Ice Cream Cake Any Husband Can Make

Mud Pie Ice Cream Cake from Trader Joe's and Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream are my wife's favorite desserts. Her birthday was crazy, though. She was meeting two friends, the kids were trying to drive with her to the beach and our new puppy was dying from Parvo.

I discovered Trader Joe's no longer carried Mud Pie. Nor did the Smart and Final stores closest to our house. And no one had Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream. I was stuck at home nursing the dog after a visit to the emergency pet hospital when I sprang in to action and drove to our neartest Ralph's Grocery store. I'll make something better than Mud Pie and it will be ready when everyone gets home! Here's my recipe:

1 box vanilla wafers
1 box Disney character graham crackers (I only bought this since it was less expensive than a box of graham crackers)
1 box fudge sticks (I bought 2 boxes but only used 1)

½ gallon vanilla ice cream
½ gallon Black Cherry Chip ice cream
½ gallon English Toffee ice cream

1 16 oz jar Mrs. Richardson's Fudge topping (I also bought a generic store brand but didn't need it)

The total price was $ 23.00 and this included what I didn't use. I was going to be serving 12 people.

1 I set a cutting board on the kitchen counter and spread out a handful of the wafers, graham cracker cookies and fudge sticks.

2 I grabbed a rolling pin and started crushing the cookies. This is the really fun part. Try to keep scooping the uncrushed cookies to the middle of the cutting board. And then crush some more until it's not quite dust.

3 Layer the cookies on the bottom of a rectangular pan. Heck, it can be any shape pan!

4 I kept the ice cream out so it would be soft and then I scooped each flavor into the pan. Next, I crushed some more cookies on top, melted fudge sauce in the microwave and poured it over the mixture.

5 Then I repeated until there was another layer.

6 I stuck it in the freezer knowing I had slightly more than a hour to have it harden. I placed a couple of ice cubes on top of the fudge where it was still a bit warm.

And then I took a smaller pie pan and repeated for the second ice cream cake. Except on this I only used vanilla ice cream. Then I made a mound of ice cream on top of the mixture and poured melted fudge sauce on top.

The sauce slid down the mound and spread along the sides. It was really fun to watch!

I stuck that in the freezer, too.

I named one "Patio Ice Cream Cake" since we had just built a patio in our back yard and the crushed cookies reminded me of the dirt and sand mixture.

Then I named the other one "Snow Field" since it looked melting snow at a high elevation in the early summer.

But you know what guys? You can call it anything you want!

Finally, make sure you sweep up the counter and the floor when you're done. Magician's don't give away their secrets.

And that's it. Everyone liked it and I felt accomplished.

Also, the puppy was still alive to take it to our regular vet for treatment the next morning!