It was National Ice Cream Day this past weekend and I was ‘jonesing’ for an ice cream cake!  I couldn’t let the day go by without celebrating!  Looking around the house, I had some s’more leftovers and decided to utilize them in an ice cream creation!

In my house, ice cream desserts are always a big hit in the summer. This one is based on a favorite summer dessert and was inspired by the leftovers from our Fourth of July beach party.

Unlike baking, the procedure for making ice cream cakes is totally forgiving and precision is not required – so feel free to alter the recipe based on the size of your pan or the ingredients you have on hand. I made a no-bake crust for this one, since I didn’t want to heat up the house with the oven on a hot summer day.

S’more Ice Cream Cake Recipe

• 4 Hershey chocolate bars (1.55 oz. each), chopped into pieces
• 1 qt. softened vanilla ice cream (made or purchased)
• 2 packages (20 long) graham crackers, divided
• 5 Tab unsalted butter
• 2 Tab sugar, divided
• Bag of miniature marshmallows

I know, this one is not for the faint of heart – although, in my defense, I did use low fat graham crackers and low fat ice cream! :)  (Come on, I nixed my original idea of putting a layer of melted Hershey bars over the graham cracker crust!)

Start by making graham cracker crumbs. (I put the graham crackers in a plastic zip-lock bag and used a rolling pin to crush the crackers and make the crumbs.) One package of the crackers will be used for a crust, and the other package for a ‘filling.’

Combine one package of the graham cracker crumbs (half your total) and a tablespoon of sugar with 5 tablespoons of melted unsalted butter. Pat this into the bottom of an 81/2” springform pan and pop this into the freezer while you prepare the ice cream.

Add the chopped chocolate bar pieces into the softened ice cream, mixing to combine. Take out the prepared crust and spread ½ of the ice cream mixture over the crust.

Mix the other half of the graham cracker crumbs with 1 tablespoon of sugar and reserve ½ cup of the mixture. Sprinkle all but the half cup over the ice cream mixture. Carefully spread the rest of the ice cream mixture over the graham cracker middle. Use the remaining ½ cup of graham cracker crumbs to sprinkle on top.

Cover the entire top of the cake with miniature marshmallows and freeze until very firm.

Adjust the oven rack on your broiler so that the cake can be as close to the element as possible and preheat the broiler. Put the cake under the broiler to brown the marshmallows as quickly as possible and then put back into the freezer. Even after being frozen, the marshmallows are gooey when you eat the cake!

Let the cake sit awhile out of the freezer before eating – I think it tastes best just like s’mores – a little on the melty side!

Enjoy!  Hope you will experiment with your own ice cream creations!  Thank you for stopping by!

Remember to take pleasure in simple things, Jackie

P.S.  If you are a s’more lover, you may also enjoy gourmet s’mores and s’more shooters!

Sharing with Crafts a la Mode and  Craftberry Bush.