Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream Cake

Happy Birthday, Sadie!

Today is Sadie's 11th Birthday. And we celebrated, at her request, with a homemade ice cream cake.

Make an ice cream cake from scratch is dead simple. (Time-consuming but simple.) Basically, I followed the instructions outlined in this guide and made a few tweaks. I'd recommend watching the video before making this cake simply to get a visual of what to do, but it really is easy. And delicious.

I did not use my own ice cream for this cake, but that is my next ice cream cake goal. If you use store-bought, make sure to choose a high-quality brand so that the cake's taste is fantastic as its aesthetics.



Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream Cake
1 package of Oreo cookies
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 qt. chocolate ice cream
1 qt. vanilla ice cream
non-dairy whipped topping, thawed
sprinkles (optional)
cake decorating gel (optional)

Place chocolate ice cream in the refrigerator and allow to soften.

Set aside 6 Oreo cookies. Crush the remaining cookies and, in a medium bowl, mix cookie crumbs thoroughly with the melted butter.

Press half to two-thirds of the cookie crumbs into the bottom of a springform pan. (The amount you use with determine the thickness of the cake's crust.) Set the remaining crumbs aside. Place springform pan in the freezer for 10 minutes to allow the crust to harden.

Place softened chocolate ice cream into a medium bowl and stir; it should be smooth and spreadable. Remove springform pan from the freezer and spread the chocolate ice cream evenly over the chocolate cookie crust. Sprinkle the surface of the ice cream with the remaining cookie crumbs (use as much or as little as you choose) and gently press the crumbs into the ice cream. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and chill in the freezer until hard, at least four hours.

Once the cake layer is almost ready, place the vanilla ice cream in the refrigerator and allow to soften. Once the vanilla ice cream is ready, remove springform pan from the freezer and spread the vanilla ice cream evenly over the chocolate ice cream and cookie crumb layer. Recover the pan with aluminum foil and chill in the freezer until hard, at least four hours.

Remove the pan from the freezer and run a hot knife between the edge of the ice cream cake and the walls of the pan (this will help prevent the cake from cracking). Open the latch on the springform pan and remove the sides.

Place the cake on a cake decorating turntable or plastic cutting board and frost with the whipped topping. Split apart the reserved Oreo cookies and place the halves around the sides of the cake. If desired, decorated with sprinkles and decorating gel.

Return cake to freezer and chill for 3 to 4 hours until hardened. Before serving, allow to soften in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. Slice cake with a knife warmed in hot water; dry knife before slicing .

Chocolate Jello Pudding Pops

There are few Cosby-related items I remember vividly from childhood:

Fat Albert, watched in the afternoon on FOX 5. (The Brown Hornet: a tv show within a tv show. So meta!)

The Cosby Show, with Claire Huxtable as perfection in an 80s power suit. (Pretty! Smart! Sophisticated! Did I mention pretty?)

Chocolate Jell-o Pudding Pops; loved them. So much better than a fudgesicle – so worth begging for in the freezer section of Waldbaum’s. Opening the plastic wrapper would release a tiny puff of artic air and the vague scent of chocolate. Each pop would be carefully raked with my insicors, removing the delicate layer of ice before allowing myself to savor the chocolately goodness.

I can’t find them now, so I tried to make them at home. I accidentally bought Chocolate Fudge pudding instead of regular chocolate, so the flavor is off -- at least, I think that's it. The flavor isn't as sweet, nor is the consistancy as milky (and no protective layer ice!).

If you like chocolate popsicles, then by all means, whip these up. But they don’t have Bill Cosby’s seal of approval.

Thanks to Meeta at What's For Lunch, Honey? for hosting Monthly Mingle #3!

JELL-O Homemade Pudding Pops (recipe from Kraft)

2 cups cold 2-percent milk
1 pkg. (4-serving size) JELL-O Instant Pudding & Pie Filling, any flavor

Pour cold milk into medium bowl. Add pudding mix. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes. Spoon into 6 (5-oz.) paper or plastic cups. Insert wooden pop stick or plastic spoon into each for handle.

