These piña colada ice cream sandwiches are delicious frozen treat version of summertime's favorite tropical cocktail.
Creamy, dairy free piña colada ice cream, loaded with pineapple, coconut and a hint of rum, is sandwiched between layers of a soft vanilla cake. The trick is to try not to eat more than one sandwich at a time!
This page contains affiliate links. Affiliate links support Pineapple and Coconut at no additional cost to you. If you choose to make a purchase via these links, I earn a small commission to help keep this blog running and it is much appreciated. I am an Amazon and Adorama affiliate.
Piña Colada Ice Cream Sandwiches:
Who doesn't love ice cream sandwiches? Or ice cream for that matter? I love making homemade ice cream and these ice cream sandwiches are so fun to make and eat.
When I got my seasonal Fikabröd baking box with a "splish splash" pool party theme, I spied the Pina Colada mix packet and knew exactly what I wanted to make. Pina Colada ice cream.
But since I am who I am and had to take a step extra with making it into ice cream sandwiches.
Jump to:
- Piña Colada Ice Cream Sandwiches:
- Ingredients for the ice cream sandwich cake:
- Ingredients for the piña colada ice cream:
- Instructions:
- Make the cake:
- Make the ice cream:
- Substitutions:
- Equipment:
- Storage:
- Top tip:
- FAQ:
- Homemade ice cream:
- Make it a meal?
- Piña Colada Ice Cream Sandwich Recipe:
- Piña Colada Ice Cream Sandwiches
The cake is a simple cake, based on a swiss roll cake, made in a larger pan. Instead of rolled its cut in half.
The pina colada ice cream is non-dairy and can be served on its own for a tasty vegan treat or made into sandwiches.
Ingredients for the ice cream sandwich cake:
- Large eggs - room temperature
- Sugar - granulated white - can also use finer, caster sugar
- Cake flour - do not substitute anything else. Cake flour is lower in protein and gluten which is perfect for a very soft cake like a swiss roll cake
- Oil - I use a neutral oil such as avocado oil or sunflower oil
- Pineapple juice ( to make just a vanilla cake use whole milk instead)
- Kosher salt - always need a little salt in any sweet recipe
- Cream of tartar - to stabilize the egg whites
See recipe card for quantities.
Ingredients for the piña colada ice cream:
- Pineapple - canned crushed pineapple or pineapple chunks in juice
- Coconut milk - full fat
- Coconut whipping cream
- Coconut sweetened condensed milk
- Pineapple juice
- Piña colada drink mix - optional
- Rum - coconut, pineapple or dark
- Lime juice
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions:
Both the cake and the ice cream can be made ahead of time, kept chilled and frozen respectively, and assembled at anytime. The times given in the recipe card are approximate. I usually make this over two days.
Make the cake:
For the cake: whisk together egg yolks, oil, half the sugar, pineapple juice and vanilla
Egg whites whipped to soft peaks with the other half of the sugar and cream of tartar gets folded into the yolk mixture
Spread the batter quickly into the prepared pan. Smoothing it evenly with a spatula. Tap the pan a few times to release air bubbles then bake.
Silly me forgot to take a photo of the baked cake in the pan, but you will see how it looks here shortly as the ice cream sandwiches get assembled.
Make the ice cream:
If using chopped pineapple in juice blend it up.
You want the consistency of crushed pineapple.
Cook the pineapple until the juice is absorbed and it has thickened.
If using chopped pineapple in juice blend it up.
You want the consistency of crushed pineapple.
Cook the pineapple until the juice is absorbed and it has thickened.
Next you will churn the ice cream in your ice cream maker but don't transfer to a dish or containers to freeze. You want it soft to spread easily, but not melted.
Once the ice cream is churned spread in on one half of the cake in a pan lined with parchment paper.
Spread the ice cream as carefully as you can since the cake is pretty delicate and could tear easily.
Spread the ice cream evenly to the edges of the pan. You will have some leftover ice cream. Transfer that to a freezer safe container and freeze.
Top with the other half of the cake, wrap the excess parchment over the top, cover the pan with plastic wrap or foil then freeze until set.
Hint: Make sure you leave enough parchment paper hanging over the edges of the pan before you start layering the sandwiches. It is so easy to lift out the whole slab before cutting into pieces. You want to cut on a cutting board not in the pan.
Trim the ends of the ice cream sandwich slab to make evenly shaped sandwiches then cut into rectangles like I did or squares. I got 10 sandwiches.
