Ice Cream Cake

A couple weeks ago, the summer '07 edition of the advertisement/recipe magazine Kraft Food and Family came in the mail. The pictures are bright and colorful, and I am absolutely certain I could never get any of the recipes to look as good as the pictures. That said, one recipe looked too good NOT to try, so I did. I made it tonight to take to a get-together tomorrow, and the best part- it involved my favorite food: Ice Cream.

This "ice cream cake" is a bit of a cop-out - it's actually just a bunch of ice cream sandwiches stacked on top of each other, with a fudge filling between the layers. With my limited freezer space, however, it works for me.

See the recipe on Kraft's site.

1/2 cup hot fudge topping, warmed
1 tub (8 oz.) COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg. (4-serving size) Chocolate Flavor Instant Pudding & Pie Filling
8 Chocolate Sandwich Cookies, chopped (about 1 cup)
12 vanilla ice cream sandwiches, unwrapped

Pour fudge topping into medium bowl. Add 1 cup of the whipped topping; stir with wire whisk until well blended. Add dry pudding mix; stir 2 min. or until well blended. Gently stir in chopped cookies; set aside.

Arrange 4 of the ice cream sandwiches, side-by-side, on 24-inch-long piece of foil; top with half of the whipped topping mixture. Repeat layers. Top with remaining 4 ice cream sandwiches.

Frost top and sides of dessert with remaining whipped topping. This wasn't easy, especially as the 'whipped topping' started melting. Bring up foil sides. Double fold top and ends to loosely seal packet.

Freeze at least 4 hours before serving. Store leftover dessert in freezer.

I can't wait to try this tomorrow! I love ice cream cake. It's a family tradition to have ice cream cakes for birthdays- perhaps now it will be a tradition to have HOMEMADE ice cream cakes. Someday I'll make a more proper ice-cream cake, when I have more freezer space.