Viennetta Ice Cream Cake
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Serve up this timeless Viennetta ice cream cake for dessert this summer. It includes creamy vanilla ice cream decadently layered with both chocolate and butterscotch magic shell.
If you haven’t had Viennetta ice cream cake before, you are missing out. I like to refer to it as an ice cream lasagna. Layers of creamy ice cream and a crunchy magic shell layer. It’s a popular dessert that Breyers made years ago back in the 80s. The original Viennetta looked like a fancy cake log but it was made with ice cream with a crispy chocolate layer all throughout the dessert.
So each bite you get creamy ice cream with crispy sweet chocolate. There is something about that crispy chocolate layer in this layered Viennetta dessert that leaves you wanting one more bite. Bet you want to give it a go now, right?
Here are a few reasons why I think you need to immediately make my homemade Viennetta ice cream cake recipe:
- It’s so quick and easy to make. Like, it will take you no longer than 5 minutes to assemble.
- Viennetta is a classic dessert that guests will love.
- It’s basically fancy ice cream and who can say no to an elevated ice cream dessert?
- You only need three ingredients: vanilla ice cream, chocolate magic shell, and butterscotch magic shell.
Okay, so now I’ve convinced you to give it a go, let’s get layering!
If you love Ice Cream as much as I do make sure you try out some of these other recipes like Oreo Ice Cream Cake, Ice Cream Grahamwiches, Strawberry Ice Cream Pie, Deep Fried Ice Cream Milkshakes, No Churn Ice Cream With Fresh Blackberries and Mint Oreo Ice Cream Pie.
What You’ll Need to Make Viennetta Ice Cream Cake:
Recipe Ingredients
- Some good quality vanilla ice cream
- Magic shell (one or two flavors, up to you)
- Waxed paper
- Brand new (reserved for kitchen use only) hair pick
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How To Make My Homemade Viennetta Ice Cream Cake:
Line a loaf pan with waxed paper. This will help you get your loaf out.
Spread 1/3 of your ice cream into the bottom of the loaf pan.
Run the pick along it to form deep grooves. These will fill in with our yummy magic shell.
Pour a layer of magic shell over and allow it to harden a minute.
Add another 1/3 of your ice cream and dig grooves into it with your pick again.
Pour magic shell over that as well.
Now add the rest of our ice cream and dig grooves into it as well.
Top this final layer with a drizzle of the chocolate magic shell.
Immediately cover the ice cream cake with aluminum foil and place it in the freezer until firm.
When ready to serve, allow it to sit out for about five minutes, and then remove it from the pan using the waxed paper.
Remove the waxed paper and place it on a platter to slice and serve.
Storage
Your ice cream can store for 3 to 4 months in the freezer. Just make sure to place it in a proper container for the freezer.
I recommend placing your ice cream cake on the back shelf, that way if you open and close the freezer it does not melt the ice cream.
Recipe Notes
- Using a fork or pick to create ridges into the ice cream helps to create that classic groove look from the ice cream and chocolate layer of the cake.
- You can make homemade magic shell if you want, but you can also buy it for about a dollar. No sense in making extra work for yourself!
- You can use any flavor of the magic shell to create a different flavor pairing. The original Viennetta ice cream cake did not have butterscotch so go with 2 bottles of chocolate if you want to be more traditional.
- Work somewhat fast, as the ice cream will melt pretty quickly once you get started assembling your dessert.
- For a fancy finish, add frozen whipped topping (like Cool Whip) and a sprinkle of cocoa powder for the iconic look. However, I’d only add this if I was eating it immediately.
- You can also add fun mix-in items to add flavor. Just add them over the magic shell once it hardens.
- Crush up and sprinkle with cookies like Oreo cookies.
- Add in some chopped candy bars.
- Add chopped nuts like roasted hazelnuts or almonds.
- Use a different flavor of magic shell.
- Swap the vanilla ice cream with chocolate ice cream, coffee ice cream, or any other ice cream flavor. You could also do one layer of vanilla, one layer of chocolate, and one layer of strawberry ice cream to make a Neopolitan Viennetta ice cream cake.
Recipe FAQs
What ice cream should I choose?
Quality ice cream is key in this Viennetta cake. The reason being is the ice cream is going to be a stand-out flavor. So reach for a creamy and delicious vanilla ice cream for this dessert.
I suggest Blue Bunny (this is the best I have tasted in a while) or something from Bluebell if you have that where you are. Edy’s also makes some very good ice cream and a lot of people swear by Purity. However, I haven’t had a chance to taste any of theirs yet so I’m just sticking to the ones I know as recommendations. Just go for the absolute best in your area.
You may also like these ice cream recipes:
Walnuts in Syrup For Ice Cream Sundaes
No Churn Ice Cream With Fresh Blackberries
Deep Fried Ice Cream Milkshakes
Ingredients
- 1.5 - 1.75 quarts good quality vanilla ice cream
- 1 bottle chocolate magic shell
- 1 bottle butterscotch magic shell*
Instructions
- Soften ice cream slightly by allowing it to sit out for 5-10 minutes but no longer.1.5 - 1.75 quarts good quality vanilla ice cream
- Line the loaf pan with waxed paper pieces that are long enough to hang over the sides.
