No-Churn Salted Honey Ice Cream Cake with Pretzel-Cookie Crumble

It has been a minute.

I took a small reprieve from posting this past week while we were away at Dan’s family reunion on Kent Island, MD.

It was an opportunity to unplug and reset, and to connect with family members that we don’t get to see that often. It was so, so needed! But now we’re back and getting into the swing of a regular routine again. Kieran is back at his summer camp and Dan and I are back at work.

To help ease the transition from vacation mode, I’m talking all about an ice cream cake today. Yes. I think we could all use a slice, regardless of vacation status.

This dessert is the sort of thing I LOVE to make in the summer for a variety of reasons. 1 – it feeds a crowd, which makes it ideal for summer gatherings such as BBQs or pool parties. 2 – it holds up well in the freezer for awhile if you aren’t making it for a large crowd. You can sneak a slice here and there and pop it back in the freezer. 3 – it’s really flippin’ easy.

Like, ridiculously easy.

This is a no-churn ice cream recipe with minimal ingredients: heavy cream, sweetened condensed milk, honey, vanilla, and sea salt. That’s it. No ice cream machine required!

You simply whip the cream to soft peaks and then fold it into the other ingredients until everything is a fluffy, sweet cloud. Pop it in the freezer to set for a few hours and you have delicious, no-churn salted honey ice cream!

The ice cream base here can be used for a lot of no-churn ice cream flavors. I’m thinking of trying salted caramel in place of the honey or maybe even a fruit puree? Mango ice cream? Blackberry with chocolate shavings? OMG. Yes to all of the above. The possibilities are endless!

To keep things a little bit more interesting with this salted honey version, I like to sandwich layers of the ice cream in between a mixture of pretzel and vanilla wafer crumbs and form the whole situation in a springform pan so it can be presented like a cake. You can also make this in a regular baking dish, layering the ingredients the same way, and slice it into square cake pieces. So fun and so, so delicious.

The ice cream has a lovely floral sweetness from the honey that is rounded out nicely by the subtle salinity of sea salt flakes. Salted honey sounds like everything I want in a dessert. And this one came out even better than I was hoping.

It’s creamy and rich and really does have a similar texture to churned ice cream. The texture is unreal. Add in the flavors and a little crunch and added salt from the crumble and I’m done for. Dead. Do not revive.

Let me just stay here in my ice cream coma bliss forever.

No-Churn Salted Honey Ice Cream Cake with Pretzel-Cookie Crumble

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• Author: Molly
• Yield: 8 servings 1x

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Ingredients

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• 2 cups cold heavy cream
• 1 (14-oz) can sweetened condensed milk
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste (or extract)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt (I like fleur de sel)
• 2 cups vanilla wafer cookies
• 1 cup thin pretzels
• Flaky sea salt, for serving
• Additional honey, for serving

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Instructions

1. Place the cream in the bowl of your stand mixer (alternatively, whisk by hand or with a hand mixer) and beat on high with the whisk attachment until stiff peaks form, about 2 minutes.
2. Pour the sweetened condensed milk into a large bowl and mix in the honey, vanilla, and sea salt.
3. Gently fold the whipped cream into the milk mixture, working it in gently and slowly. Set aside.
4. Place the cookies and pretzels into a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form (alternatively, you can place them in a plastic bag and crush them by hand or with a rolling pin.
5. Lightly spray a springform pan or baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Place roughly ⅓ of the crumb mixture on the bottom of the pan.
6. Add half of the milk-cream mixture and spread out in an even layer. Add another ⅓ of the crumb mixture and spread out over the top of the cream in an even layer. Repeat with the remaining cream and crumb mixtures.
7. Wrap the top of the pan with plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for at least 4 hours (longer is even better).
8. To serve, remove the sides of the springform pan, slice, and garnish with flaked sea salt and a drizzle of honey. Serve immediately.