The theme song for the Baskin Robbin’s commercial has been running through my head ever since I made this pumpkin ice cream cake last night.
Here it is, if you don’t know what I am talking about…
That song is so catchy isn’t it? You gotta love the marketing that goes behind Baskin Robbins cakes. There is a lot of other things too – lurking behind the fun, care-free appearance of their cakes. Lots of preservatives, food coloring, growth hormones and antibiotic filled dairy, pesticides, GMOs, corn syrup, trans fat and other man made toxic chemicals!
Check out the list of ingredients in a typical mint chocolate chip cream cake -
Ingredients: mint chocolate chip ice cream: cream, nonfat milk, sugar, corn syrup, chocolate chips (sugar, chocolate liquor, chocolate liquor processed with alkali, milkfat, cocoa butter, soy lecithin an emulsifier), whey powder, emulsifier/stabilizer blend (mono and diglycerides, cellulose gum, guar gum, carrageenan), natural flavoring, artificial color (blue 1, yellow 5). ganache cake coating: sugar, coconut oil, cocoa (processed with alkali), peanut oil, whey, soy lecithin (an emulsifier), salt, natural flavor. chocolate cake: sugar, bleached wheat flour, water, egg whites, soybean oil, cocoa (processed with alkali), buttermilk, contains less than 2%: leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate), natural and artificial mocha and vanilla flavors, salt, artificial color (red 40, blue 1, yellow 6), modified corn starch, monoglycerides, propylene glycol monoesters, stearoyl lactylic acid, corn starch, cellulose gum, preservatives (ascorbic acid, citric acid, potassium sorbate).green drizzle: coconut oil, sugar, nonfat milk powder, whey, soybean oil, partially hydrogenated coconut oil, soy lecithin an emulsifier, titanium dioxide (for color), vanillin (an artificial flavor), artificial colors (blue 1, yellow 5).
Can you believe this cake has so many detrimental ingredients to your health all in one slice?…
Once you understand what is in Baskin Robbins, and other conventional ice cream brands – I hope you think twice about your support of these establishments. Even “once and a while” – I don’t call going to Baskin Robbins or anywhere else that uses these types of ingredients “a treat.” Why would I want to treat myself with carcinogenic toxins (propylene glycol, growth hormones), increase risk of heart disease (partially hydrogenated coconut oil) and other potential aliments…(corn syrup, blue 1, yellow 5)?
This is why I find it so hard to understand people when they say they just eat <Insert Dead Toxic BIG FOOD company product here> “once in a while” to “treat” themselves. There are so many good sweet delicious desserts that won’t put your life and health at risk. Remember voting with your dollars is the only way we are going to stop the production of toxic chemicals into our food supply – support local bakeries that make good ingredient decisions, buy your cakes from natural food stores, and eat out at restaurants where they make their own desserts from scratch….And do the unheard of! Make your own freakin’ ice cream cake!
Homemade Pumpkin Ice Cream Cake – Voila!
The secret ingredient is store bought “Coconut Bliss” Icecream – A company I will spend my money on – because they are 100% certified organic and do not support GMOs. Their coconut based ice creams don’t contain refined sugar either! They source their agave nectar from a quality distributor in Mexico that doesn’t overly process the natural sugar. If you haven’t tried their ice creams yet – do – because all of them are amazing!
This recipe is easy. And the outcome is REWARDING (in big caps – because everyone will think you are genius cook after making this….). I just had a piece of this incredible cake today – and let me tell you – IT WILL IMPRESS, DELIGHT and EVERYONE WILL WANT SECONDS (I certainly did!). The best part – you don’t just have to “treat” yourself “once in a while” with this cake – you can have it more often than that – because it is vegan, free of refined sugar and contains ZERO harmful chemicals! Amazing, I know.
I made two cakes last night – one for me and my husband and one for Thanksgiving on Thursday… The one for us is already half gone – if I don’t take the other one to my Mom’s house tomorrow to store in her big freezer, it might not make it until Thursday! Wish me luck!
