Pancake Ice Cream Cake

It was my friend's birthday last month and she LOVES ice cream so I wanted to make her an ice cream cake without actually having to bake cakes. That's where I came up with the idea to use Pancakes! So this recipe is shamelessly inspired by a lazy feeling but I'm not mad about it at all because it's a game changer.

What you need:

• A doubled batch of pancake mix, I used Aunt Jemima's the first time and Annie's organic the second time. (Both work great, and both times I doubled the suggested portion and had a little more than what I needed.)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup sprinkles (I bought mine from Layered Cake Shop on Etsy - cutest colors and sprinkles ever.)
• Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream, I used an entire container of Tilamook (1.75 oz)

What to do:

1. Follow the packaging instructions to make the pancake batter and pancakes. (I used two large skillets at a time and cooked two huge pancakes in each one to make the time go by faster.)
2. It's important to leave the pancakes somewhat undercooked. They shouldn't be gloopy but I found when they are super dense in the middle and maybe even a little raw, the cake tastes and holds better. It's also okay if you mess up the pancakes while flipping because they'll be turned into crumbs anyways.
3. You can either use a food processor or two forks to rip the pancakes into pieces. You want pancake "crumbs". The size should be a little smaller than a crouton and a little bigger than bread crumbs. It's okay if they are not all the same size because they get smooshed in the cake mold.
4. One the pancakes have cooled, add the sprinkles and maple syrup to the pancake crumbs and mix. If the sprinkles start to melt too much in the wet syrup, you can add more in while layering in the cake mold.
5. Take the ice cream out of the freezer in order to soften it.
6. I used two 4" circular cake pans to mold the cake into the shape I wanted. You'll need to line the bottom of it with two pieces of parchment paper at a 90 degree angle so that you can easily pull up the cake once it's all frozen. (I cut 4 pieces of parchment paper into 2 inch wide strips because the circle shape is awkward and it made the most sense that way.) They should be long enough so that there are 4 tabs sticking up and out of the baking pan for you to pull! Once they are in place, you can put the pancake crumbs right on top of them.
7. Scoop 1 cup of the pancake bits into a measuring cup, it shouldn't be packed in there too tight but it should be decently full.
8. Line the bottom of each baking pan with the 1 cup of pancake crumbs and press down with the bottom of a cup until it's even. If it's a liiiiittle loose, that's okay, the ice cream will seep in and do it's thing.
9. Next, add a layer of the softened vanilla ice cream on top of each layer of smooshed pancake crumbs. The ice cream should be soft enough to spread around but not too soft where it's complete liquid. (A hot spoon helps to smooth it around better.)
10. Quickly transfer each pan to a flat area in the freezer. Leave it in there until the ice cream freezes up enough to hold another layer of pancake crumbs and then ice cream. (Mine sat in the freezer for a little over an hour before it was ready.)
11. Repeat steps 9 and 10 with the layers. On one of the cakes, top with pancake crumbs and more sprinkles. This will be the top portion of your cake - the one with just ice cream on top will be the base layer.
12. Return to the freezer again for at least three hours.
13. Remove each cake pan and let thaw for 5 minutes before pulling each piece of cake out of the pan. Start with the one without pancake crumbs on top and put it on your cake stand. Quickly remove the other cake from the pan and place it directly on top of the base layer. Pop it back into the freezer to firm back up for 30 minutes or longer.
14. Let thaw for 6-8 minutes before slicing through and serving!