Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream Cake

Last week was Jason's birthday. And just like a really well prepared food blogging wife, I made all his favorite dishes plus made a homemade cake to celebrate with.

Or not.

I really am impressed by people who can make that happen but it rarely works out well for me.

His birthday was mid-week. I was out of town the days prior and worked an extra long day on his actual birthday. The best he got was reservations for dinner when I got off work, which I admit is fairly pitiful. We didn't even order dessert.

By the weekend, when my schedule cleared up, I realized just how pitiful it was and decided that it's never too late for birthday cake. The man loves ice cream cake (who doesn't?!) so that's what he got. Oreos. Ice cream. Chocolate cake. Hot fudge. Topped with more Oreos and more hot fudge.

It's turned out pretty amazing and he seemed quite pleased, even if it was a few days late.

This week he was responsible for taking the birthday cake to work for a colleague and he whipped up this cake for his office. He came home with raves about how delicious it was. And that birthday boy was pretty pleased, too.

But enough about birthdays. I think that ice cream cake is something that is a year round, any day of the week, for absolutely no reason treat. And because of that, I think you should make one soon :)

This cake has two layers: bottom layer is a mixture of chocolate cake, Oreos, hot fudge, and ice cream. The top layer is ice cream and Oreos. You whip them up in two bowls then just layer them in your springform pan and top it all with more Oreos and fudge. Easy peasy! 

Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream Cake
13 ounce package of Oreos (or generic brand), roughly chopped
2 cups roughly chopped chocolate cake, see note below
1.5 quarts vanilla ice cream, very soft
1 cup hot fudge sauce
cooking spray

Lightly spray a 10-inch springform pan with cooking spray and set aside. Divide the chopped Oreos into three equal parts and set aside.

In a large bowl, stir together the chopped chocolate cake and 1/3 of the Oreos. Add 1/3 of the ice cream (make sure it's very soft) and stir gently until the cake, Oreos, and ice cream are well combined. Press the mixture into the bottom of the springform pan.

In a separate bowl, mix the remaining 2/3 of the ice cream with another 1/3 of the Oreos. Swirl in about 1/2 cup of the hot fudge sauce. Press this on top of the cake mixture in the pan.

Sprinkle the remaining 1/3 Oreos and drizzle the remaining sauce over top.

Lightly cover and freeze for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight.

When ready to serve, let the pan sit at room temp for about 5 minutes then run a knife around the inside of the pan. Open the mold gently to remove the cake. Enjoy!

Note: You can use a store-bought chocolate cake, like a chocolate pound cake or bundt cake. I opted to just whip up a basic chocolate cake and save the expense. This is the recipe I used - it will make enough for 3 of these ice cream cakes so feel free to cut it in half (or eat lots of cake!).

Source: Adapted from The Kitchn