Sunday, October 05, 2008

Ice Cream Cake!!!


Photo of my nephew's ice cream cake for his 1st birthday celebration last year.

Somebody's got a birthday coming up!!! Somebody will be turning a year older this weekend. A bit over 30, but not yet 40. Somebody is also 6 years older than his wife (I'm trying not to give out his exact age!). Hubby is a Thanksgiving baby and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Wow! Where has the summer gone?? Actually, where has the year gone?!

It's a tradition in my family to have an ice cream cake at all birthday parties.
This tradition began when my brothers and I were kids. My mom would always get us a birthday cake from Dairy Queen. On the island we live on, there are no franchises like Dairy Queen, KFC, Tim Horton's or McDonald's. The closest DQ is a 74 minute drive from our house. Every year since we've been married, I've driven the 74 minutes to get Hubby's ice cream cake for his birthday. I was really surprised that he had never had ice cream cake before! In his family, Dairy Queen was a rare treat. He said he probably had ice cream there twice in his entire childhood.

Now, I mentioned before how I don't like processed or not so good for you food...but every once in a while, I'll indulge. I won't completely deprive my husband of the foods that all the cool kids are eating! ;)

Last Mother's Day, I tried my hand at making my own ice cream cake. This year, I am thinking of making Hubby's birthday ice cream cake. I would drive a million miles for Hubby and cross the earth and back for him, but for ice cream cake? Not this year. Not now. Not with my belly in the way and making me have to pee every 30 minutes. That 74 minute trip to DQ seems much longer these days! Plus, I figure that this isn't too shabby...
I impressed even myself with the results!

I promised some of my blog buddies that I'd post the recipe. Here it is! It's ridiculously easy to make and people think you've spent so much time and energy making it. Oh, I feel like such a fraud. It really does not require any slaving in the kitchen at all.

Ice Cream Cake Recipe

Ingredients:
*Depending on how many people you'll be serving, you will require either 12 or 24 ice cream sandwiches. You can buy them in the ice cream/frozen treats section at your grocery store or you can make them yourself.
*1 container of Cool Whip (in the round container. I can't remember how many oz. are in there)
* 1 jar of whatever topping you prefer (caramel, strawberry, chocolate, fudge, etc)
* a few strawberries (optional)
* crumbled up chocolate bars like Caramilk bars (optional)
I don't use use this in my recipe because I think it's too decadent already.
* chopped walnuts or other nuts (optional) I don't use them in my recipe because my nieces have nut allergies.

To assemble:
I'll give you TWO ways you can assemble your ice cream cake.
A) Line a casserole dish with the ice cream sandwiches. Mix your choice of topping with the Cool Whip and pour the combination over the ice cream sandwiches. Add your garnishes if you like (chocolate crumbles or nuts, etc). Cover with foil and freeze. You can add sliced strawberries right before serving.

OR...

You can do it the way I make my ice cream cake.

B) To get a neat layered effect when you cut the cake, on a large piece of parchment paper, line up 6 ice cream sandwiches. Mix your topping of choice (strawberry, caramel or chocolate) with a bit of Cool Whip and spread some over the layer of sandwiches. Make sure you put aside a good portion of the Cool Whip so you can cover the entire cake when you're done layering. Add another 6 sandwiches on top and spread another layer of topping over to sandwiches. This holds the sandwiches together. Keep repeating the process if you have 24 sandwiches. Cover the entire cake with remaining Cool Whip/topping mixture. Cover with parchment paper or foil and freeze. Add sliced strawberries before serving.


Enjoy! I know Hubby will be enjoying his cake! Sadly, sweet things still make me nauseous...even at almost 23 weeks pregnant! *sigh*

22 comments:

Cherry said...

What a creative way to make an ice cream cake! I love the ease of the ice cream sandwiches and the look of the layers.

BTW - I channeled you tonight and made tomato sauce with the last of my parent's summer tomatoes. I had hoped it would make enough to can up a few quarts... but alas, it came out to just enough for hubby to have easy lunches for the week.

Anonymous said...

now that's a great idea chris; a recipe even i can make! you know me-- i do homemade; homemade from a box that is!

i think this is something i can get even the kids to help making.

Unknown said...

Cherry:
That's funny! I was JUST thinking of you last night! Actually, I was thinking of the parcel that I have for you. You know, the one that's been sitting here for weeks waiting to be sent off! I am such a slacker these days! Sorries!!! I've got something for J in there too that I'm hoping you can give to her.

