During the hot summer weather, you can never go wrong with ice cream cake. This gorgeous red, white, and blue 4th of July ice cream cake is just the ticket for your Independence Day party.

Fun, festive, and delicious, 4th of July cake is made with a blue vanilla cake base topped with a white ice cream layer and a red ice cream layer. To finish it off, the cake is decorated in sweet, creamy frosting and decked out in sprinkles – red, white, and blue, of course!

It’s a great make-ahead dessert for the Fourth of July, so you don’t need to spend ages in the kitchen on the day.

Tips
Use room temperature ingredients to make the cake layer. For the whipped cream, be sure your ingredients are cold.

You can make your red, white, and blue ice cream cake a day or two in advance. If you do make the cake ahead of time, add the red whipped cream the day you’re serving the cake so it doesn’t run.

Use a boxed cake mix to simplify this recipe.

Instead of dyeing vanilla ice cream red, try raspberry or cherry ice cream for the red layer.

How to Store 4th of July Ice Cream Cake
Cover the cake and store it in the freezer for up to one week.

Ingredients
FOR THE CAKE
UNSALTED BUTTER AT ROOM TEMPERATURE
1/4 cup
SOUR CREAM
1/4 cup
WHITE SUGAR
1/2 cup
VANILLA EXTRACT
1 tsp
LARGE EGG WHITES
2
ALL-PURPOSE FLOUR
3/4 cup
BAKING POWDER
1 1/4 tsp
WHOLE MILK
1/4 cup
WATER
1 tbsp
BLUE GEL ICING COLOR
FOR THE ICE CREAM
VANILLA ICE CREAM
2 1.5 quart-containers
RED GEL ICING COLOR
FOR THE WHIPPED CREAM
HEAVY WHIPPING CREAM, COLD
2 cups
POWDERED SUGAR
1 cup
PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
1 1/2 tsp
RED GEL ICING COLOR
SPRINKLES (RED, WHITE, AND BLUE)
How to Make 4th of July Ice Cream Cake

Step 1
Preheat your oven to 350F. Grease a cake pan with cooking spray and line the bottom with parchment paper.

Step 2
In a bowl, cream butter and sugar until fluffy and light.

Step 3
Beat in sour cream and vanilla.

Step 4
Beat in the egg whites until the ingredients are fully combined.

Step 5
In a second bowl, whisk flour and baking powder.

Step 6
Add half the flour mixture to the butter mixture. Mix well.

Step 7
Beat in the blue food coloring.

Step 8
Pour in the milk, and water.

Step 9
Add the rest of the flour mixture.

Step 10
Mix.

Step 11
Pour the batter into the cake pan.

Step 12
Spread it well. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, then remove from the oven and leave to cool to room temperature.

Step 13
Leave the ice cream to soften for 15 to 20 minutes. Line two cake pans with cling film, making sure to leave some overhang over the sides. Slice off a thin layer from the top of the cake so it’s even.

Step 14
Put the ice cream into a large bowl and stir in until it softens.

Step 15
Put half the ice cream in a second bowl and return it to the freezer.

Step 16
Place the white ice cream on top of the cake, spreading it so it’s even, then place in the freezer until firm.

Step 17
Take the second bowl of ice cream out of the freezer. Mix in the red food coloring.

Step 18
Place in the second cake pan and then put the cake pan in the freezer and freeze until firm.

Step 19
Place the cake on a serving platter, then top it with the white ice cream.

Step 20
Place the red ice cream on top of the white ice cream layer. Put the assembled cake back in the freezer.

Step 21
In a bowl, beat heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form.

Step 22
Frost the outside of the cake, making sure to reserve about 1/3 cup of frosting. Put the cake back in the freezer for 20 minutes.

Step 23
Mix the red food coloring into the rest of the whipped cream and transfer to a piping bag.

Step 24
Decorate the outside of the cake with red, white, and blue sprinkles.

Step 25
Pipe the red whipped cream around the edge of the top of the cake. Place in the freezer until ready to serve.

Step 26
Slice, serve and enjoy!

Notes
Use 8-inch cake pans for your red, white, and blue ice cream cake.