Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream Cake

My dear, sweet, loving husband was born on June 22nd.  That is today, in fact!  Happy Birthday Carson!!!  (He won't read this.)  Anyway.  If you are unfamiliar with June 22nd (weird thing to say), it is the day after the first day of summer.  It is often the last day of school for many.  And, AND, it happens to be VERY close to Father's Day.  One year, the two dates were actually one day apart.  Why am I writing things that are obvious?  Because I'm trying to justify my lack of enthusiasm for baking two cakes for two great occasions in such a short (busy) period of time.  

  That's why this year, I tried to combine things that I know Carson loves (mainly ice cream and the chocolate/peanut butter combo) in a dessert that was very easy to pull off.  Enter this ice cream cake: a mouth-watering crowd pleaser that anyone can throw together, and I mean ANYONE (especially if you have kids willing to unwrap all the peanut butter cups in exchange for one or two or five).   

It begins with an Oreo crust... yes, I said that.  One whole package of Oreos, crushed together, combined with melted butter and pressed into a cake pan.  Then, the ice cream.  Best part?  You can choose your favorite flavor, brand, make your own, etc.  I decided to layer my cake with a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup and a Vanilla Bean (this brand).  There is hot fudge and crushed peanut butter cups in between the two layers, more hot fudge on the top, and MORE crushed cups on top of that.  All that's really time consuming is letting your layers melt in between, but I think at the end of the day... we all have patience for that.  After all, ice cream cake is worth the wait.  As would my husband's birthday be if he could move it just... you know... a weeeee bit further away from Father's Day.   

Full cake recipe here.  (But again, modify it to your liking!)

Pineapple Vodka Soft Serve

Yep, you read that correctly.  This is creamy soft serve, made from chunks of fresh pineapple with, yes, VODKA in it.  Tasty videos for the win again!!  When I saw this it wasn't a question of WILL I make it, it was WHEN.  While it did require freezing for 6 hours, the entire process was pretty simple!  Especially if you're lazy and buy pre-chopped up pineapple like me.  This is the perfect little (adult) treat for the summer heat.  

You can find the recipe in the comment section HERE.

Speedy Strawberry Ice Cream

It's hot.  It's hot everywhere.  The country is on fire.  The mosquitos are having a field day.  I moved away from the Midwest 10 years ago and haven't had a mosquito bite until this summer.  What, is, going, ON Southern California?!?  I wake up every morning with bites in the most god forsaken places.  Like, the tip of my toe????  Or this morning... in between two fingers.  Thanks for that mosquito.  It's hot.  And no one wants to cook.  So when a friend sent me this recipe for a quick and easy strawberry ice cream, I knew it was something I had to share with you people.  My method doesn't even require an ice cream maker!  Just a quick stir every hour or so in front of the freezer, which is where you want to be anywhere, isn't it?  FREEZE TO DEATH MOSQUITOS!

p.s. This ice cream is creamy, refreshing and delicious.    

Speedy Strawberry Ice Cream

Makes 1 1/2 quarts

Source: Star Tribune

(Printable Recipe)

1 lb. strawberry - washed, trimmed and halved (or quartered if strawberries are big)

1 cup powdered sugar

1 1/3 cup heavy cream

1 T lime zest  

Place strawberries, sugar, cream and lime zest in a blender.  Blend until well combined.  Transfer mixture to a freezer-safe bowl.  Cover with plastic wrap and place in freezer.  Stir with spatula, scraping down sides, every hour until ice cream reaches desired consistency - usually about 4 hours later.