Birthday Layer Cake with Ice Cream & Avocado-Chocolate Mousse

There’s nothing like a delicious, homemade cake to set the mood for a birthday.

And this year, I was feeling particularly inspired in the kitchen.

I wanted to create a layered cake that was filled with ice cream, chocolate, berries, and lots of healthy fats and calories.

I knew I wanted to start with a crust that reminded me of a classic graham cracker crust. So I used toasted hazelnuts and a soft, smooth date cream to hold it all together.

Trust me: If you’ve never tried roasted hazelnuts, it’s a game changer.

They go from a tasty but somewhat bland nut to a deliciously rich and flavorful one.

Next, I knew I wanted to incorporate some ice cream layers.

I used blackberries (because they’re in season) and added some chocolate chips and a hint of lemon for extra flavor.

The ice cream turned out amazing, and I’ve had a batch in my freezer ever since!

Finally, I topped the cake with a chocolate mousse. I used avocado, coconut cream, and dates.

It’s a lovely combination that packs a ton of nutrients and calories into one delicious, beautiful package.

And the best part? You can’t even taste the avocado!

I’ve had several guys taste-test it and give it their stamp of approval.

Colorful, loving, different, beautiful, inspiring, and full of surprises, the cake and the day were everything I could have hoped for.

If you’re looking for a unique and delicious cake to make for your next special occasion, try this one!

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Birthday Layer Cake w. Ice Cream

Birthday Layer Cake with Ice Cream & Avocado-Chocolate Mousse
Course Dessert
Servings 11
Calories 162kcal

Ingredients

Crust

  • 250 g roasted hazelnuts
  • 15 medium sized soft dates (soak if necessary)
  • 1 tbsp oil or butter
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt

Blackberry ice cream

  • 250 g blackberries (You can use frozen, just let them thaw)
  • 100 g powdered sugar (substitute with honey or agave if you prefer)
  • 150 ml full fat cream
  • 75 ml semi skimmed milk
  • 40 g 70% chocolate finely grated
  • Juice and zest from 1/2 organic lemon
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate mousse with avocado & coconut cream

  • 3 very ripe avocados
  • 400 ml full fat coconut milk chilled in fridge
  • 10 soft dates (soaked if necessary)
  • 5.5 tbsp honey agave or sweetener after your choice
  • 4 tbsp high quality cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • A pinch of salt

Instructions

Crust

  • Heat oven to 350   °F/175   °C.  Roast hazelnuts in the oven on a baking sheet for 10 min, or until they look slightly golden and skin starts to crack. Let them cool. Remove skin by rubbing the nuts between your hands or a kitchen towel.
  • Place nuts in a blender and puls a few times until they are chunky/fine. Remove from blender.
  • Remove stone from dates, and place them in a food processor or a good blender along with oil and salt. Blend until at smooth cream appears. (I sometimes use my hand held blender for this).
  • In a bowl combine nuts, date cream and adjust taste with salt. The texture should be sticky and chunky. If it does not stick well together add more blended dates.
  • Use a 22 cm (8 inch) spring-form cake pan. Fasten a piece of parchment paper between the ring and then bottom of the spring form.  Use your hands to firmly press the crust out in the pan until it covers the whole bottom.    Place it in the freezer.

Blackberry ice cream

  • In a blender combine sugar and blackberries, blend until smooth and fine texture. Let the mix run through a fine strainer to avoid the seeds from the berries in order to get a smooth ice cream.
  • Add cream, milk, vanilla and lemon juice & zest and whisk together.
  • Add mixture to your ice cream maker and let in run for 5-10 min before adding the chocolate and let it finish until creamy ice cream appears.
  • Remove baking pan from freezer. Add the ice cream on top of  the crust layer. Spread it evenly across and place it back in the freezer.

Chocolate mousse with avocado & coconut cream

  • Scoop out all of avocado flesh.
  • Open the coconut can and scoop out only the top creamy layer app. 2/3 of the can and add in blender along with the avocado and blend. Tip: safe the remaining coconut water and use in a smoothie.
  • Add the remaining ingredients and blend until a smooth creamy mousse appears. Adjust taste with sweetener, cocoa and salt.
  • Now you can choose to add the mousse to the two other layers in the cake and freeze all of it together. The cake can be stored up to a couple of weeks. When serving the cake you remove it from  the freezer 30-45 min ahead to let it soften up a bit before serving.
  • Or you can choose to assemble the cake, let it freeze for max 1 hour before serving it… and voila you’ve got an creamy ice cream cake with a slightly softer mousse layer on top. (I prefer this last version in order to get the most delicious and creamy texture from the two top layers)

Notes

*You could prepare the cake some days ahead, Or just assemble it as you make it and serve it after 30 min-1 hour in the freezer.
Serve the cake with berries of your choice!

Nutrition

Calories: 162kcal | Carbohydrates: 21g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.01g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 220mg | Potassium: 130mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 19g | Vitamin A: 56IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg