Your Main Baking Ingredient Ice Cream

 It is too hot to bake a cake or pie.What do you do though to celebrate birthdays or just finish a nice family barbecue? You can still have these treats just think cold. Using ice cream as the base for any treat is the perfect way to have your cake or pie and eat it too.

One of the most popular summertime cakes in the US is the Dairy Queen Ice cream cake. Yes, you can buy it at any Dairy Queen however you can make it with your favorite flavors. If you're making the original start with the chocolate layer first. Spread the ice cream into an either eight by three or nine inch cake pan. A springform pan would be your best bet because it will hold the shape more. After filling pop into the freezer for half an hour. The gooey middle section is actually a ganache with corn syrup added. Adding this prevents it form freezing and gives it that classic oozy texture. Freeze for then minutes.Then there is that layer of chocolate crunchies. This can be ground up Oreos or better yet Nabisco Chocolate Wafers. These last  work the best because it's a cleaner layer without the white filling clumping it up.After layering this on, frreze for another half hour. The vanilla layer is added on last and then the whole cake is frozen until firm. Real whipped cream is added on. Add confectioner's sugar to prevent the cream from wilting. Keep in mind you can add any kind of ice cream. Try mint and chocolate or coffee and vanilla for a different flavor. You can also do this with ice cream cupcakes too.

Ice cream pies are an easier make.You can create your own Graham cracker or chocolate wafer crust. This is just griniding up the cracker or wafers and adding four to six tablespoons of melted butter or plant based butter. Press into a pie plate and then put in any ice cream you want. Try a classic vanilla in a Graham cracker crust and topped with sea salt caramel and nuts. You can also use the chocolate wafer crust too. Peach ice cream would also work well in a Graham cracker crust too. Add fresh cut peach slices for extra deliciousness.For a mocchaccino vibe think filling a chocolate crust with coffee ice cream. Serve with a dolllop of hot fudge sauce and a puff of whipped cream. This also works for chocolate chip mint  and strawberry ice cream too. Of course it's sheer heaven with chocolate ice cream too.Add sprinkles, whipped cream or chocolate chips. Crushed toffee on both vanilla and chocolate pies is also a great topping. Keep in mind that that you can also make ice cream tarts too this way.

It's easy to make a cake or pie even though the temps are high. Just use your favorite ice cream as the base. Create a yummy dessert that's a cool, sweet treat.

The Perfect Ice Cream Cake

A summer birthday or a summer party deserves a good ending namely an ice cream cake. Most people usually head to their local ice cream shop to get this treat. However an ice cream cake is easy to make and assemble. What  is great about a home made one is that it can be customized with favorite fillings.

The first step is deciding is how elaborate you want to make it. There is one recipe that just calls for layering ice cream sandwiches in a nine by thirteen baking pan. Hot fudge and Cool Whip is slathered on between layers. The icing is another layer of Cool Whip with a heavy dusting of shaved chocolate.It is then covered and frozen for an hour before serving.Caramel sauce can be subbed in for the fudge for a different spin. Another idea that takes a little more work but has a lot of flavor is one that takes inspiration from those Dairy Queen and Carvel cakes. It's easy but has a lot of steps. The recipe involves first placing a springform pan in the freezer for fifteen minutes.  Vanilla and chocolate ice cream is used, however you can vary the flavors. Try chocolate and mint chip for mint lovers. Coffee lovers should have layers of coffee ice cream. The filling is crushed Nabisco chocolate wafers mixed with that hard shell topping (although you could use a fudge sauce as a binder too.)  The three layers are frozen for two hours and then iced with whipped cream. Multicolored sprinkles are then scattered on it.You can also pipe whipped cream rosettes  around the bottom and top or even make buttercream roses if you're feeling ambitious.

Another idea is baking a cake and filling it with ice cream. If you don't have time buy the mixes. There are some good ones such as Red Velvet  and German Chocolate. You can also make scratch cakes too, and make them a bit healthier by using whole wheat flour. These can be made in layers or as a sheet cake, depending on the size of your party. The ice cream can also be homemade if you have an ice cream maker. You can try different fruit varieties here too. Think a vanilla sheet cake with a peach, blueberry or strawberry ice cream along with a topping of fresh fruit too. A fun idea is a "naked" ice cream cake , one without icing. Bake three scratch cakes, try a marble or chocolate chip one  and then  as you would with filling, cover the layers with about an inch of softened ice cream. You can even blend in candy, fruit or cereal for some texture and more flavor.Just "ice" the top most layer with a thin layer of ice cream and decorate with sugar gel or with sprinkles. Some home bakers recommend using a "dense" cake like pound cake because it holds better than the lighter , more crumbly cakes. It's up to you with what kind of cake to use..Any ice cream cake can be served with chocolate or salted caramel sauce.

An ice cream cake adds so much to a summer party. Making one and customizing it is a real treat  because it's full of favorite flavors.It's a nice way to welcome a warm summer night.