Loaded Ice Cream Cake

My favorite kind of cake has always been ice cream cake. I guess it's something that little kids usually like, but I'm not embarrassed to admit that although cake has grown on me over the years I would much prefer ice cream to regular cake any day! For awhile now I have been wanting to make an ice cream cake and I thought, what better time that my birthday? Is it weird that I made myself a birthday cake? Maybe. Store-bought ice cream cakes are fine, but not usually overly exciting. I'm not saying that my ice cream cake is more exciting than any store bought ice cream cake...I'm saying that it is more exciting to me. It is MY birthday after-all, right? ;)

After much planning I decided on what would make me happy and it's not for the faint of heart. I started with an eggless cookie dough (I have made it before - tasty and easy!) and topped it with a layer of mint brownie ice cream - I would have used the whole carton, but I was worried about fitting everyone else on. Next I crumbled (in various sized pieces) regular Oreos - I was not shy about this. The cookies 'n cream ice cream came next and on top of that I smoothed the ganache that I made. It sounds fancy, but it's really easy to make. And boy was it good - I tasted "some" as I was making it...I could have just eaten it all plain! Moving on. I topped the whole thing off with candy. I had made more cookie dough which I rolled into a long log and froze so it made it easy to just chop it up and sprinkle it on. I also added mini peanut butter cups (which, by the way have the perfect chocolate/peanut butter ratio) and chopped up fun sized Milky Way bars. The edges I decorated with Oreos. I should note that this all went into a spring form pan and went into the freezer to completely set/freeze between each layer. The exception being the ganache/candy layer - I added the candy right away while the chocolate was still soft. Oh, wow - I wish I was eating some now! Luckily, I do have some left - crowding out all healthy food in my freezer...but so worth it! Really!

Loaded Ice Cream Cake
How I did it

Cookie Dough bottom (eggless cookie dough)
1 stick of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbs milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/4 cups AP flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

Ice Cream filling
1 quart Edy's Mint Brownie
1.5 quarts Edy's Cookies 'n Cream
 package Oreo Cookies, broken into different sized pieces

Chocolate Ganache
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
heaping 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Topping
Mini Reese Peanut Butter Cups
Milky Way, chopped
4 Oreos, broken evenly in half
1/2 batch of eggless cookie dough

1. Place the two containers of ice cream in the refrigerator to soften (do not leave out on the counter - you don't want them to melt completely). Place Oreos/Oreo pieces in the freezer.

2. Start with the cookie dough bottom. Beat butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.  

3. Beat in milk and vanilla and then flour and salt. Stir in chocolate chips until well combined.

4. Spread cookie dough mixture evenly in the bottom of a 9" springform pan. Place in the freezer for at least 20 minutes.

5. While the cookie dough is in the freezer make another half batch of it (1/4 or less would be plenty as well). On parchment paper, roll dough into a long log and place in the freezer to harden.

6. Remove the springform pan from the freezer and coat the cookie dough with mint brownie ice cream. Smooth until level and then place back in the freezer until frozen. 

7. Take pan out of the freezer and coat liberally with Oreo pieces. Put back in the freezer until re-hardened. 

8. Remove pan from freezer and top the Oreos with the cookies 'n cream ice cream. Smooth until even and place back in freezer. Cover well with plastic wrap and let it sit for at least several hours (I let it sit overnight). 

9. After the ice cream has been in the freezer for a good long time you can start making the ganache. In a double-boiler pour 1/2 cup heavy cream and about 1/2 of the chocolate. Stir continuously and as the chocolate starts to melt in with the  slowly add the rest of the chocolate. Once fully combined, remove from heat. Continue stirring frequently until it has cooled to room temperature. You will really need to watch and stir it often to make sure it doesn't thicken too much. 

10. While your ganache is cooling, prepare all of your toppings. Chop the cookie dough (from the freezer), the Milky Way, and carefully cut the Oreos in half. Place everything in the freezer.

11. Once the ganache has cooled, set up all of your toppings so they are ready to be used. Take the pan of ice cream cake out of the freezer, and carefully pour the ganache on top. The cold ice cream will make it harden up so you will need to work quickly to spread it out evenly over the top. Immediately add your toppings, pushing down gently. As soon as you are done, pop it back in the freezer to let harden again for at least a couple hours. 

12. To serve: Remove the sides of the springform pan. You may need to run a knife along the edge to loosen it. Depending how frozen it is, you may need to let it sit for a couple minutes. Run a long, wide knife under hot water, remove excess water and slice yourself a piece! Marvel at how delicious it looks. Enjoy!