The Chocolate Lady Dishes

Angel girl shares a June birthday with one of her friends. So when our families shared a meal together this weekend – I knew a special dessert was in order.

Since we were enduring some intense heat and I didn’t really want to turn the oven on – I decided that an ice cream cake would be perfect!

I found a yummy recipe for a peanut butter ice cream cake – but Angel Girl is not on the peanut butter kick that her older sister is – so I made some chocolate alterations.

The final result -

Chocolate Ice Cream Cake

Crust :

2 cups oreo cookie crumbs
1/2 cup melted margarine or butter

Filling:

6 cups of vanilla ice cream (divided)
4 ounces cream cheese (softened)
1 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup powdered sugar
8 ounces Cool Whip

Line the bottom and sides of a 9 inch x 5 inch 3 inch bread pan with aluminum foil.

Mix together the Oreo cookie crumbs and melted margarine. Press half of the mixture into the bottom of the prepared bread pan.  Freeze for 30 minutes. Set aside the remaining crumbs.

Spread half of the ice cream over the crust and freeze for one hour or until firm.

Put the chocolate chips and milk in a microwave proof container and microwave until melted, stirring till smooth. Cool.

Beat cream cheese with the powdered sugar. Add the melted chocolate chips and mix well. Stir in the Cool Whip.

Spread the cream cheese mixture over the vanilla ice cream layer and freeze for one hour or until set.

Carefully spread the remaining ice cream over the cream cheese layer and freeze for one hour.

Press the reserved cookie crumbs on top of the ice cream and cover with plastic wrap. Freeze at least one hour before serving.

To serve, use the foil to carefully remove the ice cream cake from the pan. Slice with a serrated knife.

What a cool and yummy treat to celebrate the birthdays of two special 11 year old girls!

Here’s a family favorite! My sister found this recipe and its been a part of almost every family gathering for years.

The teen-age grandkids have been known to finish off an entire batch during a midnight snack at Grandma’s house!

Rich and smooth, it is a great hot fudge sundae sauce, but can also be eaten by the spoonful when the children aren’t looking!

Homemade Chocolate Fudge Sauce

Melt in microwave: 1 cup chocolate chips, and 1/2 cup corn syrup.

Add 1/4 cup of milk, 1 Tablespoon of butter, and 1/4 tsp. of vanilla.

Stir until the butter is melted. Serve warm over ice cream, or brownies, or cookies, or just on a spoon!

Keep in the fridge until ready to serve, then just heat it in the microwave.

It’s still hot at my house. The afternoons get long and tempers get short in the heat and humidity.

So I tried a trick my mom used to do, I made a cool treat mid-afternoon to sweeten everybody up and cool everybody down!

Today’s treat was Homemade Chocolate Shakes.

I pulled out the blender and threw in a few scoops of ice cream, poured in a little milk and some chocolate ice cream syrup.

If it looked too thick, I would add more milk.

If it looked to thin, I would add more ice cream.

If it looked just right I poured it into a cup with a dollop of whipped cream on top.

Served with a spoon and a straw, this was one treat that soothed the savage beasts (oops…I mean my hot and tired children!)

And yes, Mom enjoyed it, too!

With all the company this week, we needed a last minute dessert and with the heat and humidity of July, we needed something cold.

So I decided to improvise and try an idea that I’ve been thinking about for awhile, an ice cream and brownie frozen treat.

I started with a brownie base, covered it in a deep layer of ice cream and then slathered it with hot fudge sauce.

After about 24 hours in the freezer it as solid and ready to serve.

Frozen Ice Cream Brownie Dessert

Fudge Topping:

Mix together 2 cup powdered sugar, 1 1/2 cup of evaporated milk, 2/3 cup chocolate chips, 1/2 cup butter. Boil 8 minutes. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp. vanilla. Refrigerate until cooled completely.

Brownie Base:

Combine 1 1/3 c. flour, 2 cups sugar, 3/4 cup cocoa, 1/2 tsp. salt. Set aside

Combine in separate bowl: 2/3 cup oil, 4 eggs, 2 tsp. vanilla.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir just until mixed. You may add chocolate chips or nuts at this point. Spread in a greased 9 x 13 pan. bake 20-25 minutes.

Let cool completely.

Ice Cream Layer: When brownie base has cooled completely, spread it with a thick layer of ice cream, any flavor. Then pour the cooled fudge sauce over the top, cover and freeze 24 hours before serving.

You could use a packaged brownie mix for the base, any flavor ice cream and a bottled hot fudge sauce for the topping.

It’s a cold, easy, make-ahead treat that will please a house full of hungry kids (and a couple of chocoholic aunts!)