Reader Request: Ice Cream Cake Recipe

Morning, everyone :)

I had an idea this week when I had a few requests for Paige's birthday ice cream cake recipe - why don't I try doing a reader request post every week? If there is anything you want to know about me or any topic you'd like me to talk about (such as things I talk about on here, from parenting, marriage, finances, etc.), send an email to mommyapps@gmail.com, message me on Facebook, or leave a comment here!

Every year for my birthday my parents get me a snowman Carvel ice cream cake. It's delicious and all of us love it, so I wasn't too surprised when Paigey asked for an ice cream cake for her birthday. The only problem? They're pricey, and unlike my mom and dad, I don't get a paper to get a coupon for them.

I thought making one didn't seem like it would be too difficult. That's what Pinterest is for, right? There are so many recipes for ice cream cakes that my head was spinning. The recipes varied from super easy to a little bit more difficult. There were Oreo  cakes, Peanut butter cup cakes, plain cakes, sprinkle cakes. Round cakes, rectangle cakes, square cakes,  cupcake cakes. How was a mom to choose the perfect one?

Thankfully Paige had some specific wants for her cake: no chocolate ice cream, and lots of the cookie crunchies in the middle. I was able to narrow down the recipes a little bit, but still nothing seemed to be exactly what I was looking for.

So I decided to make up my own recipe, taking bits and pieces of various recipes, and hoped and prayed it would turn out okay. Paige wasn't too sure when she saw the cake; I think she was expecting a store bought one. She told me later that even though she knows I bake well, she wasn't so sure an ice cream cake would turn out okay. Let's just say she loved every single bite of her cake and says she doesn't want a Carvel cake ever again!

Here's my recipe:

Shawna's Oreo Ice Cream Cake

1.5 quarts cookies and cream ice cream, softened

1.5 quarts vanilla ice cream, softened

25 Oreo-type cookies

6 Oreo-type cookies

Place 25 Oreo cookies into a sealable bag (like a ziploc bag; I also used generic store brand Oreos). Squeeze the air out, and crush with a rolling pin. Don't leave super big chunks, or make it into crumbs. Medium sized chunks taste best.

Put the softened cookies and cream ice cream into a bowl and use an electric mixer on low to medium speed and gently beat the ice cream for 20-30 seconds (I used my KitchenAid mixer). This makes the ice cream a uniform consistency; do not over beat so it's soupy, just soft like soft ice cream. Unfortunately the cookies and cream ice cream does turn gray, but still will taste AMAZING.

Scrape the ice cream into the bottom of a spring form pan (I used a 9 inch round pan), and spread evenly. Sprinkle the Oreo crumbs on top, spreading them around to cover the ice cream evenly, and gently press down to make sure they'll stick to the bottom layer of ice cream.

Mix up the softened vanilla ice cream with a mixer in the same way you did with the cookies and cream ice cream. Spread it on top of the crushed Oreos in your spring form pan, making sure you spread it evenly.

Crush up the remaining 6 Oreos; sprinkle on top of your vanilla ice cream. If you need to put the cake in the freezer while you crush the Oreos, that's okay. My house was pretty cool when I made this, but if it was hotter, it would have needed to be put in the freezer.

Cover the cake pan with aluminum foil, and freeze for a few hours. I made this two days in advance; 6 hours or overnight would probably be best for refreezing the cake.

When you're ready to serve it, put it in the freezer for half an hour to soften it up. Use a knife to run around the cake to loosen it from the pan, then take the ring off of the pan. Cut into wedges, and enjoy!

Ryan and I did find an ice cream cake very similar to this on sale for $18 that I was thinking about buying. I'm glad I didn't; using off brand Oreos and ice cream I spent about $7 and made a cake twice the size of the $18, all at a fraction of the cost! Makes me wonder if this post can count as a Financial Friday post? :)

The thing I love about this recipe is it's easy to change up; you can use various flavors of ice cream, add other toppings like hot fudge on top, or add candy bits to the layers. It's ridiculously easy, and took almost no time to make up. I think I'd like to try it with chocolate chip cookies!

Oh, before I forget, a note on softening the ice cream: one of the recipes I used as inspiration said to soften it in the refrigerator for about half an hour before using. What I found is by the time I got home from buying the ice cream and then swinging by the kids' school quickly, it was the perfect softness for using right then and there. Knowing me, I'd forget it was in the fridge and I'd have soup on my hands, even if I used a timer! I'm sorta absent minded at times like that :)

Do you have a favorite ice cream cake recipe? Do you have a topic or question for me for the next Reader Request post?