Mmmmm...Tomato sauce! Don't you just love how easy lunches and suppers are when you make batches of food and can use them when you're tight on time? LOVE IT!

Unknown said...

Hot Mommy:
Yeah, I think your two older kids could help you make it. It may get messy though (remember, ice cream melts! LOL!). I'm sure your family will enjoy it. Let me know how it turns out if you make it! XOXO

Unknown said...

Cherry & Hot Mommy:
You know in this post when I mentioned I feel like such a fraud? Well, it's because making this ice cream cake wasn't even really "cooking" or "baking"! I normally make everything from scratch and this only required assembling of ingredients! It's such a fake out! I feel like such a Rachael Ray! ;)

Anonymous said...

That looks so delicious!!! Autumn's birthday is coming up in November. I don't know if she likes ice cream cake or not. I'll have to ask her ;)

Anonymous said...

I'll have a slice! My birthday is in November! You're making me an ice cream cake, right? {{{{lol}}}}

Unknown said...

That looks totally yummy!! We've done real simple cakes before, 1/2 gal ice cream, oreos mashed up into crust with butter to help them stick together - yummy. :) I love all he strawberries on yours!!

Uncivil said...

Happy burfday Big John!
Yummy cake C!!!!

J said...

I never would have thought that cake was made with ice cream sandwiches! And not being a huge cake fan, it sounds yummy to me!

louann said...

Wow C1 That sounds so good!!!!

Jeanna said...

That is just AMAZING, C.
Hey, that's not a Cub's cake is it?

Unknown said...

Autumn's Mom:
Oh, wow! Autumn's birthday is in November? BTW, I really love the name "Autumn".
I'm not much of a cake person, but every now and then a little bit is okay. I don't know why, but I don't really like cakes, pies, tarts, etc. My husband probably thinks there's something wrong with me.

Unknown said...

T:
Sure, I'll make you an ice cream cake! You'll have to come up here to eat it though! ;) Not sure if I'll be making it to T.O. any time soon. I'll be in MTL next weekend though! Wanna meet me there? LOL! MTL is only 6 hrs from T.O.!

Unknown said...

Lisa:
Ooooooooooh!!! THAT sounds good! I'm going to have to try it sometime! What flavour ice cream did you use for that one? What a great idea about the Oreo crust for the ice cream cake! Pure genius!

Calfkeeper said...

Hey, a great idea for an ice cream cake. I will have to try it.

I envy you your apples. I wish we could have apple trees here...well, we could but the bugs and stuff would get them.

Unknown said...

Jimmy:
You coming for some birthday cake? ;) I'll save you a slice!

Louann:
Any food cravings this trimester? How's the bambino doing? :)
Oddly enough, I haven't really been craving anything. Oh, except last night I really wanted spicy Korean hot pepper and seaweed. Weird, eh?

Unknown said...

J:
Yes, it's something totally out of character for me to make. Plus, like you, I'm not much of a cake fan to begin with! The ice cream sandwiches part...I still feel so guilty! LOL! I usually make everything from scratch, so this totally feels like cheating!

Unknown said...

Jeanna:
Not a Cubs' cake. Though my brothers used to be huge Cubs fans at one point. It's actually a Montreal Canadiens' cake. Hockey and then baseball here ;)

Unknown said...

Calf Keeper:
Oooh! The bugs are not fun at all, are they? We don't use pesticides or insecticides on our trees or gardens. This year, the tent caterpillars were horrible. Two of our good trees (the ones we got most of our apples from last year) were so buggy, it wasn't even funny! There were holes and worms in so many of the apples :(

Momisodes said...

Oh my! Now that IS decadence :) I SO want to try this!!!

We also had a ice cream cake tradition growing up. We loved Dairy queen and Carvel cakes :)

Deb said...

i want to gobble up this cake!

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City girl moves to the country, falls in love, and marries a farmer. She tries to incorporate her city ways with her new country lifestyle and blogs to keep in touch with friends, family & students who live far, far away :) Can this city girl go country? Watch as she learns all sorts of exciting things about life on the farm and in a small rural community. *UPDATE* We are now parents! Our baby girl was born on Nov. 11, 2008 (at 28 weeks gestation- 12 weeks premature, but she's quite the trooper)!!!
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