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Brown Sugar Espresso Ice Cream Cake

Brown sugar espresso ice cream cake with a graham cracker crust, espresso-brown sugar drizzle, and a whipped cream top. Coffee brown sugar flavors are layered into softened coffee ice cream, then frozen into a sliceable frozen cake.
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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
freezing 8 hours
Total Time 10 hours 40 minutes
Servings: 12 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 520
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Graham crust
  • 24 graham crackers crushed fine
  • 0.5 cup brown sugar
  • 6 tbsp butter melted
Espresso-brown sugar ice cream layer
  • 0.5 gallon coffee ice cream softened
  • 0.5 cup brown sugar simple syrup made from brown sugar + water (see instructions)
Espresso powder mixture
  • 1 tbsp espresso powder dissolved in hot water
  • 2 tbsp hot water for dissolving espresso powder
Whipped topping
  • 2 cup whipped cream
  • 1 cinnamon and brown sugar for topping use for dusting and garnish

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 Dutch oven
  • 1 stand mixer

Method
 

Make and freeze the graham crust
  1. Combine crushed graham crackers, 1/2 cup brown sugar, and melted butter, then press firmly into a 9-inch springform pan to form an even layer. Freeze 15 minutes until set.
Simmer the brown sugar syrup
  1. In a Dutch oven, combine 1/2 cup brown sugar and 1/2 cup water, then simmer over medium heat until the sugar dissolves and the syrup looks glossy. Cool slightly before using.
Dissolve espresso and build the ice cream mixture
  1. Dissolve the espresso powder in 2 tablespoons hot water until smooth and dark. Stir the espresso into the warm brown sugar simple syrup.
  2. Fold about half of the espresso-brown sugar syrup into the softened coffee ice cream until evenly streaked and cohesive.
Freeze the cake base
  1. Spread the espresso-infused softened coffee ice cream over the frozen crust and smooth the top. Freeze for 4 hours until firm.
Finish and freeze again
  1. Drizzle the remaining espresso brown sugar syrup over the frozen cake surface in ribbons. Top with whipped cream in an even layer, then dust with cinnamon and brown sugar.
  2. Freeze for 2 more hours before serving so the drizzle and topping set cleanly.

Notes

For clean slices, loosen the springform ring only after the cake is fully frozen solid; rest at room temperature for 5–10 minutes before cutting. Store covered in the freezer up to 2 weeks. Freezing is best for this cake (freeze is required; do not refrigerate as the texture softens). If you want a lighter option, use reduced-fat whipped cream or a lower-fat vanilla/caramel coffee ice cream as the base while keeping the syrup ratio the same.