I tried ice-cream cakes from 3 popular chains, and the best was also cheaper than the rest

As a professional baker, I've certainly made and eaten a lot of cake, and I've paired plenty of slices with a scoop of ice cream.

But it's been at least 10 years since I've eaten an ice-cream cake, and I wanted to put three popular chains — Dairy Queen, Cold Stone Creamery, and Baskin-Robbins — to the test.

To keep things fair, I headed into each store without an order to see what was available to buy from the freezers.

At each location, I picked up the smallest round ice-cream cake that incorporated both chocolate and vanilla flavors.

The Tall, Dark & Delicious is one of the chain's signature ice-cream cakes, meaning it's available to grab at just about any time from the freezer. The 8-inch round cake cost $39.95. (When I most recently checked prices online, the cake cost $41).

This cake has four layers: devil's food cake, chocolate ice cream with Oreos, more devil's food cake, and sweet-cream ice cream with brownie chunks. The whole cake is also covered in fluffy whipped frosting and fudge ganache.

After purchasing the cake and putting it in my freezer at home, the ganache developed a layer of moisture, which made it look less beautiful.

Cold Stone is known for its super creamy ice cream, and that came through in this cake.

The chocolate ice cream was incredibly flavorful and smooth. The chocolate cake had good flavor and wasn't too dry.

The combination of the cake and ice cream was perfectly balanced. I also liked the addition of the whipped topping and luscious chocolate ganache.

Although it was delicious, I found this cake to be a bit over the top. I'm a chocolate lover through and through, but there seemed to be almost too much going on here.

At my local Baskin-Robbins, I grabbed an Oreo cookie cake out of the freezer. The 9-inch round cake cost $45.99 at the time of writing. (When I most recently checked prices online, the cake cost $56).

I also appreciated that one of the employees asked if I wanted it packed with dry ice for $1 to keep it extra cold.

The exterior of the cake looked lovely, with dollops of whipped topping, a chocolate drizzle, and a fudge border.

Inside, the cake was one super-thick layer of chocolate cake paired with a thick layer of cookies-and-cream ice cream.

The cake layer was very dry and almost difficult to eat. The cookies-and-cream ice cream made for a nice pairing, but I was pretty underwhelmed by the dessert as a whole.

Because of the construction of this cake — two massive layers, including one that melts — it was pretty difficult to cut. It also seemed to melt and fall apart really quickly after I cut just one slice.

Since this cake was the most expensive, I was extra disappointed.

At Dairy Queen, I chose an Oreo Blizzard cake I pulled directly out of the store's freezer.

The exterior was absolutely beautiful, with detailing around the edges, piped borders, crushed Oreo cookies, and a chocolate drizzle.

I thought it was the most attractive out of the three cakes, which surprised me even more because it was the cheapest, too. The 8-inch round cake cost $28.99. (When I most recently checked prices online, the cake cost about $32).

This ice-cream cake had so much going on in the best way.

It had a layer of classic vanilla soft serve, a layer of fudge and crunchy chocolate crumbs, and a layer of Oreo Blizzard. A whipped topping and a drizzle of chocolate finished it off.

It was super flavorful. And the flavor combination was beautifully nostalgic.

There wasn't any actual cake included in this option, but I think it was better for it. The playfulness of the flavors and textures was so good.

Any of these chains could definitely be heroes for someone who forgot to order a cake for a birthday party.

It was impressive that all of these cakes were ready for me to grab and buy from each ice-cream chain. No ordering ahead was required.

It's also worth noting that the flavor selection at all three of these ice-cream chains is unbelievable. If you order ahead, you can choose virtually any flavor combination of cake and ice cream. You can also customize the decorations.

Still, when it came down to flavor, value, and presentation for these premade cakes, I had one winner in mind.

I would totally buy the Dairy Queen cake again, thanks to its many great textures and flavors.

I did not think it would be my favorite, especially because Dairy Queen isn't usually one of my go-to spots for dessert, and this option didn't contain real cake.

Even better? It was the most affordable out of the three ice-cream cakes I tried.

I would definitely get another ice-cream cake from Cold Stone, but I'd try different flavors that might be less intense and overpowering. I'd be open to trying another ice-cream cake from Baskin Robbins — especially if it were customized with my favorite flavors — but I wouldn't buy the Oreo one again.

This story was originally published on August 6, 2022, and most recently updated on June 17, 2024.