Instructions

1. First, prepare the strawberry caramel: Measure out the heavy cream, butter, and strawberry puree in separate containers and place back in fridge, it’s best to keep these cold before use. Measure your salt, corn syrup, and vanilla into small vessels and keep close by.
2. Add water and sugar to a small saucepan. Mix well with heat proof spatula so all sugar is hydrated. Then set over medium low heat.
3. You can stir this mixture until the sugar dissolves. Once it turns clear, only swirl the pan. You can also begin brushing down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush to prevent crystallization along the edges, if you wish.
4. Continue cooking the sugar over medium heat, this is a nothing-then-all-at-once sort of thing — your mixture will stay clear for a million years, then seemingly out of nowhere it will start to turn gold. This is the point you need to pay close attention or risk burning all your hard work. This may take 5 – 10 minutes.
5. Once the mixture begins to take on a golden color, make sure to gently swirl the pan often, so the sugar does not caramelize all in one place. at this point, bring your butter, cream, and puree out of the fridge and keep nearby.
6. Watch the caramel closely, keep cooking to bring it to a light brown. When you see the first small wisps of smoke arise from the pan, that’s the moment you want to halt the cooking.
7. Turn off the heat, and remove pan from heating element.
8. Add butter, whisking well. Watch your hands as this will foam up, and produce a lot of steam.
9. Slowly stream in your cream, whisking well and quickly. Then, add your strawberry puree and whisk in.
10. Add your vanilla, whisk. Then, add your salt, whisk. Add your corn syrup, as well as red color and strawberry extract and whisk well. Caramel can be made 1-2 days ahead, stored in fridge. It should be entirely cooled when used in this recipe, so it makes sense to make it first.
11. Then, make the blondies: Preheat the oven to 350ºF, and line a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper. Spray with nonstick cooking spray; set aside.
12. In a medium bowl, whisk the butter, sugar, egg, and vanilla until smooth. Switch to a wooden spoon, add the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until just combined.
13. Pour batter into prepared pan, spreading evenly with a rubber spatula. Bake for about 20-22 minutes, or until edges are firm and golden and the center jiggles slightly; do not overbake. Blondies firm up as they cool.
14. Once the blondies are cool, remove from the pan and line the pan with plastic wrap. Set the cooled blondies back into the pan, now on the plastic wrap. Then, scoop and spread your slightly0thawed strawberry ice cream on top of the blondies, making it an even layer that reaches all the way to the edge. Put in the freezer for an hour or two until firm.
15. While it’s freezing, prepare the crumb: In a small bowl combine the strawberry gelatin mix, 4 Tablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup flour. Using a fork to mix ingredients together until crumble forms. In another small bowl, combine the vanilla pudding mix, 4 Tablespoons butter, and 1/2 cup flour. Use a fork to mix ingredients together until crumble forms.
16. Spread both the strawberry and vanilla crumble onto a lined cookie sheet with parchment paper or a silicon baking mat. Bake at 350°F for 10 minutes. Allow to cool before using in the cake.
17. Once the crumb has cooled, take your cake out of the fridge. Sprinkle the top of the ice cream with your shortcake crumb, and drizzle generously with the strawberry caramel. You can reserve a bit of the crumb and caramel for decoration. Put back in the freezer for a bit while you prepare the ice cream.
18. Prepare the no-churn ice cream: In a medium bowl whisk together sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, and salt – set aside.
19. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat cream cheese until well softened and spread around the bowl.  Add the heavy cream and whip on medium high until stiff peaks form.
20. Spoon a third of the whipped cream into the condensed milk and whisk to combine.  Add another third of the whipped cream to the condensed milk mixture and use a rubber spatula to fold to combine.  Add the final third and fold to combine.
21. Remove the cake from the freezer again, and spoon the ice cream mixture onto the top of your crumb and caramel. Cover with parchment – directly on top of the ice cream – and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.
22. Once the ice cream is firm, prepare your whipped cream frosting: add the heavy whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla extract to a large mixer bowl. Whip on high speed until stiff peaks form.
23. Remove the cake from the freezer and pop out of the spring form pan. Remove the plastic wrap and put onto a serving plate, if desired. Frost the top and sides with your whipped cream frosting. Decorate as desired, with sprinkles or leftover crumb and caramel drizzle.
24. Put back in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to allow the whipped cream to set.
25. Serve and enjoy!