Next Post
This post may contain affiliate links, please see our privacy policy for details.
This pretty, no-bake, Strawberry Pretzel Ice Cream Cake is your new go-to summer cake. The crust is made up of salty pretzels mixed with sweet ginger cookies. The crust is then layered with creamy vanilla ice cream and strawberry ice cream swirled with fresh strawberry jam. A generous topping of fresh strawberries finishes it off. This icy cold strawberry ice cream cake is creamy, extra berry-filled, and requires very little effort.
Once again this summer I’m really embracing ice cream and using up all the berries in the process too! In the last month or so, I feel like I’ve made a new ice cream recipe every few days. And I still have more new recipes coming your way…both berry-filled and chocolate heavy.
Ice cream isn’t the easiest to work with since it melts so fast. When it comes to how-to videos and photos, ice cream is always challenging. But even though it’s often made me want to cry, I somehow can’t resist creating a summer dessert ice cream recipe!
I loved ice cream as a kid, so making it and enjoying it always brings me back to the carefree summer days of my childhood. Those easygoing days were the best.
The details – let’s talk about the crust
First, make the crust. This is super easy. Simply combine salty pretzels, gingersnap cookies (I buy mine from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s), and butter. I find this easiest to do in a food processor mixer, but it can also be done in a bowl. Do what works best for you.
Now, press the pretzel crust into a square baking pan. No baking is required. Simple. Simple.
The layers
For the layers, vanilla ice cream, strawberry ice cream swirled with homemade strawberry jam, and then one final layer of vanilla.
I wanted the strawberry ice cream to have pockets of sweetness and fresh summer berries, so I ended up swirling in my homemade strawberry jam. You can use my homemade jam or your favorite store-bought jam. Both will be equally delicious.
The only semi-annoying piece to this cake is that you do have to freeze the crust and each of the layers.
But it’s not a long wait time. 15 minutes for the crust, then 30ish for the first layer of vanilla and another 30 for the strawberry layer. You’ll have some downtime in between freezes.
Once all of the layers are together, I top with sliced strawberries, then freeze. And wow, that’s pretty much it. I like to freeze overnight to really make sure the ice cream is frozen nicely.
Also, for both the vanilla and strawberry ice cream, I love to use Tillamook. Especially their Oregano strawberry ice cream, it never fails. And for the vanilla, their vanilla bean or old-fashioned vanilla are my favorites.
Once frozen, slice and enjoy every last creamy, berry-filled bite. It’s sweet, heavy on the ice cream, swirled with berries, and has just the right amount of salty pretzel crunch on the bottom. The perfect balance of sweet and salty that leaves you longing for another bite.
Looking for other Summer ice cream recipes? Here are some favorites:
No Churn Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
Homemade Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Bars
Creamy Vegan Chocolate Fudge Pops
Blackberry Lavender Ice Cream Sandwiches
Lastly, if you make this Strawberry Pretzel Ice Cream Cake, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Strawberry Pretzel Ice Cream Cake
Servings: 8
Calories Per Serving: 971 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Watch the How-To Reel
Ingredients
- 1 cup mini salted pretzels
- 15 gingersnap cookies
- 6 tablespoons salted butter, melted
- 5 cups vanilla ice cream
- 4 cups strawberry ice cream
- 1 cup strawberry jam
- 1 cup sliced fresh strawberries
Instructions
- 1. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with parchment paper.2. In a food processor, pulse the pretzels and gingersnaps into fine crumbs. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture holds together when pinched. Press into the bottom of the pan. Freeze 15 minutes. 3. Scoop 4 cups vanilla ice cream out onto the frozen crust. Flatten/spread into a mostly evenly layer. Freeze 30 minutes. 4. In a bowl, gently swirl together the strawberry ice cream and strawberry jam. Spread onto the vanilla layer. Freeze for 30 minutes more.5. Take a 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream and flatten/spread onto the strawberry layer. Top with sliced strawberries. Wrap the cake and freeze 4 hours or until frozen.5. Remove the cake from the freezer. Use the parchment paper to lift the cake out of the pan. Let sit 5 minutes. Slice and enjoy immediately.
