Oreo Cookies 'n' Cream Ice Cream Cake Recipe

This post has been a very long time in the making. I actually made this cake for my boyfriend's birthday in February (before I started my blog). But I took meticulous notes and process pictures. You'll see!

I'm not always this nice, but I knew how much Jacob loves ice cream cakes, cookies and cream, and oreos. Usually he gets a Coldstone ice cream cake, but this year I thought I'd change it up and see if I could successfully make an ice cream cake. Challenge: accepted.

Let me tell you something first. You have to be really dedicated to make this cake. It is really, really delicious, but it takes forever and has a bunch of steps. My process took seven hours! To be fair, I was also preparing other foods so it could take less time. The earlier you start the better though! Also, I did use cake mix. I thought about making it from scratch, but read up on several sites about how to make ice cream cake and someone astutely pointed out that you're freezing this cake. So who cares if it's from scratch? Point taken (and time saved). I added a ton of notes on what worked/what didn't, so if you decide to try your own cake, hopefully it goes smoothly. Let me know how it turns out!

Ready for this?

Oreo Cookies 'n' Cream Ice Cream Cake
Serves 15+

Ingredients

Two 1.5 quart tubs of cookies and cream ice cream - simpler if it's a rectangular carton

One 1.5 quart tub of vanilla ice cream

One white cake mix + ingredients

One chocolate cake mix + ingredients

One box of oreos

Optional Extras

Fudge

Mini chocolate chips

Oreo cookie cream icing

Semi-sweet chocolate chips for melting

Supplies

Two 13x9" cake pans

Wax paper

Saran wrap

Tray for your cake
Double boiler

1. Make the two cake mixes in separate cake pans per box instructions. Crush up some oreos (I used three) and mix them in to the white batter. Bake per instructions on the box.

Note: If you want to save oreo resources, you can start cutting oreos in half for the topping (step 5) during this step and use any broken pieces that result for the crushed oreos to put into the batter. Save the good halves for step 5.

2. After baking the cakes, let them cool completely. Carefully remove them from the pan without breaking them. Cut off the cake tops carefully so that both layers are flat. Wrap them each in saran wrap and put them in the freezer.

Note: I cleared out a whole shelf ahead of time so they could lay side by side and freeze faster.

3. Take one of the (now empty) cake pans and lay saran wrap down (pieces large enough to seal the whole layer when you're done), and then a sheet of wax paper over it to smooth it out. Fill the pan with ice cream.

Note: I used a knife to separate the ice cream chunk from the edges of the container, flip the container upside down, and slowly squeeze it out of the carton. That way I ended up with a big chunk of ice cream which I cut in half with dental floss and lay side by side. This still did not fill up the pan and was a messy process but it was a good start. Then I used the second carton to fill in the holes and flatten everything out. The only tool you need is a spoon! Make the layer flat and fill up the pan as evenly as you can. I used up about half of the second carton and the layer ended up the same thickness as the cake layers. If you want a thicker cake you might need three tubs of ice cream and you could make two ice cream layers.

4. Wrap up your ice cream layer in saran wrap. Put your ice cream layer in the freezer.  Make sure they freeze for a little while so they are both solid.

Note: I estimate this to take at least an hour but I also left to run some errands so I'm not sure exactly how long it took.  Just make sure they are solid enough to layer together.

5. While you're waiting, if you want to do the dipped oreos topping you can do that now.  Start boiling water. Lay a sheet of wax paper out on the other (now-empty) cake pan or over a baking sheet.

Note: If you don't have a double boiler, just look up how to melt chocolate for dipping without one. I highly recommend the double boiler though!

6. Lay out oreos on a cutting board and carefully cut them in half one at a time. I used 12 dipped half-oreos for my cake.

Note: I could only manage to keep one half of each oreo unbroken (it's difficult) but if you have time you could experiment with this - maybe freezing the oreos or using a hot knife would help? If you have tips please share!

7. Melt the chocolate chips and stir them with a spatula until the chocolate is a smooth consistency.  Dip the oreos in carefully. Place the cookies on the wax sheet so that they're sitting up at an angle - see image below. Put them in the refrigerator to cool.

