I enjoy ice cream, but have never really been a fan of ice cream cakes. I have always loved a good old fashioned home made birthday cake. Shay recently celebrated his 12th birthday and when I asked what kind of cake he wanted he said he didn’t want one at all. I pretty much insisted that he had to have a cake or cupcakes, as our guests would expect it. He flatly declined both options for his birthday with his mates and opted to take his friends to Dairy Queen for Blizzards on the way home from his paintball party. I had to admit this seemed a bit too good to be true ~ I didn’t have to host it in my home or haul any food to the party. We literally packed up the boys and a cooler of drinks and spent the afternoon paintballing. On the way home we stopped at DQ before dropping the boys off at home. Too easy!

However, I did have to insist on a cake for his family party. He finally consented and asked if he could have an ice cream cake. I had never made one before, but thought it would be fun to see what I could come up with. In the end, I have to say even I was left wanting seconds. I ended up using a combination of several recipes and ideas to come up with this fabulous homemade ice cream cake recipe. It was delicious and I have a feeling it might become a regular request at our house.

Ice Cream Cake Extraordinaire

Ingredients:

• 20 ice cream sandwiches
• Oreo cookies, crushed and separated (2/3 package + remainder split in half)
• 3 Hershey’s Cookies’n’Creme candy bars
• large Cool Whip
• Smucker’s Magic Shell
• Smucker’s Chocolate Sundae Syrup
• Oreo Ice Cream, softened
• Jello Vanilla Instant Pudding
• foil
• cake pan (I used a 9 X 13)

Preparation:

1. Soften ice cream (just enough so that you can stir in other ingredients).
2. Line the cake pan with foil – be sure to extend it a few inches above the edge of your pan so that you can grab the edges when removing the frozen cake.
3. Make your own Oreo Crunch (similar to the chocolate crunch in the cakes at Dairy Queen). Mash 2/3 of a package of Oreo cookies into crumbs and add the bottle of Magic Shell to the cookie pieces. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, mix the softened Oreo Ice Cream with the instant pudding powder and half of the remaining crushed cookies. Stir well and then fold in half of the Cool Whip.
5. Break the chocolate bars into small pieces to decorate the top.

Assembly:

1. Add a layer of ice cream bars to the bottom. Make sure they fit tightly.
2. Drizzle chocolate Sundae Syrup on top and spread evenly to create a thin layer of sauce (not sure how much I used).
3. Add the Oreo Crunch. Spread evenly over the syrup.
4. Add the ice cream mixture evenly to the top.
5. Arrange a second layer of ice cream sandwiches.
6. Top with remaining Cool Whip.
7. Sprinkle the top with remaining crushed Oreos and the broken chocolate bars.

This cake extended out the top of my pan, but maintained its shape and froze well. You can make this ahead of time which is super convenient.  To serve, carefully lift the cake out using the foil edges. Set the cake on a tray and serve immediately. Add extra Sundae topping if desired.

This cake was a big hit and served a party of 13 with about 6 pieces leftover to enjoy another day. I’d guess it would easily serve 20! I love how versatile this recipe could be ~ you could use the basic idea and generate a totally different cake by simply changing some or several of the ingredients. So many possibilities by simply changing the cookies, chocolate bars or flavour of the pudding or ice cream. So easy and yet a real crowd pleaser.

If you should decide to try out my recipe and make some of your own creative changes ~ be sure to let me know how it turns out!  I can’t wait to try some other combinations ~ already thinking about Pralines ‘n Cream ice cream with Skor bar and butterscotch pudding…maybe vanilla wafers??