ICE CREAM SOCIAL with Snickers Ice Cream Cake

 

It’s Ice Cream Social time over at Kitchen Bouquet hosted by Suzy.  Since ice cream ranks up there as one of my favorite sweets, I will definitely be checking out these recipes and suggest that you do as well.

 

I’ve had this recipe for Snickers Ice Cream Cake in my files for years, but I must confess that I don’t often make it.  Why?  Well, it was originally titled 1,000-calorie Snickers Ice Cream Cake:)  With only the two of us at home these days, I can’t afford to have this on hand so I save it for parties and other special occasions.

 

Frank and Ethel Mars began making and selling candy in their home before founding their famous candy company.  The Snickers bar was introduced in 1930 and continues today as the world’s most popular candy bar.  The candy was named after a favorite horse that belonged to the Mars family.  (I always found that funny.)  More than fifteen million bars of Snickers are made EVERY day and there are probably hundreds of ways that they have been incorporated into dessert recipes.  We love our Snickers!

 

 

Snickers Ice Cream Cake

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1/4 pound unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup flour
dash salt
1/2 – 3/4 cup pecans, lightly toasted
1 quart vanilla ice cream
8 ounces Snickers candy bars
Caramel Sauce (recipe follows)

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and flour a 9-inch square cake pan.  Melt chocolate and butter in the top of a double boiler.  (This can also be done in a microwave but be careful not to try to melt this too quickly or too high or the chocolate will seize.)  When melted, remove from heat.  Stir in sugar.  Stir in egg, beating well.  Add flour then stir in salt and pecans.  Spread over the bottom of the prepared pan.  Bake about 25 minutes, or until the top of the brownie cake is just firm.  The cake will get firmer after cooling.  Remove from the oven and cool thoroughly.

 

Soften the ice cream just until it can be spread over brownies.  Cut candy bars into thin slices and arrange over the ice cream, pressing them in slightly.  Cover and freeze at least two hours.  Longer is probably better. 

 

To serve, cut into bars or squares and top with a little caramel sauce.  If you are brave, you can garnish with a dollop of whipped cream and a sprig of mint. 

 

The cake should be stored in the freezer without the sauce.

 

Caramel Sauce: 
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 pound butter
1 cup whipping cream

 

Place sugar in a heavy skillet.  Over low heat, brown the sugar but do not burn.  Shake frequently but do not stir.  After 15 minutes, the sugar will start to brown and after 30-40 minutes, it will turn to a brown syrup.  Stir in the butter at this point.  When the butter is melted, it will be separated on top of the caramelized sugar.

 

Stir in whipping cream and heat over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.  The sauce is very thin when hot but thickens as it cools.  It can be reheated in the top of a double boiler or slowly in the microwave.  It will keep up to one week in the refrigerator.

 

For some seriously good homemade ice cream recipes, you should visit Lindsay’s Menu.  Her most recent ice cream post was for roasted banana ice cream.  I haven’t tried it yet, but I heard that it was fantastic. You might also like one of these:

• Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream
• Chocolate sorbet
• Paula Deen’s Peach Ice Cream
• Banana Blueberry Sorbet

She has more!  (Ice Cream photos courtesy of Lindsay’s Menu.)