Note: If one side is a little crumbled, dip that side since it's not really visible once it's covered in chocolate.  Make sure there's plenty of chocolate because the oreo will need to sit up on the baking sheet (see image). If you're having a hard time dipping them nicely you can use the spatula to pour the chocolate over the cookie also.

8. Take them out of the freezer and unwrap them, making sure your layers are solid/frozen enough to work with.  Lay out your tray. Put the chocolate layer on the tray with the bottom down so that the smoothest side is on the bottom. Optional: Add a layer of fudge and mini chocolate chips here (I planned to but forgot).

Note: I just used an inexpensive plastic red cookie tray. Be really careful - cake layers this size can break easily.

9. Your ice cream layer goes next. It seems to work best to unwrap one side and then sorta hold and flip them over then drop the layer onto the cake. Nudge it into place to line up. Optional: More fudge and chocolate chips if you want.

10. Put on the white cookies 'n' cream cake layer last.  Put the side where you cut the cake on the bottom so that the smoothest side is on top.

l1. Use a knife to smooth out the ice cream layer so it lines up on each side with your cake layers.  Make sure the layers are snug - you can gently push down on the top layer to ensure this.  If you have some gaps in the ice cream layer, use the rest of your cookies and cream ice cream to fill in and smooth the gaps.

12. Put your cake back in the freezer (on the tray) for 20-30 minutes. Simultaneously take out your vanilla ice cream so it has some time to melt.

13. After the 20-30 minutes are up, check your cake and make sure it's solid again. Take it back out. Use a butter knife to quickly "ice" the cake using the vanilla ice cream. Ice the top and all four sides of your cake. When you're done, put it back in the freezer until the icing layer is hardened (I waited an hour).

Note: It should be melted enough that it's easy to work with but not runny. If it starts to get melty put both the cake and ice cream back in the freezer for 10+ minutes and then take them out and keep working on it.  You may need a second layer of "icing" depending on the consistency of your vanilla ice cream but I just needed to touch up a few spots and it worked nicely.

14. Take the chocolate-dipped oreo cookies out of the refrigerator. Then take the cake out and work fast! Decorate with icing and stick the chocolate-covered oreos around the edges.

Note: Have everything ready to decorate before taking your cake out of the freezer. I used the oreo cookie cream icing around the edges but it was slippery and not that easy to work with since the icing tended to slide off the ice cream layer - you could decorate with a pastry bag or regular white icing if those are available to you. Take each oreo cookie off the wax paper carefully to avoid breaking the chocolate. I used one oreo in each corner, three on each long side, and one on each short side.

15. Put your decorated cake back into the freezer until you're ready to serve it!  And voila - impressive homemade cookies and cream cake! ENJOY!

Note: If you want GIANT slices (like we did), it serves about 15 people.  You can probably serve up to 30 with smaller slices. =)  It's a really big cake!!

Ingredients part 1.

Ingredients part 2 (I didn't end up using the red sparkle gel).

Breaking up oreos to mix in to the white cake batter.

Cake batters ready to bake.

Dipping oreo halves in melted chocolate.

Three layers combined nicely.

Using vanilla ice cream to frost the cake.

Decorated and ready...

Except for the candles!!

Have you ever tried making an ice cream cake? I'm not sure I'd ever have the patience for this again. But man, it was GOOD!

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Grilled Cheese Bites and Tomato Soup Fondue

I know I already posted about food yesterday, but... it is a big part of my life! I just had to share the delicious lunch Jacob and I had today.

On Thursday, I attended a happy hour social for work in downtown Seattle. The event was held at RN74, a restaurant on Pike and 4th. The organizers ordered various appetizers for the table, all of which were delicious. One of the dishes served was grilled cheese bites and tomato soup fondue. What a great idea! It was a hit among all of the attendees, and I knew Jacob would love it. The next day, I searched for some recipes online and came across Jackie's awesome blog. Printed out the tomato soup fondue recipe, purchased ingredients, and made it for lunch today. As the original post did not come with a grilled cheese recipe, I am including my own simple one. In addition, I halved the original tomato soup recipe and made a few modifications to it - I am also including my slightly modified recipe below. The original recipe was published by Parade magazine in August 2000, and can be found on Jackie's blog here. She has a lot of other great posts too so check it out!

Tomato soup prior to blending/straining + grilled cheese before I chopped them into bits!

