Fudgey layered Cookies n' Cream Ice Cream Cake

 

At this point I have written and re-written this recipe 4 times!!  Stoopid computer, and kinda stoopid me, for not thinking of Copying the whole text when it wouldn't save!  Ughhhhh.  I started writing this shortly after Sloane's Birthday back in the middle of September.  Since then we have taken a totally spontaneous trip to Las Vegas(!), hung out with artists at the Tattoo convention, and nursed hangovers from the after party!  All this crazy memory making plus all of our normal hectic schedules, hasn't left much time inbetween for being IT professionals, so please for give my tardiness;)
I'm kinda over this cake after writing about it repeatedly, but I also want to get past this recipe and onto pumpkin before I miss fall food altogether, so I'm going to post this fantastic Ice Cream Cake before it snows!

How many of you ask your child, what kind of cake they would like for their birthday, and they respond: "Ice Cream Cake".  For both of my kids, and most of my friend's children as well, this is the response.  I can make any cake they should desire (probably), and they want me to go to DQ, and spend an astronomical amount.  For Sloane's 11th birthday, we created a Build your own Sundae Buffet, kinda thing, in lieu of buying an ice cream cake.  This past September Sloane turned 13!!  still blows my mind that I have a teenager now.  Wild.  Of course, her response for birthday cake ideas, was the same: Ice Cream Cake. Granted DQ does a yummy cake...so I copied it.

 

It cost a fraction of what DQ charges for their cakes, plus I could customize it a bit.  Our favourite part of an ice cream cake is that fudgey layer, so I made 2 fudgey layers!  I still need to save on time, so I didn't make the brownies from scratch, and the cookies that I crumbled were store bought, as was the fudge sauce.  Even still, I think it came together really quick, and would be easily to swap ingredients to play with different flavours. Ummmm peanut butter cups, anyone?! 

I did all my shopping at No Frills, for the most part I always will opt for the no name product, unless the brand names are on sale, luckily for me their were lot's of good deals on ice cream that week! Breyers Ice Cream was on sale, I believe it was $2.96 for the Chocolate, the Oreo Birthday Cake Ice Cream was also on sale, $3.96, the PC old fashioned dark chocolate fudge sauce was about $2.50, cream filled cookies were $2.26, and no name brownies were $2.19, no name frozen dessert topping $2.50.  I already had eggs and oil to make the brownies, and sprinkles in the pantry, but still this fancy schmancy, and delicious ice cream cake, came together for about $20.00! Not too shabby!

Fudgey layered Cookies n' Cream Ice Cream Cake

1 box brownie mix (plus ingredients required)
1 container chocolate ice cream
1 container Cookies n' cream ice cream
1 jar fudge sauce
1 sleeve(ish) cream filled cookies, smashed
1 container Frozen whipped topping (Cool Whip)
canned whipped Cream, optional garnish
sprinkles, optional garnish
extra smashes cookies, optional garnish

I used a 6-inch round springform pan, greased and lined it with parchment, and baked the brownies the day prior - leave at least enough time for the brownies to cool completely.  When I was ready to assemble, I removed the ice cream(s) from the freezer so they could soften slightly, then removed the brownie from the pan, and cut it through the middle horizontally.  I placed one half back in the bottom of the same springform pan (no need to wash!), then covered it with a layer of the fudge sauce, spreading it as evenly as possible, followed by a generous amount of smashed cookies.  Next I emptied the container of chocolate ice cream, and pushed/spread it out to the edges, careful not to disturb the brownie-cookie layer.  Add another brownie-fudge-cookie layer, followed by the cookies n' cream ice cream, and then place the whole thing in the freezer to harden for at least 4 hours, if not overnight. 

 

Remove from the freezer, and release the tension ring from the springform pan, I left my cake right on the bottom of the pan, but you could also transfer it to the serving plate/platter of your choosing.

 

 

Cover the whole top and bottom of cake with a layer of the whipped topping (Cool Whip), I happened to also have a can of Whipped cream in the fridge, so I added a decorative ring around the top, and filled the middle-top with more crushed cookies and sprinkles.  **My fancy addition of whipped cream melted/slid off in the freezer, so this step could always wait until ready to serve.**

 

 

 

Place the cake in in the freezer until ready to serve.  **this would be a good time to make it fancier with canned whipped cream!**

 

 

Fancy trick for ease of slicing - Place a knife in a pint glass filled with hot water, or run it under the tap to heat the knife up to make your slicing smoother.

Enjoy!