Ice Cream Cake

We had this for my nephew's birthday in July. Then Savannah wanted it for her birthday in August. It's not too late people. It's still plenty hot. Make this. Love this. Just don't eat too big a piece or you'll make yourself sick. Which brings me to the other sort of nice thing about ice cream cake. It can last a long time. Because it's frozen, you see. It won't get stale after 3 days or 5 days or ever. See, it's, like, diet friendly right. I mean, this cake is all about portion control, right. (Note: Wrong, people, wrong. This cake is not about portion control; you will see. Yes, you will see.)

Below I offer two options for this cake. One is the normal cake which involves ingredients like Hershey's syrup and Cool Whip. This version is still pretty darn yummy. However, I wanted to try it with homemade chocolate syrup and homemade whipped cream and that was pretty amazing. (Note: Portion control. No really, you'll thank me. Well, maybe.)

You'll find the homemade to be a bit cheaper and only about 7 minutes more labor intensive (yes, 7 minutes). However, you'll note that neither of these is particularly cheap. So now I will attempt to justify this sin.
Justification #1. It is very rich. You can eat/serve smaller pieces and get quite full and it doesn't spoil so you can keep it for longer.
Justification #2. You don't have to buy ice cream to serve with your cake. So really you should knock $3.50 off of the price of this, right.
Justification #3 (my old standby). It's still cheaper than buying a crap cake from the Walmart "bakery." Amen and amen.

One final note about this cake. It's easy to make, but don't try to slap it together in 30 minutes because each part needs to be put on and then frozen and the chocolate sauce will need a good 12-24 hours to cool. I recommend making it the day before (remember it's not going to go stale on you). Don't worry, making it a day ahead actually makes for its own kind of birthday bliss because there's no cake to worry about on the big day.

Ice Cream Cake with Homemade Fudge Sauce and Whipped Cream
makes one 9x13 inch pan
Prep time: 30 minutes, but you're going to have to have (sometimes long) breaks between layers.
Cost: $9.40
cookies: 1.50, butter: .50, 1.90, cream: 2.00, ice cream 3.50 (Walmart Breyer's price)

30 Oreos (or decent generic substitute--we used generic Walmart cookies to good effect and it wasn't even a full package)
1 stick butter
1 recipe of Kip's fudge sauce
16 oz. cream. whipped with 4-8 Tbsp sugar and a few drops vanilla (see here for a how to)
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream (we used Breyer's, which was a little shy of 1/2 gallon--arg--but worked)
toppings like nuts, sprinkles, etc (optional

1. Make Kip's fudge sauce. You must do this 12-24 hours beforehand or your sauce will be warmish and melt your ice cream. The sauce must be COLD.

Note: If you're reading this 1 hour before the birthday of your precious and feeling about to cry, then do this. Make the sauce, then put it in a small bowl, then put the bowl of sauce in a bigger bowl that is filled with ice (no ice will go in your sauce--it's just surrounding the bowl that contains your sauce). Put this in the freezer and stir the sauce every 10 minutes or so.

2. Crush Oreos. I did this in a food processor, but a blender would work, as would a good old fashioned Ziploc bag and rolling pin. Add 1 stick butter to the crumbs, mix, and press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.

Let this cool in the freezer for 20 minutes

3. While the crust is freezing, get your ice cream out, so it can soften. When the crust is ready, spread the ice cream onto it into an even layer. Then put this back in the freezer for an hour or until it's quite firm.

4. When it's firm, add the (cooled) chocolate sauce and spread it on. In my humble opinion, this is too much chocolate sauce and I would have used less. However, let it be noted that I was the ONLY one in our family who would have used less. Everyone else loved it how it was. Put this in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

5. While it's freezing, whip (and sweeten) your cream. You can find directions here. Layer this onto your cake. Freeze for 10-15 minutes.

6. Add toppings if you wish and serve.

PRINTABLE RECIPE

Ice Cream Cake
cost: $10.50
cookies: 1.50, butter .50, Hershey's syrup: 2.00, sweetened condensed milk: 1.00, butter: .50, cool whip: 1.00 (guessing here--haven't bought this in years), ice cream: 3.50

Crust:
30 Oreo cookies (we used generic Walmart cookies to good effect and it wasn't even a full package)
1 stick butter

Sauce:
1 can Hershey's syrup--16 oz. (the kind you find in a can with a yellow lid like this)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 stick butter (yes, another one)

1 8-oz tub Cool Whip

1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream
toppings like sprinkles, nuts, cherries, whatever (optional)

1. Make your chocolate sauce. You must do this 12-24 hours beforehand or your sauce will be warmish and melt your ice cream. The sauce must be COLD.

Make the sauce by combining the Hershey's syrup, sweetened condensed milk, and 1 stick butter. Cook, stirring frequently (if not quite constantly) until boiling. Boil, stirring constantly, for one minute. LET THIS COOL COMPLETELY. It'll take the good part of a day. Note: If you're reading this 1 hour before the birthday of your precious and feeling about to cry, then do this. Make the sauce, then put it in a small bowl, then put the bowl of sauce in a bigger bowl that is filled with ice (no ice will go in your sauce--it's just surrounding the bowl that contains your sauce). Put this in the freezer and stir the sauce every 10 minutes or so.

2. Crush Oreos. I did this in a food processor, but a blender would work, as would a good old fashioned Ziploc bag and rolling pin. Add 1 stick butter to the crumbs, mix, and press into the bottom of a 9x13 inch pan.

Let this cool in the freezer for 20 minutes

3. While the crust is freezing, get your ice cream out, so it can soften. When the crust is ready, spread the ice cream onto it into an even layer. Then put this back in the freezer for an hour or until it's quite firm.

4. When it's firm, add the (cooled) chocolate sauce and spread it on. In my humble opinion, this is too much chocolate sauce and I would have used less. However, let it be noted that I was the ONLY one in our family who would have used less. Everyone else loved it how it was. Put this in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.

5. When it's done, spread the cool whip and freeze that.

6. Add any toppings you want and serve.

PRINTABLE RECIPE