Layered Ice Cream Cake

Who wants to pay $30 for an ice cream cake?

Not me!

Here's the economical (about $12) and delicious cake I made for Tom's 4oth and for Jake's 12th birthday.

There are 6 very loud 12 year olds in my basement right now, and they all seemed to dig this cake. I found the recipe in the Sept '09 issue of Family Circle.

Ingredients:

15 Oreo Cookies

1 T milk

8-9 ice cream sandwiches

1 pint mint chocolate chip ice cream. (I used chocolate instead)

1 pint vanilla ice cream

1 pint strawberry ice cream

1 container (8 0z) Cool Whip, thawed.

Directions:

1. Coat bottom and sides of a 9 inch spring form pan with cooking spray. Line sides w/ wax paper, using spray to help adhere to pan. Trim paper to pan height.

2. Finely crush 12 Oreos in a food processor or blender. Add milk and pulse until mixture holds together. Set aside.

3. Unwrap ice cream sandwiches and cut into quarters. Stack strips of sandwiches on end, packing them snugly around waxed-paper-lined pan to form cake's stand-up edge. Spoon cookie crumbs into center of pan; press firmly over bottom. Freeze 1 hour.

4. Let ice cream flavors soften for 15 minutes. Stir until firm but easier to spread. Spread ice creams in pan one at a time to make layers. Top with thawed whipped topping. Break up remaining 3 Oreos (0r 5 or 6 or 7!) and decorate top of cake. Freeze overnight.

5. To serve, remove sides of pan, then waxed paper. Let cake stand at room temp for 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy! We sure did...