Jackie's 13th B-day and Ice Cream Cake!

So, my little sis (who's technically not so little anymore) was celebrating her 13th Birthday on July 27th. She was really craving an ice-cream cake, and since we were only going to have a small, family schin-digg I decided that I'd be the one to whip up the frozen confection. In a way I was being lazy, because I didn't want to go out and buy a DQ cake... either that, or I was being cheap :P But let's just say that I was really anxious to try my hand at topping DQ at their own game. This cake may not look spectacular (I know the red smudge looks really random, but that's what you get when you attempt to use Nesquik Syrup + confectioner's sugar to make your own gel-icing), but it tasted amazing!!!

Quick Home-made Ice Cream Cake
Makes 1 cake the size of am 8x3 inch loaf pan

Ingredients:
- 20 Oreo Cookies, crushed into crumbs
- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/3 cup of your favorite chocolate ganache, cold and fudgy (like the one I made for July's DB Challenge)
- 6 cups Vanilla Ice Cream
- 3 chocolate cupcakes, crumbled
- various edible decorations
- 1 aeresol can of whipped cream (you can use freshly whipped cream if you have it)

Method:
1. Line the loaf pan with saran wrap, this makes it easier to remove the cake once it's layered.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the oreo crumbs and the melted butter. Press it into the base of the loaf pan.
3. Spread the oreo layer with the chocolate ganache, creating a nice even layer.
4. Mix together the 6 cups of ice cream with the crumble chocolate cupcakes; continue to combine the ice cream and cupcake until the texture becomes soft/spreadable, but not melty.
5. Spread the ice cream in an even layer ontop of the ganache layer.
6. Freeze for at least 2 hrs, meanwhile create your edible decorations.
7. Once the cake is nicely frozen, remove the cake from the pan and spread all four sides and the top with a 1/4-inch thick layer of whipped cream. Work quickly, because the ice cream may start to melt through the cream layer. Once the whipped cream is slathered on, place the cake back in the freezer for 2 hrs.
8. Remove cake from freezer, decorate and serve.

For the decorations, I used a melon baller to create little chocolate ice-cream balls and then I stuck a semi-circle of chocolate in them. To cover up the "open edges" of the cake, I used a cocoa+coconut+granulated sugar mixture, and simply poured it around the base of the cake. Although my attempt at writing my sister's name in "gel icing" didn't turn out so well, she didn't mind the strawberry flavored smudge with her name under it. The cake was easy enough to slice through, and the pieces came out intact! Jackie really appreciated the effort I had put into the cake, and she even went back for seconds... that's the best feeling in the world. Knowing that the person you made something for genuinely loves what you've done for them.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKIE!