Let’s talk ice cream. This is a very important topic to me. Ice cream is a MAIN food group. What I mean by that, is it is the kind of food that will always remain in my diet. I love it and I love it even more when it is served with a pound of whipped cream on top! I’m reminding myself of the movie ELF right now – we’ve all seen it, right?! If not, I have no words for you other than when you’re done reading this post, GO WATCH IT. Ok, end rant. But, there is a scene in the movie when Buddy explains that, “elves try to stick to the four MAIN food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.” I’m laughing thinking about that scene right now. Buddy pouring maple syrup all over his big plate of pasta and crunching up candy bars as a topping and then stuffing it in his mouth with his hands. Oh man, great movie! My point though is that ice cream will never be something I want to live without. If I had to stick to four main food groups like Buddy, ice cream would definitely be one of them!
That being said, I’m sure it comes as no surprise that every year for my birthday I have an ice cream cake. I look forward to this cake all year long! It’s one of the only times I ever get to eat this cake and it is so worth the wait! My mom orders it from Frosty Freeze, which if you aren’t from around here is our town’s best ice cream parlor! People line up for a cone from here. Every time I drive by there is always a line! It’s crazy! But I would wait in a line for this cake any day – that’s how good it is.
It is a raspberry chocolate chip ice cream cake, with an Oreo cookie crust, a hot fudge center, a hot fudge topping, and whipped cream all around the sides. I am drooling thinking about it. It just melts in your mouth…pun intended! LOL.
If it’s not my birthday though, I tend to stick to cashew milk ice creams. I just prefer to because they are much easier on my stomach, plus they are so creamy I can’t even notice the difference!! One of my favorite brands is So Delicious. There cashew milk flavors are so rich and creamy that you would never know it is dairy free ice cream. For my ice cream pie, I wanted to use my favorite flavors of So Delicious to make this cake too good to pass up. I layered this pie using the Very Vanilla and Dark Chocolate Truffle flavors, separating them with Hu dark chocolate gems and fresh raspberries to bring in a subtle raspberry flavor to help remind me of my birthday cake that I long for. Only once out of 365 days is not enough to get to indulge in one of your favorite desserts, which is why I made a “healthier” version – if you can even call it that.
The crust of this pie – which is always the best part – is made from Simple Mills double chocolate chip cookies and grass-fed butter. Although they are not America’s favorite cookie, they work so well for this crust and believe me, you do not feel like you’re missing out on anything! Believe it or not, this cake is ALMOST all the way dairy free! If you need a complete dairy free cake, sub out the grass-fed butter for a dairy free option! It will work just as good!
A friend of mine said to me once that the more chocolate and the messier a dessert is, the better it is. Well that is this cake! Since the chocolate covering is made from real dark chocolate, it tends to crack a little bit when cutting into the cake, but I really wanted to use a real chocolate rather than a fudge. I think dark chocolate and raspberry pairs so well together and the real dark chocolate with the fresh raspberries is a game changer in my opinion! I recommend pulling it out of the freezer and letting it set in the fridge for about 4 hours prior to serving it, and then removing it from the fridge about 30 minutes before cutting into it and enjoying!
This cake is perfect for summer gatherings and a great way to impress your friends! It’s so easy to make, just a little time consuming because you have to do it in sections, but other than that it’s anyone’s game!
What You’ll Need:
2 packages of Simple Mills Crunchy Double Chocolate Cookies
5 tbsp. grass-fed butter, room temp. (or sub for a dairy-free butter)
1 pint So Delish Very Vanilla cashew milk ice cream
1 pint So Delish Dark Chocolate Truffle cashew milk ice cream
1 package fresh raspberries
3 bars of Hu Cashew Butter + Raspberry Dark Chocolate Bars
1 cup Hu dark chocolate gems
1 can of Redi Whip Almond Milk Whipped Cream
Directions:
Remove the vanilla ice cream pint from the freezer to let it thaw out while making the crust. This will help make it easier to spread.
In a food processor, combine butter and cookies until there are no lumps of cookies left. I recommend cutting the butter into cubes that are ½ tbsp. in size and breaking up the cookies using your hands. This will help it blend better.
Place your crust into a pie dish. Using your hands spread the crust evenly so that it covers the entire pie dish – sides too. It might be a little sticky because remember the butter is room temp, but that will go away once it sets in the freezer.
Next, create your first layer with the very vanilla ice cream. Let it sit in the freezer for about 15 minutes.
In a small saucepan on low/medium heat, melt your dark chocolate gems. Do NOT melt the HU raspberry bars yet. Remove the pie from the freezer and drizzle the melted chocolate over the vanilla layer to fully cover it. You’ll need to be semi-quick about this, as the chocolate will immediately start to harden on the frozen ice cream.
Now take your fresh raspberries and layer them on top of the chocolate to fully cover the surface. You’ll want to break the raspberries in half to create a thinner layer. Place pie back in the freezer for 15-20 minutes and remove the dark chocolate truffle ice cream and set on the counter.
Now it is time to create the chocolate ice cream layer. I think it helps to remove the ice cream from the pint and mix it a little in a larger bowl to help it spread more easily. Cover the entire surface of the pie with the chocolate ice and place back in the freezer for 15 minutes.
In a small saucepan on low/medium heat, melt your Hu Cashew Butter + Raspberry Dark Chocolate Bars. Remove pie from the freezer and create your last layer, covering the entire surface with your melted chocolate. As mentioned above, you will want to be semi-quick with this step, as the chocolate will begin to harden on top of the frozen ice cream. Place back in the freezer to let the last layer set.
Remove from the freezer and place in the fridge up 4 hours before enjoying. Then remove from fridge and let it sit for about 20-30 minutes before serving. ENJOY!
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