King Cake Ice Cream – it’s Mardi Gras, y’all! Cream cheese ice cream with king cake pieces and sprinkles mixed in.
Love Mardi Gras? Try King Cake Bread Pudding and Muffuletta Dip!
It’s my favorite time of year!
Mardi Gras will forever be my favorite holiday. Who doesn’t love a giant party where moonpies get thrown at you?! Plus king cake?! And beads?! There’s just no better holiday.
I love this King Cake Ice Cream almost as much as I love Mardi Gras. It’s a cream cheese ice cream with diced king cake pieces mixed in and layers of sprinkles.
What Is a King Cake?
If you aren’t familiar, a king cake is kind of like a big, round cinnamon roll. It’s a sweet yeast dough that’s filled with cinnamon sugar and nuts and rolled up like a cinnamon roll and then formed into a ring. It gets baked and then topped with icing and Mardi Gras color sprinkles.
Some people get fancy with the fillings and do cream cheese (my favorite!) or a praline filling.
How To Make King Cake Ice Cream
- Heat milk, heavy cream, sugar, salt, and vanilla over medium heat just until it starts to bubble
- While the milk mixture is heating up, whisk 6 eggs yolks together in a large bowl
- Once the milk mixture is hot, slowly stream about a cup of the milk into the egg yolks, whisking vigorously the entire time
- Pour egg yolk and milk mixture back into the pot
- Continue heating over medium heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon
- Pour custard through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl
- Add diced cream cheese and stir until cream cheese is melted
- Chill until cold (overnight if possible)
- Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s intructions
- Fold in diced king cake
- Layer ice cream and sprinkles in container
Where Do You Get King Cake?
I live in Texas and can find king cakes during Mardi Gras season so check your grocery store bakery, local bakeries, things like that.
However, I started making king cakes mid-January before HEB had them and this is my favorite king cake recipe. I used a cinnamon sugar filling for this ice cream recipe though.
Yes, there are a lot of steps. But yes, it will be worth it.
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King Cake Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- pinch of salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 6 large egg yolks
- 1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese, diced
- 1 ½ cups diced cinnamon-filled king cake
- purple, yellow, and green sprinkles
Instructions
Warm the milk, sugar, heavy whipping cream, salt, and vanilla bean paste in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat just until it starts to bubble.
While the milk mixture is heating, whisk together the egg yolks. Once the milk starts to bubble, slowly stream in about 1 cup of the milk while whisking constantly. Pour the egg yolk mixture into the pot you used to heat the milk.
Heat the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon.
Pour the custard through a fine mesh strainer and into a large bowl. While mixture is still hot, add cream cheese and stir until cream cheese is completely melted. Chill the mixture overnight.
Freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Once frozen, fold in diced king cake.
Put half the ice cream in the container you plan to freeze it in. Add a thin layer of sprinkles. Top with remaining ice cream and another layer of sprinkles.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 482Total Fat: 32gSaturated Fat: 18gTrans Fat: 1gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 252mgSodium: 217mgCarbohydrates: 40gFiber: 1gSugar: 25gProtein: 10g
Cathy says
This is such a fun flavor and perfect for celebrating Mardi Gras!
Beth says
I make this quite often ever since I found the recipe about a year ago. It’s soooo good!
Catalina says
This is genius! I am sure this will be my new favorite ice cream!
Erin | Dinners,Dishes and Dessert says
This ice cream couldn’t look any more perfect!
Erik says
This is too fun! Thanks for sharing!
Kimberly says
Great idea, this king cake ice cream is so pretty!
Krystle says
This might be the best ice cream I’ve ever eaten. The cream cheese base is out of this world good.
Jacque Hastert says
This ice cream I could eat all day! I love the flavor and celebration that it pairs with.
Jacque Hastert says
I can’t wait to get my hand on a few scoops of this ice cream. It is screaming Fat Tuesday for sure!
Cathy says
YESSS! Such a fun way to celebrate Mardi Gras!!!
Sara Welch says
This is my kind of treat! Exactly what I need to cure my sweet tooth, indeed!