Freeze 5 hours or until firm. To remove pop from cup, place bottom of cup under warm running water for 15 seconds. Press firmly on bottom of cup to release pop. (Do not twist or pull pop stick.) Store leftover pops in freezer.

Grade: B

Please can I have one?

Jello Popsicles

Hey! Guess what! It’s summer vacation! You’ve got two whole months to do nothing but get in trouble!

Well, no. Not if you’re not a kid. Or a sitting president.

So maybe you still have to get up in the morning, put on your corporate casual clothes, commute to work and spend 8 hours trying to look busy by “conducting online research” when really, you’re just searching for internet porn and Paris Hilton’s latest single. (Is there a difference?)

But for a moment, try to recapture the rapture that is summer vacation: long lazy days spent lolling in the grass, riding bikes, swimming in the neighborhood pool, waiting for the faint jingle of the ice cream truck to approach your house.

Behold! The mighty popsicle: summer on a stick.

There’s something about the flavor of these popsicles (Sadie & I used raspberry) that screams JELLO! I can’t put my finger on it, but the brand has a taste all its own. The consistency is also different from a "regular" popsicle: a bit richer, perhaps from the gelatin. Not that it mattered to Kian and Sadie; they love them. They’re easy to make, the color is vibrant (gorgeous, actually) and they taste good. What can else can you ask of a frozen treat?

Jello Popsicles

The proportions are approximated, so you may need to adjust the measurements to suit your tastes and purposes.
¼ pkg. plus 1 tsp. of Jello mix
¼ cup plus 1 tsp. sugar
1 ½ cups boiling water

In a medium bowl, combine Jello, sugar, and water and stir until powders are dissolved. Taste, and adjust for sweetness (e.g., add more Jello or a bit more water). Pour into popsicle molds and freeze until hardened, at least two hours. Yields approximately six 3 oz. popsicles

Grade: For kids, A. For adults, B range

Mango Ginger Buttermilk Ice Cream

(Check out Retro Recipe Challenge #1!)

Another ginger recipe, adapted from our foodie lord and savior's website: Martha Stewart.com There, MS has a recipe for Nectarine Ginger Buttermilk Ice Cream but since nectarines aren't in season, I substituted mangoes.

This was a very easy recipe to make -- made all the more easy with assistance from friend and sous chef Jenny (Thanks Jenny!!!) -- with summer-worthy results.

It's a very fresh and bright flavor; the vibrancy of mangoes burst through with each bite. It's not very creamy (more like a sherbet than an ice cream) but I can't help but think that this consistency better compliments its tropical flavors.

The presence of ginger isn't very strong here. I detected its bottom note several times but I don't know I'd be able to pick up the ginger flavor if I didn't know it was there. For me, not the biggest fresh ginger fan, that's fine. But if you're looking for more of that ginger punch, I'd increase the ginger to a full teaspoon and taste the mixture (before and after adding the buttermilk and half-n-half) to see if you want to add more.

This isn't a terribly sweet dessert, which is not to say that it's at all sour. The sweetness accurately mirrors what's found in a ripe mango, I think. It's sophisticated; a nice finish to a light supper of Salade nicoise or grilled prawns.

Mango Ginger Buttermilk Ice Cream

3 ripe mangoes
1 c. sugar
1/4 c. light corn syrup
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice(about 2 large lemons)
1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 and 1/2 c. low-fat buttermilk
1 c. half-and-half

Prepare mangoes for use, discarding skins and pits. Place in a food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer to a medium bowl, and add sugar, corn syrup, lemon juice, and ginger. Whisk to combine, cover, and let stand for an hour.

If desired, pass mango mixture through a strainer into a medium bowl (if unstrained, you may have small chunks of mango in your final product). Add buttermilk and half-and-half, whisking to combine. Transfer to an ice-cream maker, and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. If necessary, do this in two batches, keeping remainder of ice cream base refrigerated while the first batch is freezing.

Makes about 2 quarts.

Grade: A

Tags: cooking, ice cream, mango, dessert, ginger, dessert