Ice Cream Cake with Oreo Cookie Crust

The irresistibility of ice cream cake does not fade, regardless of how old you are. That's why when Ryan turned the big 3-4 this week, he didn't hesitate to request one of his favorites. Typically, I would have driven over to Carvel, picked up one of the glorious pink boxed cakes shaped like a football or a whale or a cupcake, and happily taken it out of the freezer when May 25th rolled around. Some treats are simply better when they're store bought. Or so I thought.

When it first dawned on me that I could attempt to recreate an ice cream cake, I was perusing the Food52 website and I stumbled on this blogpost. The writers @Food52 have a way of making you feel like recipes aren't always necessary, and that intuition can take over when it comes to compiling a tasty treat made out of mostly pre-made goodies. When recreating this recipe - keep in mind that the more you improvise and personalize this cake, the better. Using ice cream flavors and toppings you crave will only make this cake better, no matter how old you are.

|Hillary

Ice Cream Cake with Oreo Cookie Crust

yield - serves 10-12

Oreo Cookie Crust

20 Oreo Cookies

3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Put Oreo cookies into a gallon plastic bag. Squeeze the air out of the bag and seal it; crush the cookies using a rolling pin. Continue to roll the rolling pin over the bag until the Oreo cookies are crushed in to fine to medium size crumbs. Add the melted butter to the bag, and toss to combine until butter is well mixed into cookie crumbs. *You could also use a food processor to make the crust.

Press cookie crumb mixture into a 9 inch spring-form pan. Use wax or parchment paper to press crumbs firmly into the bottom of the pan. Freeze for 15 minutes.

Ice Cream Cake

(2) 1.5 quarts of ice cream - any flavor will work, I used chocolate fudge brownie & cookies and cream

1 jar (11.75 oz) hot fudge topping

3/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

Hershey's chocolate syrup (for topping)

5-10 Oreo cookies (for topping)

whipped cream (for topping)

10-15 minutes before you're ready to start the cake, remove one of the quarts of ice cream from the freezer to let it soften. Once the ice cream is a bit soft, remove the Oreo crust from the freezer. Carefully scoop the ice cream onto the crust, and spread it using a flat spatula or spoon. Once the ice cream is evenly spread over the crust, put the cake back into the freezer and freeze for 20 minutes.

Heat the hot fudge topping (just until its slightly more liquid- you don't want it to be too hot). Remove the cake from the freezer. Spread the hot fudge topping over the ice cream (work quickly - as soon as the fudge topping hits the ice cream, it will start to harden). Sprinkle the chocolate chips on top of the hot fudge; put the cake back into the freezer and freeze for 20 minutes.

Remove the second quart of ice cream from the freezer - let it soften. Take the cake out of the freezer, and carefully scoop the ice cream onto the cake. Spread the ice cream evenly over the fudge/chocolate chip layer. Return the cake to the freezer and freeze for 20 minutes.

Remove the cake from the freezer. Drizzle with chocolate syrup, crumbled Oreos, and chocolate chips. Return to freezer for at least 2 hours before serving. Top with whipped cream and enjoy.