The Infamous Cake & How To Make It

Well,as you can guess, I hate wasting money. I was lucky enough to be able to get most of DH's party supplies on sale or on clearance. Between sales and a small gift card to Target from doing a survey, I was able to do his party decorations for under $10. The only thing I missed was the cake topper. I suppose I could have gone groveling to Albertsons' cake dpartment and asked to buy the Transformers topper, but I would have ended up paying more than the cake for just the topper. No way. So I improvised - I had picked up for part of the back up plan some Guitar Hero guitars from the Dollar Tree. He ended up with a rock n roll cake with Transformers party stuff. They're guys, they don't care. LOL

DH had originally asked for a Dairy Queen cake. I wasn't about to pay that price for his cake no matter how tired I've been, especially when it's super easy to make it yourself! All you need is:

ice cream
crushed cookies
topping or decorations

Seriously, it's that easy!

Pull out the ice cream you are using. You can use any combination of flavors. I used vanilla as the top (well, bottom when you are making it) layer, and Drumstick as the next layer. You need to let the ice cream melt a bit so that it's soft and pliable - sitting on the counter about 15 minutes or so.

Crush the cookies in a well closed ziploc bag or empty cereal bag (they hold up better, actually). You can use a rolling pin, or just pull out a soup can and pound it. (Great for any PMS or anger you might be holding in... LOL)


Next, you'll want to line the bottom of a glass dish with a piece of aluminum foil. This helps insulate the dish to refreeze the ice cream. Follow up with a generous piece of plastic wrap. You'll see I used a colored wrap so I can easily see it to lift it out of the dish later. You want the wrap to hang over the side, and make sure that all of the dish is covered. You don't want the ice cream to freeze against the dish itself, only against the plastic. Make sure that it is as flat as possible.

Next, start spooning in the first layer of ice cream. Which you use depends on your taste and how you are planning to decorate your cake. I used Vanilla because it would show the decorations clearer. Spread the ice cream as flat and as carefully as you can. I used an entire box of vanilla in our cake, and spread it with a rice server. A spatula would work well too. If your ice cream isn't spreading very well, you may need to wait a few more minutes before trying again.

Spread the next layer of ice cream carefully. Again, make sure the layer is even.


Follow with a layer of crushed cookies. Press the cookies into the top layer of ice cream as much as you can so that it sticks. Cover with a loose layer of foil.


Freeze for at least an hour. Here is where I tell you to make sure your dish fits into the freezer before making the cake. ;)

You'll want to place a cookie sheet or the plate that you will be displaying your cake on over the glass dish. Flip it over carefully before placing it on the counter. Next, slowly pull the plastic so the cake is free from the dish. If it's sticking, wet a dish towel with hot water and place it over the glass dish for no more than 20 seconds. The ice cream should come right out. Carefully pull the plastic wrap off the ice cream, and get to decorating! I used Smucker's Magic Shell hard chocolate topping on this one.


Total cost to make his huge cake, not including decorations and candles, was under $7!