This post is sponsored by I Love Ice Cream Cakes. As always, I only support partners whose products and practices complement those employed in The Pig & Quill kitchen.

I am the queen of planning elaborate vacations that never happen. Working by the glow of my laptop, late into the night, researching houses and hotels, the best coffee! the best breakfast sandwich! the best ramen! the best ice cream! until I’ve compiled an itinerary so fitting, in a destination so revered, that my skin literally prickles with excitement.

And then something comes up — a work trip or a case of the sniffles or a new subscription to HBO. Distraction ensues, and my tirelessly planned escapade never fully gels. I know this is likely to be the case before I even dive in, and yet I can’t help but mope a little (just to paint a picture: popcorn-to-face, seven episodes deep into the newest season of Silicon Valley), when the realization sinks in.

Which is why our most recent weekend in Sonoma was such a surprise smash.

It came almost out of the blue, an idea I had when the Columbus bestie announced she’d be coming out West to celebrate the Fourth. I opened my airbnb app, fell in love with a chic modern farmhouse that boasted a dynamo range and a salt water pool, and booked the dang thing right then and there.

The house lived up to our every expectation (less than 10 minutes from wineries and town, aka ideal keep-your-kid-awake-after-lunch-so-they-don’t-snooze-in-the-car distance — when did I become this person!) and was the perfect setting for a last-minute holiday weekend BBQ with a few friends, complete with a #summercakebreak in the form of a showstopping Fruit Basket Ice Cream Cake that — hi! Lazy, here! — came together in 5 minutes.

To clarify, while I spent the better part of a year building ice cream cakes from scratch in college (punchline: toned arms, chunky butt), the secret to this foxy babe lies in the ready-made ice cream cake from I Love Ice Cream Cakes that we picked up in the bakery section of the local grocer (I Love Ice Cream Cakes are available nationwide, find a retailer near you!). We went with a Jon Donaire® Strawberries & Cream cake to complement our Fruit Basket theme, but I Love Ice Cream Cakes offers a variety of styles and sizes, including original Carvel® and OREO®. Even within the Jon Donaire® line there are quite a few flavor combos to choose from. In fact, our Fruit Basket Ice Cream Cake came together so nicely, we picked up a Peanut Butter Cup version when we went back out for packing tape later in the day. (Ahem, those bottles of wine aren’t gonna ship themselves home…)

We appropriated a handful of fresh fruit from Lana’s abundant snack stash — strawberries, cherries, blueberries and kiwi, which I will forever be halving all zig-zaggy after seeing Lily do it on her Stories — plucked a bowl of plump, wine-hued figs from our rental’s three fruiting trees, and our handy store-bought cake became a bonafide showstopper. It was kind of majorly impressive. The babe was absolutely beside herself to learn that ice cream and cake can both exist in the space of one dessert. And much like our scarcely planned Sonoma excursion, it was surprisingly simple to pull off.

Here’s to giving into the whim, celebrating with friends — and, let’s be real, embracing pretty much any excuse for ice cream cake.
xo,
Em

Fruit Basket Ice Cream Cake

 

Print

Prep time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

 

I realize how silly it is to call this a recipe, but if you're like me and had never considered dressing up a store-bought cake, huzzah! Let's call it an insider's tip. Happy Summer!

By: Emily Stoffel

Makes: 12 servings

Ingredients

• Assorted fresh, seasonal fruit (washed and dried)
• Ready-made Ice Cream Cake (we chose a Jon Donaire® Strawberries & Cream Ice Cream Cake, but any flavor that complements your fruit toppings will do!)

Instructions

1. Ready for this? Immediately before serving, top ice cream cake with fruit, clustering like fruits together for an organic, bountiful effect. (Remove any larger fruits, like whole strawberries, before re-freezing leftovers as they can be challenging to slice through once frozen solid.) For easy, clean slicing, a hot knife is your BFF. Enjoy!

Notes

Obvi I love the striking effect of the fruit-topped cake, but we just as easily dressed up a Peanut Butter Cup cake with heaps of even more peanut butter cups and fresh raspberries, which I can never resist alongside chocolate or PB (think of a PB+J with chocolate!). Experiment and have fun!

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OH! before you go…

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