Notes
No Food Processor: If you do not have a food processor just add the cookies to a large ziplock bag and use a rolling pin to smash the cookies into crumbs. Or simply crush them by stepping all over the bag!
This post was originally published on July 15, 2022
Could you make this the day before you will be serving it? Or is it best made same day?
Hi Marie,
Yes, you can absolutely make this in advance! I hope you love this recipe, please let me know if you give it a try!
Hi Tieghan, loved this recipe & I will be making it again!
Thanks so much, Marie!
I made this last year on a family vacation where my nephew has requested an ice cream cake for his birthday. He and we were all a dubious about the ginger snaps (none of us likes ginger snaps alone), but they actually go nicely with everything else in this cake.
He liked the cake so much that he remembered it a year later and requested it again. The rest of the family was also very enthusiastic.
For me, I think this is good, but I keep wondering if it could benefit from a second layer of crust somewhere in the middle (in addition to the one on the bottom). Right now it is like 2% crust, 98% ice cream, and that isn’t fully balanced to me.
Hey Jill,
Awesome!! So glad to hear this recipe turned out nicely for you, thanks for making it and happy birthday to your nephew!! Sure, you could try adding another layer of crust:)
If I was going to use all pretzels for the crust and no gingersnap cookies, what would the measurement be for the pretzels?
Hi Sheri,
I have never tried this, but I would probably say 3 cups. If you need more, you can always add more. I hope you love this cake!
The description says homemade strawberry jam, but there are no instructions for it and the link goes to Walmart.com?
Hi Carrey,
You can find my recipe for homemade jam located here:
https://fett-weg.today/essentials/#butter_spreads%3C/a%3E%3Cbr /> Please let me know if you have any other questions! xT
Excellent !!! Made this when some friends came over and everyone loved it. It was just the right amount of strawberry and sweetness mixed with the salty pretzels and ginger cookie. Definitely will make again. Thanks again Tieghan for such great recipes.
Hey Sabrina,
Wonderful!! So glad to hear that this cake turned out nicely for you, thanks so much for making it! xT
Let me star off by saying I LOVE your recipes. This one was a bit of a miss for me. I made this and the strawberries on top were rock hard – too frozen to bite into. Made it difficult to eat. How did you manage to keep your strawberry slices from becoming too hard to eat?
Hey there,
Thanks for giving this recipe a try and sharing your feedback, so sorry to hear you didn’t love it! I let the cake sit for a little so it’s easy to cut into and the strawberries usually thaw during that time. xx
Hi, I also had the problem with the strawberries frozen very hard on top which made if difficult to enjoy. Do you think you could do them fresh at the time of serving?
Yes! That would work as well:)
I made this ice cream for Father’s Day & my family couldn’t stop raving about it. The only change I made was to use a cheesecake pan. It was easier for me than using parchment paper. It came out so beautiful and you could see all the layers. Thanks for a great recipe!
Hey Elizabeth,
Amazing!! So glad to hear that you enjoyed this recipe, thanks so much for making it! Have a great week! xx
Do you know if this could be made ahead of time and frozen for a week or two?
Hi Ronda,
Sure, that would work for you! Please let me know if you give this recipe a try, I hope it’s delish! xT
We ate this ice cream cake for Fourth Of July (it got devoured) and oh my goodness it was SO DELICIOUS. I don’t like ginger, but the crust ended up being my favorite part! SO GOOD 11/10
Hey Raylee,
Thanks so much for making this recipe and your comment! So glad to hear that it turned out well for you:) xT
Thank goodness for your typo in the instructions…oregano strawberry ice cream kinda grossed me out, lol…then found out it’s actually Oregon Strawberry ice cream. It’s in the freezer now! Can’t wait to try it now that I know it doesn’t have oregano in it! 😂
Lol oops! Sorry about that! I hope you love this cake, let me know how it turns out! xT