End of Summer Ice Cream Cake!

Well, it's official.  The kids are back at school, a few leaves are beginning their change in preparation of Winter, the Halloween and Christmas items are in the stores and of course Labor Day has passed. Summer is officially coming to an end. One way we celebrate these final warm days at my house is by making a home made ice cream cake.

DIY ice cream cakes are not difficult to make.  They can be time consuming, but the end result is worth it!  :) The original instructions for this came directly from Dairy Queens website (http://www.cakesbydairyqueen.com/dairy-queen-cake-recipe.asp).  

First you'll need your arsenal of ingredients.

1. 1-2 gallons of your choice of ice cream. I always use two flavors for the different layers. 
2. Whip Cream such as Cool Whip
3. Hot Fudge Sauce 
4. Oreos
5. Wax Paper
6. Pan of your choice (I use a spring form pan. I like these because if I want to take the cake out and set it out to display, I can easily pop off the sides and remove the cake)
7. Decorations of your choice (sprinkles, cherries, candy bars, etc)

To begin with, You will want to butter your cake pan, then press your wax paper into the pan completely covering the bottom and sides as much as possible.  The wax paper makes it easier to lift the cake out when done. This way the ice cream won't freeze to the pan.

Next, you will want to let your ice cream sit out for a little bit to soften up.  You can't very well spread around rock hard ice cream into your cake pan.  If you decide to use Dairy Queen ice cream then you can avoid this step because their ice cream is soft serve.  It's ready to spread.

Once softened, spread your icream on the bottom of the pan, filling the cake pan up about half way. Try to spread the ice cream evenly around to make it as even and smooth as possible. This just gives it a nice even layered look when you cut into it.  Pop this into the freezer to keep it from melting too much while you work on the next step.

Next, You will want to crush up about half a bag of Oreos. I do this by putting them into a large zip loc baggie and pressing on them to crush them. My kids love doing this job for me. 

Go ahead and get your pan out of the freezer. Now you can add the smashed Oreos on top of your first layer of ice cream. Smooth the Oreos out as evenly as you can over top of the ice cream.

Next, spoon the hot fudge sauce over top of the crushed Oreos.  You do not need to heat up/melt the hot fudge sauce. This step can be done at room temperature. Once covered, place it back into the freezer until frozen.

Once frozen, remove from the freezer and spread the second layer over top of the crushed Oreo/hot fudge sauce layer. Smooth out the top layer as much as possible. Then place it back into the freezer again until frozen. 

While you are waiting on this to freeze, you can prepare your final step.  Mix together, in a large mixing bowl, equal parts ice cream of your choice and Whip Cream. You are going to "frost" the cake with this combination. Now, there are a few ways you can do this. First, you could use a spatula to smooth it on the cake to give it a nice finished look, or you can add the mix to a large decorating bag and pipe the frosting on with the large frosting tip. It's up to you and what materials you have at home. Either way will work. I have the large tip but I didn't feel like using it.  I just smoothed my mixture on with a spatula.

Once it is frozen, and you have your mix made, pull out your cake from the freezer. At this point you can pull the cake out of the pan if you like.  You can do this by lifting out the wax paper, or opening up the spring form pan if you used one. Some people just leave the cake in the pan and simply frost the top. Do what works for you!  **TIP** If you do pull your cake from the pan, you will want to set it on a flat serving tray or a cardboard cake round. This just gives it added support.

You can add many different types of decorations to it if you want. If you have decorating bags and tips, you can pipe on stars or shells. If you have experience using buttercream, you can even pipe on some buttercream designs. Use your imagination and creativity! I took heart shaped cookie cutters and lightly pressed them into the top of my cake. Then I filled the cookie cutter with sprinkles. Once removed I had a nice sprinkle heart left over.  I did this all around the top of my cake.

Once you are done decorating, you can cut and serve up your yummy ice cream cake or pop it back in the freezer until frozen.

Enjoy!