Cherry Ice Cream Pound Cake

Yield: 1 cherry ice cream pound cake // Total Time: 8 hr. // Disclaimer: This post includes affiliate links. //

Moist pound cake layered with cherry ice cream and a cherry compote.

cherry ice cream cake in a loaf pan

While it’s always a great time for ice cream cake, it’s summer time which means it’s the *perfect* time for ice cream cake. We’re making use of fresh summer dark sweet cherries to make a cherry compote, then layering it with a moist vanilla pound cake and black cherry ice cream. Top it all off with some light and fluffy homemade whipped cream and more fresh cherries for the perfect summer treat.

recipe tips

weigh your ingredients

Weighing your ingredients is important for getting the recipe perfect and getting consistent results. Not weighing your ingredients can lead to adding too much or too little of an ingredient which can give you some undesirable results. This kitchen scale is super cheap and worked well for me when I was starting out! If you don’t have access to a scale, here is the best way to measure flour: fluff up the flour with a fork, then use a spoon to scoop it into your measuring cup. Use a knife to level off the top of the cup, then use as directed.

mix the batter carefully

After adding in your flour, you’ll want to be careful to only mix until that last streak of flour disappears into the batter to avoid over-mixing. Over-mixing your batter leads to developing more gluten in the batter, which will make the cake more tough and chewy.

room temperature ingredients

It is important for the ingredients to be at room temperature so that they properly incorporate with each other. If you have ever had your batter look curdled, it is most likely due to the ingredients separating from being at different temperatures. Take out the butter, eggs, and buttermilk at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hr 30 min. before starting the recipe. A little hack that I do is to run the eggs under hot water for 1 minute to bring them to room temp. and microwave the buttermilk/butter in 5-second intervals until it’s no longer cold (but not hot.)

freeze the ice cream cake overnight

The cake will need to be set in the freezer for at least 6 hours but will be best if it’s made the day before and able to set up overnight.

how to tell when your loaf cake is done.

It’s always a little game with telling if your loaf is done. Sometimes it will look done, but it’s still super wet in the center, and now that you’ve opened the oven door, you risk the loaf collapsing in the middle, which is never desirable. I recommend waiting until at least 40 minutes to start checking for doneness. When checking for doneness, you’ll want to take a toothpick and stick it down the exact center of the loaf. If it comes out with a few moist crumbs, you’re good to take it out! If it’s still a little wet, put the loaf back in the oven, checking in 5-minute intervals for doneness.

ingredients and substitutions

For the pound cake:

All purpose flour: gives the cake structure.

Baking powder: helps the cake rise. It’s not in a standard pound cake but we’ll use it for a little extra lift to make it lighter since it will be frozen.

Salt: for balancing and bringing out the sweetness of the batter.

Unsalted butter: for tenderizing the cake and adding flavor. You can substitute in salted butter, just be sure to omit the extra salt in the batter. You can also use your favorite dairy-free butter stick in it’s place.

Granulated sugar: for sweetening the cake and keeping it moist. The sugar also helps aerate the butter to give this cake its rise.

Eggs: for binding, moisture, and leavening.

Vanilla: for flavor.

Buttermilk: adds moisture and makes the cake tender. I recommend full fat for the best texture.

For the cherry filling:

Cherries: I used and recomend dark sweet cherries – fresh or frozen will work.

Sugar: we’ll use a little sugar to sweeten the compote.

Lemon: you’ll need 1 small fresh lemon for the zest and some of the juice to help brighten up the flavor of the cherry compote.

Black cherry ice cream: I used Hudsonville’s Black Cherry Icecream but feel free to use whichever cherry or non-cherry ice cream you’d like! Even chocolate ice cream would be great here with the cherries.

For the whipped cream:

You can use store-bought whipped cream or cool-whip as a quick substitute as well!

Heavy whipping cream: the base of the whipped cream.

Granulated sugar: just a little bit to lightly sweeten the whipped cream.

Vanilla: for flavor.

Salt: to help bring out the sweetness and flavor of the whipped cream.

how to make cherry ice cream pound cake

cherry ice cream pound cake q&a

what size loaf pan do I need?

I used an 8×4″ metal loaf pan but you can also use a 9×5″. Just note that your pound cake may take a little less time to bake in a 9×5″ pan. I recommend against using a glass loaf pan but if that’s all you have on hand, note that the baking time may significantly increase.

can I double this recipe?

Of course! Just double all the ingredients and bake them in two loaf pans.

a note on oven temperature

Ovens vary and fluctuate in temperature. For example, I always have to set my oven to 330°F if I want it to bake at 350°F. If you love to bake like I do, I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer. They are super helpful for letting you know when your oven might be lying to you! I use this one.

tools and ingredients

You can find all my favorite tools and ingredients that I use on my Amazon Storefront page, here!