With all the record heat waves going on across the nation, I thought it would be fun to feature a decadent dessert that did not require an oven. Because, really? When going to retrieve the mail necessitates a shower and a change of clothes, the last thing I want to do is heat up the house by turning on the oven. On days when stepping into the great outdoors can be likened to stepping into a blast furnace, I want all ice cream, all the time.
Who’s with me?
My Mom came up to visit a little while ago, and seeing as her visit was a mere week before her birthday, cake was definitely in order. It’s the way of my world.
I remembered an ice cream concoction that she used to make in the 80’s called “Chocolate Lover’s Dessert.” Oreos, ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and more Oreos. Simple. To the point. Delicious. Thankfully, my Mom gave me the recipe, along with many other childhood favorites, after I was married.
Of course, I lost them in a move.
So there I was–hot, sweaty, Mom on her way Up North, and craving a nostalgic dessert from my childhood for which I didn’t have a recipe.
No biggie. I whipped it up on the fly because it’s the Only Way.
Trust me when I tell you…you want to make this dessert. Like yesterday.
You’ll need: Vanilla ice cream (preferably in a block-type container,) Salted Caramel sauce, butter, Oreos, powdered sugar, and heavy whipping cream.
Are you diggin’ my fancy background props? I call it Newspaper: It’s Not Just for Breakfast Anymore. What can I say…I’m bored with my background cloths.
Seal the Oreos into a large, zippered storage bag, then smash the tar out of them with a rolling pin.
Reserve 1 cup of the cookie crumbs for later. Try not to snack on them while you are working.
Dump the remaining cookie crumbs into a large bowl, and pour melted butter over them. Contemplate rolling around in said cookie crumbs and melted butter, and/or eating it with a spoon. Decide against it because this is a family friendly blog.
Stir the cookie crumbs and butter together until the crumbs are well coated. Spread the butter soaked crumbs onto the bottom of a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan.
Lay a sheet of waxed paper over the crumb mixture, and compress it with your hands to form a crust. Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.
While the crust is in the freezer, whip the heavy cream with the powdered sugar until soft peaks form, then set it aside.
Unwrap the ice cream. I say unwrap because ice cream that comes in a cardboard carton will easily break apart and expose the frosty goodness inside. If you have ice cream in another type of carton, use large spoons to remove it.
Use a large knife to slice the ice cream into 1/2 inch slices.
Remove the crust from the freezer, and layer the ice cream slices to fit firmly on top of the crust. Cut the slices to fit, as necessary.
Use the knife to smooth out the top, and seal the gaps between the ice cream slices.
Now, the original recipe from my youth called for making a chocolate sauce out of sweetened condensed milk, which took seemingly 57 hours to cook on the stove. I thought I’d change it up a bit by spooning some Salted Caramel Sauce over top because I was feeling a little salty/sweet, but hey! Go ahead and use hot fudge or chocolate sauce if that’s your thing.
Whether using Salted Caramel, or hot fudge, the sauce will likely need to be heated in order to spoon or pour it over the ice cream layer. The ice cream will melt a bit, but that’s to be expected. Freeze the cake for 30 minutes, or until the ice cream and topping are set.
My caramel was a bit too hot, so the ice cream melted a little more than I would have liked, but it all firmed up in the freezer anyway.
Once the cake has firmed up a bit, spread the freshly whipped cream evenly over the top.
Remember the cookie crumbs that we set aside at the beginning of the recipe? If you didn’t eat them all, now would be a great time to sprinkle them over the whipped cream layer of the cake. If, by chance, you did nibble away all of those reserved cookie crumbs, then no one needs to know that they were supposed to be there in the first place. Your secret is safe with me.
Drizzling a little extra Salted Caramel over the top of the cake is never a bad idea. Ever. Freeze the cake for several hours, preferably overnight, to firmly set.
Allow the cake to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before slicing. I’ll be honest here, when I was a kid and we made this cake we cut it into 6 pieces. Of course one piece was dinner, but still. Serious gluttony going on. Realistically, twelve (or more) pieces are more reasonable. You do what you can live with…just do it.
So chill out! Beat the heat with this Oreo Ice Cream Cake.
♥♥♥
Oreo Ice Cream “Cake”
http://comfortablydomestic.com
Yield: 12 or more Servings
Prep Time: 60 minutes (including freezing in stages,) Cook Time: 0 minutes Total Time: 1 hour plus overnight freezing.
1 package (16 oz.) Oreo sandwich cookies
½ C. butter, melted
1 ¾ Qts. (1.6 L) Vanilla ice cream
1 ½ C. Salted Caramel Sauce (or hot fudge)
1 ½ C. (12 oz.) heavy whipping cream
1 Tbs. powdered sugar
Notes: This cake is prepared in layers, and needs to be frozen in between layers. The finished cake is best if frozen overnight.
Place all of the Oreo cookies in a large zippered storage bag. Seal the bag, getting out as much air as possible. Take a rolling pin and smash the cookies in the bag. Reserve 1 cup of the crushed Oreos; set aside. Place the remaining crushed Oreos into a large bowl.
Melt the butter by putting it into a microwave safe cup, and heating on 60% power for a minute (or more,) until the butter is just melted. Pour the melted butter over the crushed Oreos in the bowl, and stir well to coat. Scoop the butter/crumb mixture into a 13 x 9 x 2 inch pan. Lay a sheet of waxed paper over the mixture, and press on the paper to compress the mixture evenly into a crust. Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.
Remove the ice cream from the carton, and set it on a cutting board. (For easiest assembly, use ice cream that comes packaged in a rectangular block-type carton.) Use a large, sharp knife to slice the ice cream into ½ inch slices.
Remove the crust from the freezer. Lay a single layer of Ice cream slices over the Oreo crust, ensuring that the slices are as tight as possible, cutting the slices to fit, as necessary.
Heat the caramel (or hot fudge) slightly until is just pourable. Pour the caramel (or hot fudge) over the ice cream layer, spreading to the edges. Freeze the cake for 30 minutes, or until the ice cream and topping are set.
Whip the heavy cream with the powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Spread the whipped cream evenly over the topping layer of the cake, being sure to reach the edges of the pan. Sprinkle the reserved Oreo crumbs over the whipped cream layer. Freeze the cake overnight, or until fully set.
To serve, remove cake from freezer and allow it to sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes to soften. Dip a sharp knife into warm water, and wipe dry. Cut the cake into serving pieces with the warmed knife. Re-warm and dry the knife as needed.
Serve drizzled with additional caramel (or hot fudge,) if desired.
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