My son’s birthday was on Monday, and he requested a “cookies & cream ice cream cake.” Rather than purchase one that would only taste “eh” and have all kinds of artificial colors and stuff in and on it, I decided to make the cake. I didn’t have a recipe. I wung it. The result? My son says it’s “the best cake ever.”
Here’s how I made it.
Ingredients:
1 recipe for a layer cake – you need to end up with at least two 8-inch cake rounds; use chocolate or vanilla cake
1 half-gallon of vanilla ice cream (or cookies and cream ice cream)
1 package of chocolate sandwich cookies
heavy whipping cream
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
Directions:
First, take the ice cream out of the freezer to soften. I used a half-gallon of organic vanilla ice cream.
Then, make the cake. I used Mark Bittman’s golden layer cake recipe in How to Cook Everything, but you could use any layer cake recipe, chocolate or vanilla. I chose yellow/vanilla cake because my son is a vanilla guy and I knew that’s what he wanted. In any event, you need to end up with at least two 8-inch cake rounds.
While the cake bakes, make the cookies and cream ice cream layer.
Now, this is funny. I went to the store and looked for cookies and cream ice cream that didn’t have high fructose corn syrup in it or any other junk, and I couldn’t find anything. So, I bought organic vanilla ice cream. So far, so good.
Then, I went to the cookie aisle. And guess what? They were out of any chocolate sandwich cookies that didn’t have high fructose corn syrup. Rats. So, I bought regular ol’ Oreos. Any chocolate sandwich cookies will do (we like Newman’s, generally).
I would have liked this to be an all-natural venture, but I did the best I could under the circumstances.
Anyway, put all but about 10 or 12 of the sandwich cookies in a zip-top bag and beat the stew out of it. Use your hands or a rolling pin and just break up those babies. You don’t want fine crumbs, but small chunks of cookie.
Then, mix the contents of the bag with the ice cream in a large bowl.
Once mixed, cover and return to the freezer.
Remove the cakes from the oven and let cool on a rack until at room temperature. Once at room temperature, break up the layers and put into the bottom of a springform pan. I tried to keep edge pieces along the edge, and I cared less about how the middle looked. Press down to make sure the entire bottom of the pan is covered with cake, cover with plastic wrap, and put in the freezer for at least one hour.
After the cake has had time to freeze, take the ice cream out of the freezer to soften. Once softened, take the cake/pan out of the freezer and remove the plastic wrap. Take the remaining 10 or 12 cookies and put a single-layer of them over the cake.
Next, layer the ice cream on top of the cake and cookies. I used a spatula to spoon it on top of the cake and then smooth out the top. Fill the pan to the rim with the ice cream. Cover with plastic wrap, press down gently to make sure that the ice cream has filled all the gaps on top of the cookies and cake, and then return to the freezer for another hour or so.
To ice the cake, I used whipped cream. I simply whipped heavy cream in my electric mixer with two tablespoons of sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla until soft peaks formed.
I ran a knife around the edge of the springform pan and removed the cake from the pan. Leave the cake on the bottom part of the springform pan, though. It’s a good base.
The cake should have these layers:
Once frosted with the whipped cream, return to the freezer for at least half an hour. I just put it in the freezer on the bottom of the springform pan. (I didn’t want to cover it in plastic wrap and mess up the frosting.)
After that, decorate as you wish. I used Trader Joe’s organic chocolate syrup, but with a smaller squeeze top (from a Hershey’s syrup bottle) to make writing easier. (That said, the writing still isn’t pretty. Oh well. It did taste good!) Return to the freezer to let the writing/syrup harden a little (it won’t harden a lot, FYI).
Take the cake out of the freezer for at least 5 minutes before serving – it makes cutting it easier.
Then watch as your family and/or friends devour it.
My son gave me a thumbs up and declared it the best cake he’d ever eaten. High praise from a sweets-lover like him!
P.S. I know this sounds like a long and involved process for cake, but it really wasn’t. During the freezing wait times, I wrapped his presents, answered emails, ran errands, had lunch with him at his school, etc. The hands-on time is really short.
What’s the best thing you ever made? What’s the best thing you’ve ever eaten? Do tell!
Thank you for stopping by!
Hi Karen! Love this and adore that you just went for it! I know it has to taste a zillion times better than one we’d buy and even more so because it was made with love! hmm…best thing I ever made is a toughie, to be honest. Best thing I ever ate? That’s a toss-up, but the winner is an amazing Grand Marnier Souffle at the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas. It was a long time ago, but I still remember it! 🙂 Thanks for sharing the cake recipe and pinning! Have a happy day!
Thanks, Cindy! Mmmmm…Grand Marnier Souffle sounds awesome!
This looks amazing! Thanks for sharing!
XO
Kristin
Thanks, Kristin!
Wow Karen – looks delicious and I LOVE the ice cream layer!! YUM!
Thanks, Claire! It was delish!!
This reminds me of a recipe I use to make back in the early days…it was called “Better than Sex Pie” and it had oreos in it. It was so good. If I post it I think I’ll have to re do the name? lol Looks great Karen!
HA! That’s hilarious! Um, only PG-rated pies on the blog! 😉
Oh, YUM – that looks soooo good!
Thanks, Heather! My son loved it and said he wants me to make it every year for his birthday! High praise. Thanks again!
This wouldn’t even last an hour at my house ~ it looks absolutely delicious!
It was yummy! Thank you, MaryBeth!
Can I have a recipe for the yellow cake that you used?
Sure! I used Mark Bittman’s Golden Layer Cake recipe from How To Cook Everything. You could use any yellow cake recipe, including one from a mix, if you want.
Here’s Mark Bittman’s recipe – NOTE: I only used vanilla extract and not the almond extract or orange zest.
10 Tbs unsalted butter (1 1/4 sticks), softened, plus some for greasing the pans and the paper
2 cups cake or all-purpose flour, plus some for dusting the pans
1 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs or 8 yolks (I used 4 eggs)
1 tsp vanilla extract or 1 Tbs grated or minced orange zest
1/4 tsp almond extract – I did not use (can’t stand almond extract!); just added a little more vanilla extract.
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
(1) Preheat oven to 350. Butter the bottom and sides of two nine-inch or three eight-inch cake pans. Cover the bottom with a circle of parchment paper or wax paper (I used parchment), butter the paper, and sift flour over the pans. Invert pans to remove excess flour.
(2) Use an electric mixer to cream the butter until smooth, then gradually add the sugar. Beat until light, 3-4 minutes. Beat in the eggs or yolks, one at a time, then the vanilla or orange zest and the almond extract (if using). Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt; add to the egg mixture by hand, a little at a time, alternating with the milk. Stir just until smooth.
(3) Turn the batter into the pans, and bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then invert onto a rack and complete cooling.
Enjoy! If you make the cake, let me know how it turns out!
Awesome!!! Thank you so much!! I am going to make this tomorrow so I will let you know how it turns out! I, too, was looking for better alternative than a store bought ice cream cake. So excited to try out this recipe.
You are welcome! It’s great cake (I might have eaten some of the extra left over…). Can’t wait to hear how it turns out!