I Tried The Viral Recipe Where You Literally Bake Ice Cream In The Oven, And I'm Still In Disbelief About How It Turned Out
Okay, I've seen a lot of recipes on the internet, but "ice cream bread" is without a doubt the weirdest (and most intriguing) one yet. This viral TikTok with over 22 million views claims that you can make sweetened bread simply by baking ice cream and flour. When I first discovered this, I had trouble grappling with a reality where ice cream, a famously frozen dessert, would ever have a valid reason to be inside of an oven.
Isn't melted ice cream usually just a sticky bummer at the beach? Is it possible that a melty mess could be the key to a delicious dessert? I was sooo skeptical that this could ever possibly taste good, but found countless reviews that sing its praises:
Since the viral video doesn't specify measurements, I went searching to find another recipe online to utilize for my sweet treat needs. I found that even though I personally first saw this strange dessert on TikTok, it wasn't invented recently and has been around for a while! This recipe from Tasty specified using self-rising flour, which I opted for instead of regular flour in hopes it would help the bread turn out soft like a cloud instead of a hockey puck.
I had to get to the bottom of this myself, so I decided to try it out and bring you along for the journey. Here's how to make it (and why you'll want to try it, too!):
All you need is three ingredients, and one of them is optional. Grab some self-rising flour, a pint of ice cream, and some sprinkles:
You don't really need the sprinkles, but they do bring more than just razzle dazzle to the dish. Since they're baked along with all the other ingredients, they add a pop of extra sweetness along with a tiny bit of texture. But if you're someone who prefers your treats with less sugar, then you can skip it!
Before you start mixing the ingredients, remember to preheat your oven to 350ºF!
Then, measure 2 cups of melted ice cream and add to your mixing bowl:
You could just pour the pint into the bowl because 2 cups = 1 pint! Or you could be like me and give yourself extra dishes to wash for no reason.
Next, it's time for 1 1/4 cups of self-rising flour:
If you don't have self-rising flour, you can make it by adding 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder and 1/4 teaspoon of salt to regular flour!
Then it's time to mix it on up!
You can mix by hand if you're about that life, but I only lasted 30 seconds before realizing I don't possess that level of patience and grabbed my hand mixer. Just remember not to turn on the mixer until after it's already in the bowl or you'll risk spewing flour all over your kitchen (like I may or may not have done off-camera).
After a minute or two, it'll get super thicc:
Once there are no more lumps, pour the mixture into your cake pan and smooth it out so it's even before adding the sprinkles:
Into the oven it goes! The recipe says to bake at 350ºF for 35 to 40 minutes...
...But when I checked on mine at 25 minutes, it was absolutely perfect and ready to go! I wouldn't bake longer than 30 minutes, personally!
Time for the moment of truth! How wrong I was to expect this to be drier than a Popeye's biscuit, because the utter delicacy that emerged from the oven was a delightfully fluffy dessert descended straight from the heavens.
I feel like the best way to demonstrate the unbelievable levels of sponginess at play here is with a squeeze test. Just look at it! Fluffy like a damn pillow.
I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it, and then I couldn't believe my mouth when I tasted it! I'm convinced this is the love child of cake and bread.
This was sooo beyond delicious that I scarfed it down! It wasn't too sweet like cake, and it wasn't too dry like bread. The flavors of the ice cream were coming through so delicately, like my taste buds were dancing on air. It honestly felt super fancy, like a little cake I would enjoy at a tea party in a royal palace instead of hunched over my kitchen counter in the middle of the night.
I originally wanted to make this recipe because of how strange it was to bake a frozen treat. But now that I've had it, I'm even more perplexed by how easy it was to make. It's seriously hard to mess up! Anyone with two ingredients and a dream could whip this up without any worries. I genuinely recommend trying this out, even if you've never made bread before! It's even easier than it looks, and it looks easy!
The last step is to address the cruel truth food bloggers don't want you to see: the behind-the-scenes mess. <3