- Pumpkin Cake:
- 3 cups of flour – A mix of 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour and 1 cup oat flour works well
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
- ⅔ cups coconut flakes
- ⅔ cups coconut milk
- 1 cup coconut oil melted
- 2 cups pumpkin puree
- 6 dates chopped
- 6 prunes chopped
- 2 ripe bananas chopped
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- For Ice Cream Cake Assembly:
- 3 containers of Coconut Bliss Vanilla Ice Cream
- 2 cups dried cranberries
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease large baking dish (9×13)
- Sit containers of ice cream out on counter to soften/melt
- In a large bowl combine dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda, salt, and spices)
- In blender combine all sweeteners & liquid ingredients (pumpkin puree, coconut oil, coconut milk, dates, prunes, bananas, maple syrup and vanilla) – Blend until smooth
- Slowly stir and incorporate liquid mixture into dry ingredients – fold in dried coconut until moistened
- Pour batter into large greased baking dish
- Bake for 30-45mins – check doneness with a tooth pick (it will come out clean)
- Allow cake to cool before starting assembly with ice cream
- In a 8×4 baking dish – layer bottom with soft or melted ice cream and sprinkle top with some cranberries
- Slice cake pieces to about ½ inch thick and layer on top
- Repeat layer of ice-cream, cranberries, and cake one more time until you end with ice cream on top, finish with cranberries and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice or cinnamon
- Freeze assembled cake for at least 4 hours
- Take cake out of the freezer for 5-10 mins before serving and slice into thin pieces
I wish I could see and hear you taste it – I am imagining a big Ooooo and a big Ahhhhhh when you do…
Love y’all so much!
Now Do the Icecream & Cake!
Food Babe
We are all looking forward to tasting this yummy dessert on Thursday
!
Mom
I am definitely going to try this – LOVE Coconut Bliss and looking for recipes without refined sugar. Thanks for posting and Happy Thanksgiving down there.
Vicki in Canada
Thank you Vicki! You will love it – Every time I have a bite, I can’t believe how good this recipe is. The cranberries are incredible with the pumpkin and coconut flavors!
Thank you again for stopping by!
coconut and pumpkin are two of my favorite flavors of all time. DEFINITELY will be trying this
ps: yours looks a million times better than that baskin robbins cake, too. I don’t know how people get so excited about all those neon colors that just taste like plain refined sugar. Bring on the FLAVA.
Thank you Mary Beth! I HATE unnatural colors on food and LOVE your comment – this cake totally brings on the FLAVA!
Let me know when you try it – Would love to hear your reaction.
I am wondering if you could use GL free flour or even Pamela’s baking mix w/ the baking soda added??? I want to make this for my son since he cannot have any dairy or gluten. I typically have better luck with Pamelas’s mix over GL free flour when baking anyway…was wondering if anyone has made this way. Thank you this looks amazing!
Of course! Any flour or baking mix will do – you just need cake to layer between the ice-cream layers! Hope you enjoy the recipe – it’s amazing!
I don’t like coconut…can you leave it out? Or do you not even taste it?
Agave nectar isn’t something that I would want to use.
According to Dr Mercola:
This ‘Tequila’ Sweetener is Far Worse than High Fructose Corn Syrup.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/30/beware-of-the-agave-nectar-health-food.aspx
Thank you for sharing. As Dr. Mercola states in his article – There are some organic versions and companies that use a quality form of agave – that don’t use a high ratio of fructose. Coconut Bliss is one of them, fortunately and this is why I like their product!
“There are a few companies who commit to and actually achieve these criteria and actually:
Work with the indigenous people,
Use organic agave as the raw material, free of pesticides
Process it at low temperatures to preserve all the natural enzymes
Produce a final agave product that is closer to 50% fructose instead of over 90%
Fructose is bonded or conjugated to other sugars and not floating around as “free” fructose, like HFCS, which is far more damaging.”
You are certainly right there!
But there seem to be more to it than that.
- However you will still need to exert caution in using it.
Just like fruit it is quantity issue. Fructose only becomes a metabolic poison when you consume it in quantities greater than 25 grams a day. If you consume one of the typical agave preparations that is one tablespoon, assuming you consume ZERO additional fructose in your diet, which is VERY unlikely since the average person consumes 70 grams per day.
It’s important for you and your family’s health to remember that agave syrup is neither healthy nor natural.
As reported by Dr. Ingrid Kohlstadt, a fellow of the American College of Nutrition and an associate faculty member at Johns Hopkins School of Public Health:
“Agave is almost all fructose, a highly processed sugar with great marketing.”
Agave syrup is not low calorie — it has about 16 calories per teaspoon, the same as sucrose (table sugar). The glycemic index is immaterial, once you understand the full extent of the risk this product poses to your health.
Seems I might as well use regular organic table sugar.
The meaning of the phrase “ice cream” varies from one country to another. Phrases such as “frozen custard”, “frozen yogurt”, “sorbet”, “gelato” and others are used to distinguish different varieties and styles. In some countries, such as the United States, the phrase “ice cream” applies only to a specific variety, and most governments regulate the commercial use of the various terms according to the relative quantities of the main ingredients.