Substitutions:
I can't really think of any substitutions for this recipe - I tested it with the ingredients in the recipe. I am not sure how a gluten free or egg free cake recipe would be in place of the cake recipe here. Try at your own risk.
Equipment:
- Ice cream maker - I know this is an expense and a single use appliance but it is one that gets the most use in my house. I make homemade ice cream, gelato, sorbet and frozen yogurt all the time. I love it and you can get a good one at a decent price. I am not a fan of no-churn ice cream recipes, the texture just isn't the same.
- 8x13 sheet pan - for baking the cake. Also known as a half sheet or jelly roll. Its my baking sheet I use all the time for cookies.
- 9x13 baking sheet -( could even us an 8x8 or 9x9 pan) for assembling the ice cream sandwiched.
- Parchment paper
- Spatula - I use one that I normally use for cake decorating
Storage:
Store the ice cream sandwiches wrapped in wax paper, parchment or deli paper and then in an airtight container or reusable freezer bag. Store up to three months for best freshness. After that the flavor isn't as great and can get freezer burn.
Top tip:
Don't overbake the cake. It takes 8-10 minutes max. It is a similar recipe to a swiss roll cake, just baked in a thinner layer. Cool completely then chill before assembling the ice cream sandwiches.
You can make both the cake and the ice cream ahead of time. Thaw the ice cream to very soft so it spreads easily and doesn't tear the cake.
FAQ:
My version of this ice cream is non dairy so it consists of coconut milks, coconut condensed sweetened milk, pineapple and rum
Homemade ice cream:
Here are some more ice cream recipes that would also work well as ice cream sandwiches:
Make it a meal?
Make it an entirely piña colada themed meal:
Piña Colada Ice Cream Sandwich Recipe:
Piña Colada Ice Cream Sandwiches
Ingredients
- For the cake:
- 4 large eggs separated
- 60 g sugar divided
- 40 g oil
- 40 g pineapple juice
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
- 85 g cake flour
- 1 g kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon cream of tartar
- For the ice cream:
- 567 g pineapple chunks in juice or crushed pineapple in juice
- 200 ml coconut milk
- 200 ml coconut whipping cream
- 100 g coconut condensed milk
- 250 ml pineapple juice divided
- 1 packet Pina colada mix
- 60 ml coconut rum
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
Instructions
- Instructions:
- For the cake:
- Preheat oven to 350 Deg F. Line an 18x13 rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. You might have to use two pieces of parchment
- In a large bowl whisk together the egg yolks, 30 g of sugar, oil, pineapple juice and vanilla. Sift the flour and salt over the top and whisk together until no lumps remain.
- In a stand mixer or another large bowl, whisk the egg whites until foamy. Add the cream of tartar and whisk another minute. Keep whisking and slowly add in the sugar and turn mixer to medium high and whisk until soft peaks form. When you lift the whisk out of the bowl the whipped egg white peaks will slowly fold back over.
- Fold the egg whites into the yolk mixture one third of the whites at a time. Being careful not to deflate the whites. Once it is all folded in, pour into the prepared pan and smooth out to all edges of the pan as evenly as you can. Tap the pan on your counter a few times to release air bubbles.
- Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the top is starting to brown and looks dry. No longer than 12 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and cool. Cut in half lengthwise so you have two pieces roughly 9x13. You can wrap these and keep chilled until ready to use.
- To make the ice cream:
- If using pineapple chunks, blend the pineapple and its juice until its the same consistency as crushed, not pureed smooth. Transfer the blended pineapple and juice to a saucepan and heat over medium high, stirring until the pineapple juice has evaporated and the pineapple mixture has thickened. Let cool.
- In a large bowl whisk together the coconut milk, whipping cream and condensed milk. Mix 50 ml of the pineapple juice with the Pina colada mix and the rum. Whisk this into the milk mixture. Whisk in the remaining 200 ml pineapple juice and lime juice then add in the cooked pineapple.
- Transfer to two large deli containers and chill for an hour. You will be churning the ice cream when ready to assemble the ice cream sandwiches.
- Ready to assemble:
- Line a 9x13 rimmed baking sheet with 9 inches of parchment paper hanging over the long sides. Place one half of the cake on the pan.
- Churn the ice cream then spread it over the top of the cake half in the pan. There will be some leftover.
- Top with the other half of the cake, fold the parchment paper over the top then freeze until the ice cream bars are set.
- When frozen, remove the slab of ice cream sandwich, trim the edges then cut into 10 bars. You can refreeze these if they get melty while cutting.
- Store either individually wrapped in wax paper or parchment in a freezer safe bag or freezer safe container.
Leave a Reply