Oreo Fudge Ice Cream Cake

I've been slow with blogging lately because we've had a couple of hectic weeks. In the last two weeks, we...

...celebrated our church's first baptism!
...visited with my mom and cousin for a week, going to King's Dominion with them three times in five day!
...celebrated the Fourth of July with friends from DC and our family by going to King's Dominion and then barbecuing!
...visited with my dad the past two days, watching several movies and going to the Richmond Zoo for the first time!

This morning started at 4:45am when I had to drive Hubby to work for his opening shift at Starbucks. Followed by driving my dad to the airport at 6:45am. The little girl I nanny arrived at 8am. I managed to grab a quick shower (a record 3 minutes) and in just a moment I'll be packing the kiddos in the car and heading back to Starbucks to pick up Hubby. Thankfully I go knowing that a yummy frappuccino will be waiting for me to help me through the rest of the day!

An equally busy weekend awaits us, so while I do have several posts I'd like to make, those thoughts will have to wait until at least Sunday. In the meantime, I thought I'd share the recipe for the Oreo Fudge Ice Cream Cake that I made for Hubby's birthday and our special at-home date night.

OREO FUDGE ICE CREAM CAKE

1 chocolate fudge boxed cake mix
Eggs, oil, water
1/2 gallon of cookies n cream ice cream, slightly softened
2 jars hot fudge (12-16oz each)
2 rows Oreo cookies, crushed

Mix up the cake mix according to the package directions. Pour half of the batter in to a 9x13 cake pan and bake. (The other half is extra, so set aside to use for cupcakes or a second cake. You can also see tip below on using the extra batter and fudge.) When cake is finished baking, cool for several minutes, then poke small holes in to the top every inch or so. Heat one jar of hot fudge and pour half to three-quarters of the jar over the warm cake. Allow the fudge to be absorbed by the cake. Cool completely, and then freeze for 2-3 hours.

When cake is frozen, layer ice cream on top. The best way to do this is to buy the ice cream in one of the half-gallon boxes with the fold out sides. Slice the ice cream with a knife and layer the slices over the cake. Use a spatula to smooth out crevices.

Warm the second jar of hot fudge only enough so that the fudge pours easily. If you warm the fudge too much it will completely melt the ice cream. Spread half to three-quarters of the jar of hot fudge over the ice cream. Then dump the crushed Oreos on top of the hot fudge. Press Oreos down so that they stick well. Freeze at least 4-6 hours before serving. Overnight is best. Remove from freezer about 10 minutes before serving.

TIP: Using the extra cake batter, fill cupcake pans (lined with cupcake papers) until each tin is about two-thirds full. Take a heaping spoonful of unheated hot fudge and place on the top in the center of each cupcake. Bake as directed on the package. The spoonful of hot fudge will sink in to the middle of the cupcake during baking. Will make about a dozen and can be frozen since you most likely won't be ready to eat them since you just made a huge ice cream cake! We ate ours straight out of the freezer with cool whip. Yummy!

So this really is the best ice cream cake ever and definitely beats paying almost $30 for a tiny Coldstone Creamery ice cream cake! Credit actually goes to Cindy who gave me the recipe, though I added the layers of fudge. You can probably mix up the cake mix and ice cream flavors and switch out the fudge with caramel or butterscotch for different varieties. Happy summer, ice cream eatin's!