds out into a container. Add your basil leaves and let it steep overnight. You’ll remove the basil before you churn your ice cream.

For this recipe, I made the “shortcake” from Simple Mills vanilla boxed cake mix per directions on the back of the box. I used butter as my oil for more of that shortcut cake taste and baked in an 8x8 pan, let it cool and cubed it. You will only need a small amount to layer into the ice cream and the rest can be used for serving with the ice cream or freezing on a tray and transferring to a freezer safe container for future use.

• I prefer Kalona brand for my half n half and heavy whipping cream. I have tried others and this brand makes the creamiest ice cream. One of the reasons that homemade ice cream can freeze so hard is because it doesn’t get air whipped into it like a commercial machine can. I prefer a higher fat content to help combat this.

• I like Simple Mills boxed cake with butter as my oil. Place the leftover cake in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet and let it freeze. Then transfer to a freezer safe container. Save it to use for future ice cream or an ice cream bar topping. (Or a sweet treat craving!)

• For the easiest results, bake your cake and make your puree the night before so that it’s ready to go. Allow a few hours for the ice cream to firm up in the freezer. You can serve it right away but it will be a bit more like a soft serve consistency. (Which isn’t a bad thing)

• I love our ice cream maker and we keep the barrel frozen in the freezer to be ready to use. In the summertime, we are often making ice cream on the weekends.