- Spread 1/3 of the ice cream in the bottom of the loaf pan. Make grooves in it with the pick. Squirt chocolate magic shell over top, just enough to cover. Allow it to sit for one minute to harden.1 bottle chocolate magic shell
- Repeat the process using the butterscotch magic shell as topping on the second layer and then repeat once more, ending with just a drizzling of chocolate magic shell on top.1 bottle butterscotch magic shell*
- Immediately cover with aluminum foil and place in the freezer until frozen solid.
- To serve, remove the loaf pan and allow it to sit for five minutes. Grab both sides of waxed paper and pull the loaf out of the pan. Discard the waxed paper and place the loaf on a platter. Carefully cut and then serve.
Nutrition
“A happy person is not a person in a
certain set of circumstances, but rather
a person with a certain set of attitudes.”
~ Hugh Downs
From the Southern Plate Facebook Page:
Rose -I want to make this!!!
Sherri- my mom LOVED these!!!
Karen- OMG!!!! i used to love this!!!! i havent thought about it in billions of moons!!!!!! YUMMY!
Sarah- Holy cow. WAAAAAAANT.
Molly -OH NO. Why must you torture me. Of course I remember this. And yes I will make it. Thank you. And my mother will thank you. Our hips will curse you!!!!
Beth -love, love, love…but do not need recipe; resist, resist, can’t resist
Britney – wow, i haven’t thought about this in forever either!
Molly – I had totally forgotten about that!!!! Yummy!!!
Elaine -mmmmmmmmm
Terri – I use to like it. May still do. If it is related to ice cream I’m game.
Tina – you helped me remember the name of it! I have been wondering for a long time what it was called. I couldn’t remember! I loved that ice cream treat. Why don’t they still make it?
Su – They still sell Vienettas here! They never ‘crackled’ when cut as they did on the commercials. We only had them a couple times when I was a kid as they were pretty expensive (back then!) so were a definite great.
Ashley -I loved that Ice cream!!!!
Beth – what do you mean, “the eighties”; I thought it was a couple of years ago.
Tammy – I have never had this. It looks so good though! Must try it. ♥
Marie -They reintroduced veinettas here again a couple years ago. I would bet homemade is 100 times better, always is.
Emiliana- Wow! What a blast from the past! I remember seeing these in stores. I always wanted to try it, but my parents wouldn’t buy it, lol! I might just have to make it!
Carmen -they were goooood!
Cinda – YUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tiffany – Wow this just took me back!!! I must make this!
Betsy Groh Durnin I totally remember that. It was one of those things I think we only had once or twice because they were expensive.
Becky – I’d forgotten all about these! Thank you for the reminder!:)
Dannah- Yes!! Thanks for posting! Love it!
Petra -i In Germany it’s still available 😀
Wow.. I always loved Vienetta.. Guess what me and the kids are making this weekend!!! Thank you =D
MMMMMM…..think I’ll go with Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla – closest to homemade I’ve ever had!! Thanks, Christy!!
Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla is the best! Just don’t tell my brother in law I said that though, he manages the Blue Bunny ice cream plant!
As for the ’80s gosh what a great time to grow up before walkmans we used to strap little transitor radios to our bike handlebars…. I stil have the set of Fisher Price My Friend Dolls and Strawberry Shortcake scented figures… which still smell as strong as they did in the ’80s. Lol I wonder what cancer causing matterial they were made with!
Thanks for the yummy recipe Christy!!!
Christy,
I have something that holds a tomato when you slice it from pampered chef that has the prongs, would probably do the same as the hair pick. I do remember that ice cream, that’s neat.
I remember all that stuff and how a #2 pencil works great at reeling back in the ribbon on a cassette tape. We started off with a borrowed TI-99 then moved up to commodore 16, 64 and 128. My grandparents had a intellivision which of course had burgertime as a game. I asked for that and have it but have never plugged it in. I also still have most of my fashion plates. Did you have those? My daughter likes to use mine when I let her. People sell them on ebay. It was a fun coloring activity. I also remember helping my boyfriend at the time run a BBS in college. Boy the internet has really changed over the years that’s for sure!
I loved fashionplates!! Thank you for reminding me of those!
Are you kidding me?! We had a Commodore 64 too! We were the first people we knew to have a computer. Ours had no monitor. It was hooked up to the spare TV! Haha we had this dot matrix printer that had to be wound with the paper and they would forever go ‘off the tracks’ and you had to reload and start again!
They still sell Vienetta here but I haven’t had it for years. I only have had it a few times actually as they were pretty expensive treats. Much more expensive than plain ice cream so we never really bought them.
As much as I love and live for our modern technologies I think I’ll always feel nostalgic for the reminders of my childhood. There’s a picture that has made the rounds on Facebook of an unwound tape and a pencil with the caption “our children will never know the connection”. Haha! So true!
WOAH!!!!!!!!!! Easy peasy!! Just think of all the different ice creams you can use!! YUMMY!!!!!! Thanks for this!!
Hello christy! I used to work for an ice cream factory for 8 years and thru those years they made changes like using powder milk instead of real milk and I agree the taste has changed. That company now is about to go under.
Eek, I hate that for them but I’d read something like what you said, always better to hear it first hand! Thank you and I hope you know you put smiles on many kids faces with all of the yummy ice cream you helped make 🙂 I bet that was an interesting job!
Gratefully,
Christy
what does the code spell all I got is what and is… help in gunna go crazy! &i come from the 90s shame on me .
The code is: What Time Is Your Curfew.
Thanks for the simple recipe.