Copycat Cherry Garcia Ice Cream

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Safeway. All opinions are 100% mine.

Cake and ice cream is a favorite summer treat and this Cherry Garcia Ice Cream with a slice of cake is a match made in summer heaven.

This easy no-churn ice cream loaded with dark chocolate and fresh cherries is my take on Cherry Garcia ice cream. Fresh cherries and chocolate are a delicious way to dress up ice cream and adding a slice of cake makes it a perfect summer dessert.

Let me just say my kids were more than excited when I announced we would have cake and ice cream for dessert and they were more than happy to accompany me to our local Safewaystore to buy the ingredients for the homemade Cherry Garcia ice cream as well as pick out a special cake to serve with it.

We love our Safeway and with summer upon us I couldn’t wait to use Fresh California Grown Cherries in the dessert I planned to make. Cherries are in season for such a short time and I always buy loads of them because Safeway has the highest quality seasonal fruit.

I planned to make the ice cream from scratch – it’s an easy no-churn recipe like my cookies & cream Nutella ice cream– but for the cake I knew I would find an absolutely delicious one in the bakery.

In keeping with the cherry theme, we picked out a gorgeous Cherry Boston Cake from the bakery. All of the cakes are handcrafted in the in-store bakery and this is not the first time I’ve taken advantage of this convenience. The cakes are always fresh and delicious and the Cherry Boston Cake was perfect for our dessert plans.

With the cake ready to go, all we had to do was prepare the Cherry Garcia ice cream.

Homemade Cherry Garcia Ice Cream

I absolutely love making no-churn ice cream during the summer. It’s so much easier than using a machine. It’s rich, creamy and just as good as premium ice cream from a shop.

Ben & Jerry’s Cherry Garcia Ice Cream is one of my family’s favorites, but when you make it homemade you can add in as many chopped cherries and chocolate as you want. Sometimes we add a fudge swirl, too, using my homemade hot fudge sauce.

A scoop of cherry ice cream with a slice of cherry Boston cake is the perfect summer treat. The two are just meant to go together, don’t you think?

How to Make No-Churn Ice Cream

To make the base, all you do is puree heavy cream, chocolate milk, sugar, a little salt and vanilla until the mixture is creamy and smooth.

Place the blender in the refrigerator until the mixture is chilled. Transfer it to the freezer for 45 minutes. Remove it from the freezer and blend the mixture for 15 to 20 seconds. Pour it into a serving container, cover the container, and place it in the freezer for 45 minutes.

For the add ins, I just chop fresh cherries and dark chocolate. I like to pop them in the freezer so they’re nice and cold when I add them to the base.

Remove the ice cream mixture from the freezer and whisk it. Add the chocolate and cherries and gently fold them into the base. Freeze for 45 minutes, whisk the mixture again, and then cover and freeze the ice cream until it’s firm and set.

This cherry ice cream and cake dessert is the best way to kick off the summer season! My family devoured the cake – it’s a lot like a classic Boston Cream Cake, but with cherries. The cream filling was divine with the perfect texture and flavor.

And the ice cream! The kids give it five stars – their favorite part being the generous amount of cherries and chocolate. It was perfect with the cake.

I found all of my ingredients at my local Safeway, but you can also find seasonal cherry items at the Albertsons Companies family of stores, including Albertsons, ACME Markets, Jewel-Osco, Vons, Randall’s, Shaw’s Supermarket, Star Market, Tom Thumb and Vons.

 

I hope you treat yourself to some fresh cherries this summer! This recipe is one of my favorite ways to use them.

Enjoy! XOXO San

More Summer Desserts

• Cherry Oat Bars
• Cherry Cobbler
• Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
• No Churn Brownie Nutella Ice Cream