Mini Ice Cream Cake Trifles

Mini Ice Cream Cake Trifles will have the kids and adults begging for dessert to be served! A little creativity goes a long way in this dessert!

mini-funfetti-icecream-cake-top

A Fun Dessert Recipes For Birthdays & Parties

I’m always trying to put a spin on things, even when it comes to my lack of baking ability. But using a few store bought ingredients and adding a little creativity can help get something sort of homemade looking like you spent all day making it.

It’s my son’s 12th birthday coming up in a few days and as all parents know time flies by fast and all of the sudden I’ve got a kid who’s almost a teenager. I’m actually terrified to see what happens to our grocery bill when he gets a few years older because as of right now, it’s a little off the hook.

This kid will eat his entire dinner and then it’s dessert time. Some ice cream, a smoothie, a few cookies. Nothing too crazy. But then an hour or so later it’s snack time. Snack time??

A snack for him is usually a bowl of cereal (or two) or some peanut butter toast or even a scrambled egg sandwich. Most of the time pretty healthy but also sort of like another meal. And THEN there’s the “just before bed” snack like an apple or banana. And my seven year old eats almost the same way so we’re doomed for sure.

Definitely worth the mention, my kids wouldn’t know what to do if our house was out of milk even for a day. I’m that dad that’s sent out to Walmart at 8:00 at night for milk because we need it for the next morning.

Usually I’m grabbing ingredients while I’m there too, like for this dessert, so it’s kind of one-stop shopping. And I really don’t mind running out for something like milk since milk it’s so good for them – loaded with tons of protein, calcium and vitamin D.

How To Make Mini Ice Cream Cake Trifles

So for his birthday I wanted to make something kind of over the top for dessert instead of just a cake. Then I couldn’t decide between ice cream cake and regular cake so – you guessed it – I went with both.

I made these Mini Ice Cream Cake Trifles to try and make his birthday seem more fun, but you could definitely take this same concept and make a whole sheet cake instead.

Gather up all your ingredients and let’s get started!

mini-funfetti-icecream-cake-ingredients

This recipe takes a little preparation ahead of time, just partially thaw out a box of chocolate ice cream and stir in M&M’s® Milk Chocolate. I chopped mine up pretty fine in a food processor so that no on bites on a frozen piece of chocolate, just little crispy pieces.

Pour the ice cream into a 9 x 13 baking dish and freeze until solid, I did mine the night before but a few hours would be fine.

The next day (or even the day before) you can make the Pillsbury™ Funfetti® cake by following the package instructions for a 9″ x 13″ sheet pan. When it’s done, just set it aside and let it cool.

Now comes the fun part. No pun intended there…

Take a circle cookie cutter and cut out rounds of your cake and ice cream using a 3″ round cookie cutter, then layer then into large dessert cup or these mini trifle dishes like I have. Spread some vanilla Frosting on top and then cover the frosting with crushed M&M’s® White Peppermint candies.

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Boom. dessert done. A dessert that looks like it took hours that really only took a few minutes if you plan ahead.

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There’s not a kid or adult at your table that won’t have a smile on their face when this dessert comes!

More Fun Dessert Recipes!

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ice cream cake trifle in dish

Mini Ice Cream Cake Trifles

  • Author: Dan
  • Prep Time: 3 hours
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 3 hours 25 minutes
  • Yield: 6 Servings 1x

Make 6 individual trifles, or adapt the recipe to make a whole sheet cake! Thus trifle recipe is what everyone wants for their birthday!

Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 box Pillsbury™ Funfetti® cake mix, baked according to package directions for a 9″x13″ pan
  • 1 gallon chocolate ice cream
  • 1 8 oz. package M&M’s® Holiday White Peppermint
  • 1 8 oz. package M&M’s® Holiday Milk Chocolate
  • 1 container Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Holiday Vanilla Flavored Frosting

Instructions

  1. At least 3 hours ahead of time, soften the chocolate ice cream in a large bowl.
  2. Add the bag of M&M’s® Holiday Milk Chocolate to a food processor and mix until fine, then stir into the softened ice cream.
  3. Pour the ice cream in a 9″x13″ baking dish, spread into and even layer and place in the freezer for at least 3 hours or over night.
  4. Using a 3 inch round cookie cutter, cut out rounds of the Pillsbury™ Funfetti® cake, slice the rounds in half lengthwise so you have 2 rounds. You should easily get 6 rounds out of the sheet cake, cutting in half to make 12. Save the leftover cake pieces for crumbling on top of the trifles!
  5. Chop the M&M’s® Holiday White Peppermint into large chunks, either carefully using a knife or back in the food processor, but not as fine as the M&M’s® Holiday Milk Chocolates.
  6. When you’re ready to assemble take the ice cream layer out of the freezer and let sit at room temperature for 15 minutes. Using the same 3″ cutter, cut out rounds of the ice cream.
  7. To assemble, place one round of cake on the bottom of an individual trifle dish, followed by a round of the chocolate ice cream and then topped with another round of cake.
  8. Spread the top layer of cake with the Pillsbury™ Funfetti® Holiday Vanilla Flavored Frosting and top with the crushed M&M’s® Holiday White Peppermint candy.
  9. Serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

You can also adapt this recipe to a whole sheet cake. Bake the cake as per the recipe in a 9″ x 13″ and let cool. Remove from the baking dish and slice the cake in half lengthwise so you have 2 layers of cake. Place one layer back into the baking dish and top with a layer of the softened ice cream and crushed M&M’s® Holiday Milk Chocolates. Place the other layer of cake on top, cover and freeze.
When you’re ready to serve, let the cake sit for 15-20 minutes at room temperature, then frost and top with the M&M’s® White Peppermint pieces.

  • Category: Dessert
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and it’s advertiser. All opinions here are mine alone.
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10 Responses
  1. Elise

    These look absolutely amazing!!! The cake looks so yummy and your photography is awesome! I am definitely going to have to make some of these this year!






    1. Dan

      Thank you so much Elise, these were tough to shoot! Had to re-do a few times but I think we’re happy with the way they came out. Send me a picture if you do end up making them!

  2. ANTONEEK

    YES I MUST SAY THAT SEEM LIKE A VERY DELICIOUS DESSERT I WILL TRY TO MAKE SOME ME AND MY FAMILY TO SEE THEY’LL THINK. I MUST COMPLEMENT YOU ON THIS DISH AND YOU ARE VERY GOOD FOR A GUY TOO.

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