Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake

Cake

I can’t believe Dagmar’s sweet sixteen surprise party was over a month ago – and I’m just now getting the post written about her amazing birthday cake!

Dagmar is my aspiring chef – so you know this cake had some thought behind it!

We started weeks ahead of the day with some high level negotiations. The flavor profile was easy – chocolate and peanut butter. Finding the right recipe however – was not.

We both scoured recipe books and the web for that perfect combination of ice cream – chocolate – peanut butter and specialness.

Finally – we hit on a compromise using two different recipes – one from a Taste of Home magazine, and one from a favorite food blog Eggs on Sunday. The result was a rich and decadent hit!

It was easy to prepare and – the real selling point – could be made several days ahead of time since it’s kept in the freezer.

Just remember to allow time for the cake to freeze up between layers!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake

2 cups crushed Oreo cookies
4 Tablespoons butter (melted)
1/2 gallon chocolate ice cream
1- 1/4 cup Reese’s Peanut Butter cups – coarsely chopped
3 ounces cream cheese
1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 cup Cool Whip
8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup heavy cream

Mix the crushed Oreo cookies and the melted butter to make a crust. Press into the bottom of a 9 inch springform pan and freeze for about an hour.

Slightly soften the chocolate ice cream and press about 1/2 of it in a nice layer on top of the Oreo cookie crust. (We didn’t measure things very well – just eyeballed a nice layer and pressed it in!) Sprinkle about 1/3 of the peanut butter cups on the ice cream and freeze for about an hour.

While this layer is freezing, mix the cream cheese and peanut butter in a bowl. Add the powdered sugar and milk, mixing well. Fold in the whipped cream.

Spread the cream cheese layer over the chocolate ice cream/peanut butter cup layer, sprinkle with another 1/3 of the chopped peanut butter cups and freeze for another hour.

Spread the remaining chocolate ice cream over the cream cheese mixture and freeze for yet another hour.

Meanwhile – melt the chocolate chips and heavy cream together, stirring until the mixture is smooth. Let it cool for a few minutes so you don’t melt the ice cream when you pour it on!

Remove the springform pan full of chocolate -peanut butter goodness from the freezer and carefully pour the chocolate ganache over it. Sprinkle with the remaining peanut butter cups, cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least an hour – although overnight is better.

To serve, dip a knife in warm water, wipe it dry and go around the outside of the springform pan to loosen it. Release the sides of the pan and admire your handiwork!

This should serve about 12 – or just 5 hungry chocolate loving teen-age girls! (I’m just kidding my wonderful daughters and nieces!) 😉

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Tempt My Tummy Tuesday at Blessed with Grace, Tasty Tuesdays at Balancing Beauty and Bedlam and Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff.

Chocolate Ice Cream Layer Cake

Oh dear…the Chocolate Lady has been experimenting… again!

This time I was attempting to duplicate an Ice Cream Cake at Dairy Queen.

They look so simple – layers of cake followed by layers of ice cream – right?!

I can do that – right?!

Well – maybe not.

It sure tasted wonderful – but it didn’t look nearly as nice as the ones on TV!

I started with an Oreo cookie crust in the bottom of a springform pan.

When that cooled, I added a layer of softened chocolate ice cream and put the pan in the freezer. An hour later I added a layer of softened vanilla ice cream and refroze the pan.

I repeated this 2 more times until I got to the top of the springform pan.

I should have stopped there and just frosted it with Cool Whip – but no – I had to get creative.

I whipped up a chocolate sauce recipe – thinking that it would be the perfect topping. It tasted wonderful as I licked the spoon – but when I went to put it on the cake it became a gloppy mess! It never stuck to the top of the ice cream and slip off in little piles.

Oh dear!

I refroze it thinking (alright – hoping!) that it would stick. But alas – it didn’t work. The chocolate glaze remained a mud slick.

To serve the cake, I removed the side of the springform pan and cut the cake into wedges – then carefully pressed the chocolate glaze on the top before plating.

Everything tasted wonderful – you just had to overlook the fingerprints in the chocolate mud slide!

When the Chocolate Lady makes this dessert again – I will frost it with Cool Whip and make cute chocolate drizzles on the top with fudge sauce from a jar!

I may even get adventurous and trade out the ice cream flavors – wouldn’t a layer of coffee ice cream be delish with the chocolate? Or maybe a strawberry layer?

I sure do love to experiment – especially when it involves chocolate!

Enjoy!

Dagmar’s Ice Cream Birthday Cake

Having four summer birthdays has forced me to be creative when it comes to birthday cakes.

All year I’m on the look-out for amazing – but easy – ice cream cake recipes. My criteria is simply – something I don’t have to bake but the kids will love.

Pedro has been quite happy with his ice cream sandwich cake for several years now – but Dagmar has yet to find the perfect cake.

This year I discovered a recipe I had torn out of an old issue of Family Circle magazine. I don’t even know the year or the month of the issue!

Using ice cream sandwiches cut and stacked around the edge and filled with ice cream, the recipe was fancy enough to be pretty, but super easy! Dagmar loved it!

Layered Ice Cream Cake

15 oreo cookies
1 tablespoon milk
8-9 ice cream sandwiches
3 pints ice cream (we used all chocolate mint – but you could do layers of whatever flavors you wish – such as vanilla and strawberry)
1 – 8 ounce container of Cool Whip

Spray the bottom and sides of a 9 inch springform pan with cooking spray and line the edges with waxed paper.

Finely crush 12 of the Oreo cookies ina food processor. Add the milk and pulse again. Set aside.

Unwrap the ice cream sandwiches and cut into quarters. Stack strips of sandwiches on end around the edge of the springform pan. (It is helpful to have someone helping you on this step – the ice cream gets soft fast. I unwrapped and Dagmar cut and placed.) This creates the cool strips around the edge of the cake!

Spoon the cookie crumbs into the bottom of the pan and press firmly over the bottom. Freeze on hour.

Remove the ice cream from the freezer and let it soften for 15 minutes. Carefully spread the ice cream in the crust – using layers if you choose. We just filled the crust with chocolate mint ice cream.

Frost the entire cake with thawed Cool Whip

The recipe called for crushing the remaining 3 Oreos and sprinkling them on top of the Cool Whip – but we wanted more of topping, so we crushed the remaining 3 Oreos with a large Butterfinger bar and sprinkled it over the top.

Return to the freezer – overnight if possible.

Before serving, carefully remove the side of the pan and pull off the waxed paper. Cut into wedges to serve.

Then just sit back and bask in the compliments!

Enjoy!