Jacob picked fresh lettuce from the garden for our salads. =) Also, it's berry season. Our feast!

One sandwich for each of us, cut up and ready for fondue.

Delicious!

Grilled Cheese Bites and Creamy Tomato Soup Fondue

Serves 4

Creamy Tomato Soup Fondue

1 tbsp butter (I used Smart Balance)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 large onion, chopped

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp flour**

1 3/4 pounds ripe tomatoes, chopped (I used 7 roma tomatoes)

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 tsp sugar

1.5 cups vegetable broth (I used "Not Chickn" brand vegan broth)

salt and pepper, to taste

1/4 cup fat free half-and-half

**Due to an unfortunate flour mishap, I actually ended up using bisquick instead. Heh. Worked out ok.

1. Melt the butter with the oil over low heat in a pot.

2. Add the onion;wilt over low heat for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic during the last 2 minutes, stirring. Sprinkle with flour and cook 3 minutes longer, stirring.

3. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, and broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and cover; cook over medium-low heat for 30 minutes. Season with cloves, salt, and pepper. Remove from heat and cool slightly.

4. Puree the soup in a blender (or food processor). Pour through a strainer into a pot. Stir in the half-and-half.

5. Warm the soup before serving.

Grilled Cheese Bites

8 slices of cheddar cheese*

8 slices of bread (I used Country Oven sourdough French bread)

Butter, to spread (I used Smart Balance)

*Jacob loves cheese so I made these very cheesy (I used even more than what is listed here)... but of course it all depends on your preference.

1. Butter one side of each slice. Place the slices on a flat pan over the stove with the buttered side facing down. Turn on the stove to medium heat. Cook until the bottom side of each slice is slightly toasted.

2. Place cheese slices on four of the bread slices - two slices of cheese per slice of bread. For the four remaining bread slices, flip them over with a spatula and stack one on each cheesy bread slice to form sandwiches.

3. Press down on each sandwich lightly with the spatula to make sure the sandwich sticks together. Cook until cheese melts and the bottom is lightly browned. Flip over and cook until other side is lightly browned.

4. Remove from heat. Please sandwiches on a cutting board and carefully cut each sandwich into at least 12 even pieces with a steak knife.

Serve everything warm. Enjoy!!

Shrimp and Orzo Pesto Recipe

Hey everyone! Thanks for joining me for day 2 of launch month! Today I'm sharing a recipe invented by my mom, whom never fails to think up the tastiest recipes. This one is very simple to make but incredibly delicious. The dish is light but filling - perfect for lunch on a bright summer day. So let's get started.

Shrimp and Orzo Pesto
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
1.5 cups uncooked orzo
20-30 cooked, medium cocktail shrimp, frozen
4 large sprigs fresh basil (1 cup when chopped up)
1 tbsp cooking oil
5 tbsp pesto (I used Classico Traditional Basil Pesto)
3.8oz can - black olives, sliced
3 tbsp pine nuts

Optional Extras
mushrooms
tomatoes, diced
artichoke hearts

1. Cook the orzo according to the instructions on the box.
2. Thaw the shrimp according to the instructions on the bag. Once thawed, remove tails.
3. Squeeze out all excess water from the thawed shrimp using paper towels, as shown below.
3. Wash basil. Pluck the leaves off the stems and chop them up, as shown below.
4. When orzo is done cooking, drain out the water.
5. Heat up oil for 30 seconds in a large pan.
6. Add orzo, shrimp, olives, and pesto. Mix well. Cook on medium heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. Reduce heat to low. Add pine nuts and chopped basil. Cook for 3-4 more minutes.

Your dish is now ready to serve!

Tips
- Make sure to drain the shrimp really well. I usually squeeze out the water several times using a few paper towels. Also, I used 20 shrimps but it was a little sparse.
- Orzo expands a lot so be sure to cook in enough water. The 1.5 cups of uncooked orzo became 4 cups cooked.
- You can easily make the dish vegetarian (but still tasty) by replacing the shrimp with some of the optional extras suggested above.

All the ingredients you need (except cooking oil)! 

Delicious fresh basil.

Basil, chopped up.

Squeezing out the shrimp. 

Draining the orzo.

If you decide to try making the dish, be sure to let me know how it turns out! I will definitely be having this several times this summer. Let me know if you have any questions. Enjoy!