Ice Cream Sandwich Cake

I saw a cake similar to this several years ago. Instead of looking up instructions on how to properly make the cake, I just made it. This is definitely one of the messier cakes that I've made, but it was a lot of fun to make!

The cake consists of two layers of chocolate cake, a layer of vanilla ice cream, and chocolate frosting in the expected locations. The version of the cake that influenced this messy cake was decorated like an Oreo cookie, so I kept that as a decorating guideline. Instead of "Oreo" I wrote "Happy Birthday" since it was for a birthday.

If you plan to make this, here are some tips: Make the cake at the location where the cake will be served; it will melt during a 20 minute car ride in the summer. Try to freeze the ice cream layer in a circle cake pan lined with wax paper so it has the proper shape. Be sure to rearrange the contents of your freezer before assembling any of the cake pieces. You can use any combination of flavors to make this cake; I'm guessing cookies and cream ice cream would be amazing!

Ice Cream Sandwich Cake
Two round cakes
1/2 gallon ice cream
One batch of frosting

Make your frosting.

Soften your ice cream. I'm assuming it isn't necessary to mix up the ice cream in a mixer, but it sure was fun. Such a lovely texture!

Place the bottom layer of the cake on whatever you plan to serve the cake on. Spread a layer of frosting around the sides of the cake. Either cover the entire top of the cake or just enough so the cake doesn't show under the ice cream.

Spread a layer of ice cream on the cake. (Or, if you followed the tip, place the layer of ice cream on the cake.) Place the incomplete cake in the freezer.

Place the top layer of cake on some paper towels. Spread a nice layer of frosting on top. Decorate however you want to decorate it.

Remove the bottom of the cake from the freezer and carefully place the top layer of the cake on top. Spread a layer of frosting around the sides of the top layer of cake.

Keep frozen until you are ready to serve!

Enjoy!

Note: The frosting that I used was the new Wilton Decorator's Frosting with 3 Tablespoons of cocoa powder added.


Used to create this cake: Food Network 9-In. Round Cake Pan. I love the Food Network pans from Kohls!

Sundae Cups

Melty ice cream, gooey fudge, and a warm cookie all in a nice little cup. What could be better? These cookie sundae cups are perfectly sized and easy to make. The hardest part is waiting for the cookie to cool off before adding the ice cream and fudge.

These sundae cups can be made with any type of cookie dough, ice cream, and topping combination. It would be best to use a cookie dough that doesn't melt while baking. Some good cookie types are sugar, ginger bread, molasses, and even oatmeal. I made the sundae cups with chocolate chip cookie dough and used a recipe scaled to half a batch.

Warning: Making these for your boyfriend after making him the dinner of his choosing may result in him telling everyone that you are trying to kill him. The reality is that he has no will power and will over eat.

(Chocolate chip) Cookie Sundae Cups

1 stick butter
6 T granulated sugar
6 T brown sugar (packed)
1 egg
1 t vanilla (optional)
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1 1/3 C flour
1 C chocolate chips

Cream together the butter and sugars until blended. If the butter is cold, you can either soften it in a microwave at a very low power level or leave it cold and cut it into small pieces. The cold butter will mix better when cut into small pieces, but you may have to mush some pieces between your fingers if they don't mix in.

Add the egg and the vanilla. Mix until blended. Mix in the flour, baking soda, and baking powder. If the dough seems too sticky, feel free to add more flour.

Add the chocolate chips and mix them in.

Clean as many oven safe cups as you need. Once baked, the cookie will be stuck in the cup until removed piece by piece with a spoon. If you need to remove the cookie, you can try coating the inside of the cup with shortening.

Line the inside of the cups with a thin layer of cookie dough. Place the lined cups on a baking sheet and form the remaining cookie dough into balls.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. The baking time will vary, so check on them every few minutes near the end of baking. Remove from oven and let cool. The cups will remain hot for a while, so be careful!

The cookie dough completely filled the cups that I used. After cooling for about 5 minutes, I used a spoon and lightly pressed the cookie to the side of the cup. If you have patience, the cookie will do this on its own as it cools.

Add ice cream and hot fudge. Enjoy!

Notes: I used the 1-cup glass prep bowls from Pampered Chef to make the sundae cups. These are oven safe to 350 degrees.