Ice Cream Cake

For Brent's birthday I made him an ice cream cake (lucky him!). The original recipe comes from Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade Desserts. I absolutely love Sandra Lee! She has great ideas combining store bought and homemade supplies to make things quicker and easier. I have been making her Frozen English Toffee Cake for some time which always ends up being a big hit. This time I changed the recipe up a little bit so that I could use Brent's favorite ice cream. I think the combination turned out pretty well and I thought I would share it with you all. Ice cream cakes really are not that hard once you have done it a couple times and get the hang of the whole ice cream melting thing!First I line pie pans with plastic wrap and fill with softened black cherry ice cream (1/2 gallon at least--depends on how big you want to it to be. I usually use almost a whole gallon). It is important to use high quality ice cream--it will make all the difference. I am definitely one to replace with lower calorie options, but when it comes to making the cake absolutely amazing, the real thing is best. I then crumbled crushed oreos over the top. I love having a little crunch in things. It is a delicious surprise! In the picture I used silicone pie plates but any will work. I pop those in the freezer to harden while I start working on the cake. Here is the semi-homemade part--I just use store bought cake mix. Depending on how many ice cream layers you want, you do one additional layer for the cake. I usually do three ice cream layers and the cake comes out huge! But this time I only did two which resulted in three cake layers. To make things even I decided to split the batter up into three pans instead of trying to cut them into layers (works for four layers though, cut two cakes in half). I popped all of them in the oven at the same time according to the box's directions.

Once the cake is done and cooled I start assembling the cake by layers. After assembled I put it back into the freezer to set. Looks like a scrumptious giant ice cream cookie!

For the frosting, I used Cool Whip Lite, slightly defrosted (1-8oz container but if you used more ice cream like I do you may need a little more. I just usually buy two so I have more than enough). Spreading is a lot easier when the cool whip is a little hard from being in the freezer. It can get very messy if it is too soft! I usually frost a little until I see that either the ice cream or cool whip is softening. I put it back in the freezer for a bit and then take it out again to continue frosting. This is really the tedious part if you are impatient like me! ;)

Once frosted and set in the freezer for a little bit, I took it out and decorated it with the remaining oreos cut in half. As you can see the cool whip is already dripping a little. Some of the little oreos were sliding down the side of the cake! You just have to readjust them if they start getting out of line!
I decided to top it off with a B for Brent. I used Hershey's syrup to write a cursive B on the top. I practiced my cursive B a couple of times on the cutting board to make sure I knew how to write it correctly since the syrup is runny.

Sandra Lee's recipe is similar just different ice cream fillings:

Frozen English Toffee Cake

-Chocolate or vanilla ice cream (I like to use a mixture of both!)

-Instead of oreos, 1-10oz bag of toffee bits for ice cream layers and to sprinkle all over the frosted cake

This recipe is absolutely amazing. Everyone I have served it to is amazed at how good and extravagant it is. A real winner! Happy ice cream caking!

"Birthdays are nature's way of telling us to eat more cake!"

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