I scream for ice cream

I'm going to let you all in on a little secret: ice cream cake is one of the super impress-iest desserts you can make.  Everyone oohs and aahs and is amazed at your crazy-good abilities...and of course you totally take credit for all the hard work while inside you just smile smugly at the 5 minutes per layer you spent on the thing.  Okay - maybe 10 minutes.  Ice cream cake can be as easy or as difficult as you want to make it.  Crust?  Sure!  Bake a brownie or cake layer from a box!  And yes, although I morally oppose most box mixes I totally would totally allow it in this situation.  Oh, you want fancier?  Duh - bake it from scratch!  Ice cream?  Homemade or from a carton!  See what I mean?  There are also an endless amount of flavors and fillings you can choose from.  It's crazy!

Okay - so the one thing you actually do need to make this cake (besides a springform pan) is time.  You really have to plan ahead to make sure the cake can set before you serve it, otherwise you get a big melty mess.  Now, don't get me wrong, I really enjoy melty ice cream.  I was the kid who mushed my ice cream together and waited until it was a half-solid, half-soup consistency before eating it.  But, when it comes to cake and trying to cut it, you really want a decently solid cake.  I'd also like to point out that this ice cream doesn't stay as frozen solid as the kind you buy from the store.  Upside: you don't have to leave it out for 20 minutes before you cut it.  Downside: things will get a bit drippy.  Nevertheless, it's delicious and easy and awesome.

So, this post is going to mostly be about assembling the cake.  I started first with homemade cake - the same recipe I used last week in the Nutella Cupcake.  Remember how I mentioned the Nutella buttercream batch would be double what you actually need?  I decided to bake more of the cupcake recipe for the base layer of my ice cream cake and then use the remaining to make a simple sheet cake to use up the rest of the buttercream.  See what I did there?  Like a boss.


Ice Cream Cake

1 springform pan of any size (depending on how big you want your cake)
Cake/brownie batter using your favorite recipe
1 ½ quarts of ice cream flavor 1
1 ½ quarts of ice cream flavor 2

¼ package of oreo cookies, ground up in a food processor until crumb-sized

1 jar of hot fudge topping

The size of your spring form pan will decide how much of all other ingredients you use.  I used a 10x3in pan so adjust accordingly.

Prepare your spring-form pan by buttering the bottom and slightly up the sides.  Add a tablespoon of flour and tap to cover all of the buttered areas.  Tap-out the extra flour.

Pour the batter into the spring form pan.  You can make this base layer as thick as you want - I tend to keep it at around ½-inch.  Bake, keeping in mind that it will take less time than a full-sized cake or cupcake since the layer is fairly thin.  I also wrapped the bottom of the pan with aluminum foil to make sure nothing was going to leak out, but if you have a good pan this shouldn't be necessary.

Once the base layer is cooled, add your first layer of ice cream.  Since this was a birthday cake for my roommie, I chose his two favorite flavors: mint chocolate chip and cookies and cream.  Microwave the ice cream container for 1+ minutes, to the point where it is quite soft and the edges are liquid.  Using a spatula, spread the ice cream on the base layer and make as flat and even as you can.  Cover with foil and let re-freeze for at least 12 hours.

Between the two layers of ice cream is a fudge and cookie layer.  After the first layer has re-frozen, spread the hot fudge topping (without microwaving) over the ice cream layer.  Make this as thick or thin as you want, or substitute other toppings such as caramel or butterscotch.  Then, layer on the ground-up oreo cookies.  Press these onto the hot fudge layer and make as thick as you'd like.

Add the second layer of ice cream, repeating the same process as the first layer.  Allow to freeze for another 24 hours before serving.

To serve, carefully remove the springform part of the pan.  If you're worried your ice cream cake will break, cut around the edge first.  Serve and enjoy!


Tiffany