Ice Cream Cake in Advance

Our answer

Nigella's Ice Cream Cake (from NIGELLA EXPRESS) is a good make ahead dessert as it needs to be stored in the freezer. There are two things that will affect the cake as it is stored, the first is that ice crystals form on the ice cream and the second is that some of the ingredients in the base, such as the Crunchie bar and cookie crumbs, will turn soft as they stand.

For the best possible quality we would make the cake 2 days ahead. Once the cake has frozen we suggest that you wrap the tin tightly in a double layer of clingfilm (plastic wrap) and a layer of foil if you are going to keep it longer than overnight. For up to one week the cake should be fine, though avoid letting the cake thaw too much each time it comes out of the freezer as this will cause it deteriorate more quickly. The cake can keep for longer than this but we would suggest that it is eaten within one month of making.