Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake
Dorcas Annette Walker

I remember when I first was married and living on a college campus, which my husband attended, Dana and I saved up and bought an old-fashion crank ice cream freezer. Hot summer evenings would find a bunch of us couples gathered together to make homemade ice cream. We all lived in poverty, barely scraping by, so we’d call each other to come up with enough ingredients. The guys would take turns cranking the freezer out on the porch, as we visited waiting with anticipation for the first taste, until the ice cream was deemed ready. There is nothing as refreshing as homemade ice cream on a hot summer night. You had to pace yourself and eat it slow or you’d get a monster of a headache. Today it is actually cheaper to buy ice cream already made at the store, but no store-bought flavor can beat the taste of homemade ice cream. As for my old ice cream freezer, it now is a plant holder on my back porch; a conservation piece of fondness to those who remember the good ole days and one of sheer unbelief to the younger generation.

By the end of the 19th century ice cream was firmly established in American society. With its popularity came new inventions. There are differing opinions and claims about who actually made the first ice cream sandwich. The earliest recorded was in the Washing Post July 5, 1900 from the New York Tribune, which had an article about an ice cream sandwich man who sold ice cream from a tin mold, between slabs of wafers, for one cent out of a pushcart on the Lower East Side of New York City within the district inhabited by the Russians. George Whitney in 1928 began what is now a San Francisco tradition, ice cream sandwiches where vanilla ice cream is placed between two large oatmeal cookies and then dipped in chocolate. In Australia ice cream sandwiches are given the name of Giant Sandwich wrapped in blue, pink and white. In the Eastern states is it called a Monaco Bar recognized by its gold and black metallic cover. In Ireland ice cream sandwiches are known as sliders and in Singapore not only does the ice cream come in different flavors (some exotic flavors: Red Bean, Yam, Sweet Corn, Durian, and Honeydew), but vendors also sell blocks of ice cream between slices of multicolored bread instead of wafers or a cone. Speaking of different flavors, I found recipes for homemade pumpkin, Ladyfinger, and Shamrock ice cream sandwiches. The most popular homemade ice cream sandwich is by placing vanilla ice cream between two chocolate cookies.

My Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake evolved from a recipe I saw in a magazine that used ice cream sandwiches. My brain cells went crazy at the potential of making a frozen dessert using only a couple of ingredients and so quick to make. When my son began his teen years I started making ice cream birthday cakes that were an instant hit, but they involved a lot of work. I even tried Dairy Queen’s ice cream cakes- and was usually passed on quickly to the manager when I would suggest something different from the two choices offered. How I wish now that I had thought about using ice cream sandwiches. My Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake takes only fifteen minutes to prepare and serves twenty. This ice cream cake, using ice cream sandwiches, is full of endless possibilities when you check out the different flavors of ice cream sandwiches now available. My Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake is a sure winner for both kids and adults with the peanut butter/chocolate mixture.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream Cake

1 box of 12 peanut butter ice cream sandwiches
1 large cool whip (16 oz)
1 chocolate candy bar

Lay four ice cream sandwiches in a row on large plate. Spoon cool whip over layer of ice cream sandwiches. Add second layer of four ice cream sandwiches. Cover with cool whip. Finish with third layer of ice cream sandwiches. Completely cover cake with cool whip. Garnish with chocolate curls and freeze overnight. Slice with sharp knife and serve!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a freelance writer, author, columnist, and photographer from Jamestown, TN. If you have any cooking tips or favorite recipes you are welcome to contact me by mail at: Dorcas Walker, 929 Wildwood Lane, Jamestown, TN 38556 or email me at: dorcaswalker@yahoo.com. For more information about the Walker family and Dorcas’ books check out her website at: www.dorcasannettewalker.com or htpp://dorcasannettewalker.blogspot.com for other Creative Mountain Cookin recipes.