Recipe: Smucker’s jelly-roll ice cream cake

When Smuckers sent us this recipe for a Canada Day ice cream cake I glanced at it, ready to move on to the next thing in my inbox.  After all, it doesn’t immediately jump to mind that an ice cream cake would be inspiring or empowering for women, which is the general theme for this website…but then the phrases “fun for the kids to make”, “under 15 minutes to prepare” and “crowd-pleaser” caught my attention.

Hmm, what recipe could be better for a family of seven than a cake that’s a crowd-pleaser and takes less than fifteen minutes to prepare? Except, perhaps, one that I don’t even have to make myself!?  I suddenly felt a rush of something that felt like inspiration, and I swear I may just have also felt an ounce or two of empowerment as well.  This ice cream cake sounded almost too good to be true, and like the sucker for sweets that I am, I impulsively put the recipe aside for future consideration.

So yesterday, just in time for Canada Day, the kids wanted to make a dessert.  And I, swift mom that I am, whipped out this recipe with a flourish that any magician would be proud of.  It’s easy, I said, it will be fun!  And, for my husband’s benefit (since it was our turn to bring dessert for the Canada Day BBQ) I repeated: It will be a crowd pleaser!

And you know what?  I was right! (Okay, Sarah Palter, the Baking Specialist for Smuckers was right). The combination of my four kids, vanilla ice cream,  sliced jelly roll cakes and Smuckers newly launched Strawberry Sundae syrup led to a whole lot of fingers in the bowl but even so, it was less than 15 minutes to prepare AND for once the kids didn’t fight (they were too busy licking their fingers). Now that’s a recipe that I find inspiring!

With only three ingredients this recipe is more about creative assembly than culinary flair, which is perfect when you are letting children under the age of ten take charge.  It really was simple, the kids had a blast and it was easy to clean-up for mom. Oddly, the kids vanished to wash their hands and never returned to clean up (which begs me to ask, please Smuckers, can you come up with an easy recipe for that?).

Anyway, our Canada Day ice cream cake received rave reviews at the BBQ – at least I think that was what everyone was mumbling in between the words “…more please!” – and our kids proudly told everyone that would listen that they made the cake themselves.  Mission accomplished!

I’ll definitely let the kids make it again, and we won’t be waiting for another Canada Day to roll around before we do. Here’s the recipe and you can see a photo of my little angels placing the slices of jelly roll cake below:

Smucker’s Canada Day Ice Cream Cake

• 2 packages (410g/6 mini rolls each) individually wrapped jelly rolls, sliced in 4 even pieces
• 8 cups (2L) vanilla ice cream, softened
• 1 cup (250mL) Smucker’s Sundae Syrup Strawberry Syrup
• Additional Smucker’s Sundae Syrup Strawberry Syrup for garnish

Line a 12 cup (3L) metal mixing bowl with plastic wrap. Then line inside of bowl with a single layer of sliced jelly rolls, allowing them to overlap if necessary. Reserve remaining pieces for top. Fill with 2 cups (500mL) of ice cream and cover with ¼ cup (50mL) of syrup. Continue layering ice cream and Smucker’s Sundae Syrup Strawberry Syrup, ending with ice cream. Cover with remaining jelly roll slices.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap and freeze until firm, 2-3 hours. To serve, remove plastic wrap from top, then invert onto a serving dish, remove the rest of the plastic wrap and garnish with additional Smucker’s Sundae Syrup Strawberry Syrup.

Makes: 20-25 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Freezing: necessary

GGS full disclosure: Smuckers Canada provided me with a sample of the strawberry flavoured sundae syrup and the recipe.  I was not provided any compensation, monetary or otherwise, for trying out this recipe.