June 27th is National Ice Cream Cake Day. We’ve invited everyone over to taste some of the ice cream cakes featured here.

You may notice that these are square or rectangular cakes, because it’s so much easier to slice and serve square pieces rather than conventional wedge slices.

So take a look and consider making one this weekend. You’ll have no shortage of “takers.”

> The history of the ice cream cake is below.

> Also below: more ice cream cake recipes.

> A brief history of cake.

> The different types of cake: a photo glossary.

> The history of ice cream.

> The different types of frozen desserts: a photo glossary.

> A year of ice cream holidays.

> August 18th is National Ice Cream Pie Day.
 
 
THE HISTORY OF THE ICE CREAM CAKE

Ice cream cake doesn’t have a single inventor, was the result of convergent evolution” when referring to ideas, innovations, or solutions that arise independently in different places or times.

The concept of combining two popular desserts, ice cream and cake, has been around for centuries.

The precursor to today’s ice cream cake was the bombe glacée (frozen bomb, photo #4), a molded dessert popular in 18th- and 19th-century Europe, especially in France and England.

Ice cream and/or sorbet, along with cake (typically sponge cake or ladyfingers), custard, and/or fruit, was layered in decorative molds, often with a meringue, dessert sauce, or other coating on the outside.

Sometimes the meringue was flambéed, like Baked Alaska (photo #5).

The bombe glacée was named for its resemblance to the shape of a cannonball, and referred to the round or dome-shaped mold in which the dessert was frozen.

Victorians loved elaborate desserts, and the molded ice cream cake began to take shape. Since it took a lot of labor to hand-churn ice cream, they were special-occasion desserts, served at banquets and balls.
 
The modern ice cream cake, with distinct layers of ice cream and cake, became popular in the mid-20th century.

Tom Carvel, inventor of soft-serve ice cream, developed a frozen cake made with ice cream, fudge, and cookie crunch in the 1950s (the history of Carvel).

Ice cream cakes became readily available in the 1940s and 1950s, as his and other chains like Baskin-Robbins (1970s) and Dairy Queen (around 1981), expanded.

Carvel popularized ice cream cakes across America, especially for birthdays and holidays, and his later, character-shaped cakes (like Fudgie The Whale, Cookie Puss, Hug Me the Bear, Santa, Easter Bunny), were widely advertised.

[7] Fudgie The Whale.

Fudgie (photo #7), invented in 1977 as a Father’s Day promotion “to a whale of a Dad,” went viral and became part of pop culture.

The cake appeared on David Letterman, The Colbert Report, The Daily Show; in the comedy sketches of Patton Oswalt, Kevin Smith and Billy Crystal; and appeared at Mets and Yankees games (source).

He even made the cover of People magazine (photo #6).
 
 
MORE ICE CREAM CAKE RECIPES

 
 
Plus Recipes From Taste Of Home

 
 

[8] Strawberry Crunch Ice Cream Cake. Here’s the recipe.
 

[1] Oreo Ice Cream Cake is a fan favorite—not surprisingly because the #1 cookie brand is Oreo! Here’s the recipe (photos #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, and #8 © Taste Of Home).

[2] |We’re always in the mood for Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake. Here’s the recipe.

[3] Angel Food Ice Cream Cake. The bottom layer is ice cream, the top layer is cake. Here’s the recipe.

[4] A bombe glacée, so called because its round shape resembled a cannonball.

[5] Baked Alaska. It differs from the bombe glacée with its baked meringue topping and bottom layer of cake. Here’s the history of Baked Alaska plus recipes.

[6] Fudgie The Whale makes the cover of People (photos #6 and #7 © Carvel).

CHECK OUT WHAT’S HAPPENING ON OUR HOME PAGE, THENIBBLE.COM.