Chocolate Rocky Road Ice Cream Cake

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Obviously, there’s an ice cream trend starting here, which I’m sure is not unrelated to my bearing a giant preggo belly during a heat wave.

Last week it was mint ice cream sandwiches, this week it’s an ice cream cake: a crushed chocolate wafer crust, a layer of gooey fudge sauce, salty peanuts, and chewy frozen marshmallows, topped with chocolate ice cream.. and then more fudge, peanuts and marshmallows.

I haven’t honestly been doing much actual cooking (as evidenced by the high influx of desserts lately). Well, that’s not true – I have been cooking, just not my own stuff. I’ve had a lot of work to do for clients (food photography, recipe development) which means I’ve had a lot of food in the fridge needing to be eaten up, and a lot of veggie bits and pieces left in my crisper drawer that I’ve just been tossing into 5-minute dinner salads, omelettes and quesadillas. Nothing really bloggable.

My friend Kristiana calls her clear-out-the-fridge salad “Garbage Salad” – I always think of that when I’m throwing something together from scraps. Garbage Omelette, anyone?

I love creamy, frozen desserts in the summer (ahem, Whipped Key Lime Pie). They’re great because they keep a long time, so you can always have something on hand for impromptu get-togethers, and/or you can just have a little sliver for yourself when you feel like it and not worry about the rest going bad.

Just remember to take the cake out of the freezer a few minutes before slicing it, as the texture of ice cream is always better if a bit softened. Run a sharp knife under hot water between slices.

I’m launching a website redesign next week, and I’m really excited about it! More details coming soon. Have a great weekend!

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Chocolate Rocky Road Ice Cream Cake

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Prep Time 30 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 8

Author Jennifer Pallian

Ingredients

For crust:

• 1 1/4 cups crushed chocolate wafers
• 1/4 cup melted butter

For fudge sauce:

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup corn syrup
• 6 oz chopped semisweet chocolate
• 1 vanilla bean
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1/8 tsp salt

To assemble:

• 2 pints chocolate ice cream
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1/3 cup salted peanuts

Instructions

1. Combine crushed chocolate wafers and butter in a medium bowl, stirring until it has the consistency of coarse crumbs. Transfer to a fluted tart pan (or regular pie plate); press crumbs into the bottom and up the sides using your hands and/or a flat-bottomed measuring cup.
2. Combine cream, sugar and corn syrup in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves and it comes to a bare simmer. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate; whisk until smooth. Stir in vanilla and butter.
3. Pour 1 cup of fudge sauce into bottom of crust and swirl the pan to coat evenly. Sprinkle with 2/3 cup mini marshmallows and 1/4 cup salted peanuts. Transfer crust to freezer until the the fudge sauce has firmed up, about 30 minutes.
4. Soften ice cream a bit by removing from freezer for about 10 minutes; spread over fudge layer. Drizzle with more fudge sauce (you may need to microwave a bit to make it pourable, but not hot), then sprinkle with remaining peanuts and marshmallows. Freeze until firm. Reserve remaining fudge sauce for another use (hello, sundaes!).