Ice Cream Cake!!!!!

This is it. I couldn't get a pretty picture and I was late for work... but I was told it was amazing!! And yeah... that's right. I had to be told. Because I couldn't even make it to the party. The guys at work asked me to make the cake for someone's birthday and I couldn't get away from my desk to meet them for the birthday bash. Oh well. They've already asked me for an encore cake for Thanksgiving. Maybe I will, just to get to try it for myself!

The cake part is made from one of my favorite recipes. Super simple and moist. The ice cream is just regular ol' mint chocolate chip in a paper carton, and the icing was homemade (only because I forgot icing at the store!).

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Cake
Cake:
1 chocolate cake mix (make sure it's one without pudding mix in it)
1 small box of instant chocolate pudding
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup vegetable oil

3/4 carton of mint chocolate chip ice cream

Icing:
1 1/2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
6 Tablespoons butter
4 Tablespoons vegetable oil
2 Tablspoons vanilla extract

First off, you are best off with 3 9-in cake pans... the metal kind with mostly straight sides that will make prettier layers. I only had 1 and a pie pan. It can be done, it's just a pain!

Ok, you want to let your ice cream sit out on the counter while you mix the cake ingredients. As soon as you've mixed those together, the ice cream should be just soft enough. Using one of your round, 9-in cake pans lined with parchment paper (plastic wrap or foil might work well too), spoon the ice cream in and smash it down to create a layer about 1 1/2 in thick. Cover with plastic wrap and put in the freezer for at least an hour. Mine sat in there overnight and I assembled the cake the morning of to keep the cake from tasting like freezer.

Now, divide your cake batter between 2 9-in pans and bake at 350* for about 30 minutes. You will want to keep an eye on them - I was not so perfect at eye-balling "half" of the batter. So my layers took different times to bake. When they are done, allow them to cool in the pans for about 15 minutes and then you can flip them on to a cookie sheet to continue cooling. If you leave them in the pans they tend to sweat and stick to the pan.

It's best to make the icing when you are ready to put the whole cake together. Go ahead and start your chocolate chips, butter, and oil melting over hot, but not boiling, water in a double boiler. I have a cake leveler that came in handy for making my cake layers even (it looks like a giant cheese slicer). The ice cream layer should come out easily if you lined your pan - I was not so lucky. ;) You can use the back of a spoon to mold the sides of the ice cream layer if they look bad. Now you're ready for icing!

The icing is easy! But, as you can see, I should have made more. I have already corrected this in *my* recipe, you're welcome!! I made this recipe 150% of what I made. Hopefully you've already melted your chocolate chips, butter, and oil together in a double boiler. After it is all melted and blended just how you want it, add the vanilla extract last. Then you're ready to drizzle over the cake and let it drop down the sides! YUM!

During this time, the ice cream might have gotten a little soft. Unless you're about to serve it NOW, you will want to put it back into the freezer. If you have a cake carrier that fits in the freezer (plastic, glass probably isn't a good idea), it will be good to have it covered.



Ok so my recipe looks days longer than necessary, but I just talked a lot. Hope you try it! I hope I get to try it one day! :p