An Anniversary Ice Cream Cake

When our anniversary rolls around, I like to make something a little more special than my usual bars or cookies. This year, it fell during the week that I had also made this Strawberry Shortcut Cake. I originally wanted to make a decadent layer cake of some sort, but when I mentioned it to my husband, he seemed less than enthused. I think the conversation went something like this:
Me: "I was going to make a cake for our anniversary, but I don't really want to make it if you'll only eat one piece out of courtesy and then a lot of it will go to waste."
Dusty: "Well what kind of cake are we talkin'?"
Me: "What do you mean - I mean just some type of cake, something out of the ordinary."
Dusty: "Well, if you're talking ice cream cake, then obviously it'll get eaten . . . "

And so, this ice cream cake was concocted the day before our anniversary, and it was eaten gobbled up pretty quickly! I've made a lot of ice cream cakes over the years, so I usually don't follow a recipe. I just kind of go with what sounds good. Here's how this one looked

Ice Cream Cake
Peanut Butter Cookie Base
1 pkg. sugar cookie mix
1/2 c. peanut butter
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 eggs
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease an 8 inch springform pan.
2. Mix all ingredients together until dough comes together.
3. Press dough into prepared pan and bake approximately 20-25 minutes, or until light golden brown on top.
4. Allow to cool, and remove cookie from pan. Slice off about 1/2-3/4 inch off top of the cookie and save for later. Place bottom portion back in the pan.

Ice Cream Layers
1 1/2-2 c. chocolate ice cream, slightly softened
1/2 c. hot fudge sauce, plus more for drizzling
8 fun size Reese's PB Cups, chopped
2 1/2-3 c. Blue Bunny Toffee Lovers Ice Cream, slightly softened
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream, whipped
1 c. light cool whip
Toffee pieces, crumbled peanut butter cookie (set aside from earlier), and hot fudge for garnishes
1. Spread chocolate ice cream over cooled cookie crust, followed by hot fudge sauce. Sprinkle with PB cups and freeze 1-2 hours.
2. Spread Toffee Ice Cream over the peanut butter cups, and place back in freezer for 1-2 hours.
3. Gently fold together whipped cream and cool whip. Using a pastry bag with a large star tip (or even a plastic bag with a whole cut in one corner), pipe the mixture over the top, starting from the outside and working in. Alternately, you can simply spread it over the top.
4. Crumble the cookie over the top, sprinkle with toffee pieces, and drizzle with hot fudge. Place back in the fridge for at least 3 hours so everything has a chance to set up.
5. When ready to serve, remove sides of springform pan, and run a large, sturdy knife under hot water so it slices more easily. Enjoy!

 The roses were from my hubby, and the sunflowers from my boys!

I'm not sure why the pictures turned out either really bright or really blurry, so I do apologize for that!


We went out to eat at Granite City for supper that night, and it was delicious - nothing beats their Chicken Caesar Chalupa! The boys were a little wild, but pretty well behaved for the most part, so that was fun!

 "My brother's hilarious!"

 "Okay, maybe I've had enough . . . "

And one family photo - hard to believe five short years ago Dusty and I were just starting married life together! I'm one lucky lady.

Hugs and Cookies,

Amanda

Annual Ice Cream Cake!

It was my hubby's birthday on July 29th - his golden birthday, actually. I am so lucky to be with him. Intelligent, funny, kind-hearted, wonderful father, and let's not forget good-lookin'! I'm blessed, and so are our boys.

I forgot to mention he's also the boys' jungle gym!

Anyway, back when Dusty and I first started dating (almost 8 years ago!), we were both in college, and surprise, surprise I didn't have much money. But, Dusty loves ice cream cakes, so for his birthdays I decided to try to make my own instead of buying them. I think this was the 6th birthday I've made an ice cream cake, and I think Dusty's been happy with all of them. The great thing about them is that they're so versatile! I've done them with oreo crusts, actual cake layers with ice cream between, and a variety different flavors . . . although most combinations revolve around chocolate and peanut butter because those are Dusty's favorites. The combinations are endless. This year was a cookie crust, hot fudge Reese's PB cups, ice cream, peanuts, ice cream, and whipped cream on the top. It went over really well, although Dusty and I each probably gained a few pounds since we were the only ones who ate it! (So far, Asher hates ice cream - too cold for the little guy!)

Ice Cream Cake

1st layer
1 pkg. Betty Crocker chocolate with peanut butter chips cookie mix
1/3 c. oil
2 T. water
1 egg
Hot fudge topping
Reese's PB cups

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients and press 2/3 into a greased 9-inch springform pan. Spread remaining dough on greased cookie sheet and bake both for 12 minutes. Allow to cool. Spread crust with hot fudge and chopped PB cups (the amount you use is up to you - I think I used 5 fun size candy bars)

2nd layer
2 1/2 c. vanilla ice cream, softened
1/2 c. caramel ice cream topping
1/3 c. peanut butter
1/3 c. dry roasted peanuts, chopped
Mix caramel and peanut butter, and fold into ice cream. Spread over cooled crust and sprinkle with peanuts. Freeze until solid - at least 2 hours.


3rd layer
2 1/2 c. chocolate ice cream, softened
Crumbled cookie from earlier
Mix ice cream with the chocolate peanut butter cookie baked during the first layer. Spread the chocolate ice cream over the vanilla and freeze again.





Top layer
8 oz. container Cool Whip
3/4 c. powdered sugar
Peanuts
Peanut butter cups
Mix Cool Whip with powdered sugar to stiffen, then spread or pipe on top of ice cream. Sprinkle with peanuts and chopped peanut butter cups. Freeze overnight if possible, or at least 2 hours, and eat up!