Dairy Queen cakes and I have a love affiar. Every year for my birthday I eagerly await that fugey center cake like they pay me to endorse it. This year due to my elimination diet I told myself if you can have any kind of cake you’ll be lucky. Then I poo poo’ed that pessimistic side of my brain and decided to take matters into my own hands. Happy birthday to me! This DQ cake is a great copy cat for those who love an ice cream cake, but can’t have certain ingredients! This bad boy is vegan, dairy free, soy free, and gluten free! If someone you know loves DQ cakes as much as I do, be sure to to give this a try, you will not be sorry. This would also be a show stopper at any party you throw. Everyone will be asking, “Did you make that?!”
Come on people that is a thing of beauty! This recipe has a lot of steps to achieve the layered look that usually comes with DQ Cakes. Don’t be afraid! They are all super simple steps. Just be sure to follow the cardinal rule of cooking. Always read the entire recipe before you start! I tried to format the recipe in the exact way I put it together to keep things streamlined. Since the recipe is a little longer than most I’ve also included notes along the way to help you remember why certain steps are important!
To give my cake a certain flair I added some blended berries that I simmered on the stove to thicken up (after they cooled of course). Other ideas for toppings could be chocolate shavings, whipped cream, fresh fruit, slices of bananas, or whipped peanut butter with maple syrup to name a few. This is dessert! Anything goes right? I hope you enjoy this cake just as much as I did. Having something that seems so familiar in a time where your ingredients are limited is just pure magic.
Going to give this recipe a try? Love DQ cakes as much as I do? Interested in other copy cat recipes? Comment below to let me know! Remember to tag your pictures #ocdkitchenrecipes so I can see! Don’t forget to subscribe for more recipes and fun directly to your inbox!


- 3 chia eggs (3tbsp chia seeds mixed with 9 tbsp water)
- 1 cup cane sugar
- 1/2 cup powered peanut butter
- 1/2 cup cocoa powder
- 4 tbsp water
- 4 1/2 bananas (sliced and frozen)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 4 1/2 bananas (sliced and frozen)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- Line the bottom of a 9'' cake pan with parchment paper
- In a large mixing bowl create the chia eggs (combine 3 tbsp chia seeds and 9 tbsp water and let sit 5 minutes)
- Add the sugar, powered peanut butter, cocoa powder, and 4 tbsp water to chia eggs. Whisk to combine.
- Pour 2/3 of the mixture in the parchment lined cake pan
- Place in freezer (This layer must freeze at least 3 hours before layering in ice cream!)
- Preheat oven to 350 F
- Line baking sheet with silicon baking mat or parchment paper
- Pour remaining fudge mixture on baking sheet and spread in a thin even layer about 1/8'' thick
- Bake 15-20 min or until no longer tacky (It will become really dull in color. We're looking for crunchy not burnt so keep an eye on it!)
- Move silicon mat to a wire rack to cool
- After completely cool break into pieces and put into a ziplock bag, crush up with a mallet/wooden spoon/rolling pin into small pieces
- Set aside
- Line bottom of a spring form pan with parchment paper
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and pulse until smooth
- Pour chocolate mixture into pan and smooth into an even layer
- Freeze at least 30 minutes before proceeding!
- Add ingredients to a food processor and pulse until smooth, now to bring it home!
- Take spring form pan and cake pan from freezer
- Remove fudge layer from cake pan (this defrosts very quickly and is very sticky! handle carefully) flip upside down into spring form and slowly peel off the parchment
- Take cookie crumbles and sprinkle over top of fudge layer
- Pour vanilla ice cream mixture on top and smooth into an even layer
- Freeze overnight (At least! I made mine 2 days ahead to make sure it was very solid all the way through.)
- When you're ready to unveil your cake take a dish towel and dampen it with warm water. Wrap the dish towel around the spring form pan for about 30 seconds this helps the cake release from the sides of the pan. Say a prayer and open the spring. Remove cake from pan. Hold the cake and peel the parchment from the bottom and place on serving platter.
- Enjoy!
- -Take your time with the layers it's really worth it for the end result!
- -To give my cake a certain flair I added some blended berries that I simmered on the stove to thicken.
- -Other ideas for toppings could be chocolate shavings, whipped cream, fresh fruit, slices of bananas, or whipped peanut butter with maple syrup to name a few.
That looks delicious!
Thanks Alyssa! It was quite wonderful!
Very very very excited about this recipe! Looks delish๐
Thanks Amy! You’ll have to let me know how yours turns out!
Love this recipe! I can’t wait to make it! Thanks for sharing at Inspiration Thursday. Have a great week.
Hope you enjoy Lela! Let me know what you think!
This ice cream cake has my mouth watering!
It’s definitely great! There’s only two in our household so I have slices wrapped up in the freezer waiting for a craving to strike!
Wow! This is impressive, the dedication to make this all free from is amazing. It looks delicious!
Haha thanks Cristina. I felt like being adventurous in the kitchen for my birthday! Well worth the effort!
Wow-wow! I am craving for this ice cream cake. It looks delicious!
Thanks! It took a little effort but if you don’t spend effort on yourself, who will?
I made this ice cream today. I didn’t make the cake, just variations on the plain banana. I tried plain, honey and vanilla. Vanilla was awesome. My wife is on a restricted diet, week 6, and she is missing icecream. What a great idea. Got some cocoa this evening so I will try that next. Thank you so much for the idea. We all love it. My son (almost 2) was licking the bowl. ๐
I also frooze some mango and blended with maple syrup. Yes, 2 yummy desserts in one day ๐ Was tough to blend but was surprisingly good as well. I was a little sceptical on this as I’m not as thrilled with mango. This is more like sherbet than icecream.
You should get a prize Tim because I’m pretty sure you’re the first person to actually try a recipe! I’m so glad you liked it! Diet restrictions can definitely be hard especially that first two months.
I’ll have to try the mango idea. I haven’t tested this out, but I do think banana “nice” cream as it’s called would be a good place to add some freeze dried fruit! Add that fruity flavor but keep that smooth consistency. This hasn’t been vetted haha but in my mind…it works. Thanks for the wonderful comment!
This is beautiful. I can’t handle that much sugar, but I will pass this on to my husband to play with. He’ll love it!