Mint Brownie Ice Cream Cake

Mint Brownie Ice Cream Cake
Dorcas Annette Walker

The month of March is hemophilia awareness- the same month my son, Dwight, who has severe hemophilia, was born in on the thirteenth. Life has been a whirlwind ever since. Three years later, despite my sister’s frantic endeavors to bring on her labor earlier, my niece was born on Friday, March the thirteenth too. Thankfully Stacy does not have hemophilia. So when we found out that my daughter was due in March, Dwight and Stacy were dearly hoping that Dawn’s baby would also be born on the thirteenth. Since my daughter had to have a C-section her doctor chose March the second (they usually do a C-section about a week earlier) to Dwight and Stacy’s dismay.

Nevertheless my sweet little granddaughter stirred up quite a cyclone of her own. We were all at the Baptist Hospital in Nashville around noon- after driving through stormy weather that morning- when Dawn went back for her C-section. All the television stations were focused on the weather first around our state and then here in Tennessee as several tornadoes began moving across the state. Dawn’s C-section has just been finished and she was in recovery when the hospital went on alert. Everyone was hustled out into the hallway from the waiting room and then sent down to the dining room in the basement when the hospital went on full emergency mode shutting everything down.

Meanwhile Dawn ended up staying in the recovery room five hours instead of the usual one due to her having a bad reaction to one of the meds. Since the Baptist Hospital, for security reasons keeps the babies with their mothers, it wasn’t until after 8 pm that night that we got to hold tiny Katie Dawn in our arms for the first time. My sweet granddaughter was well worth the long wait, although my husband is threatening to call her “Stormy” instead of Katie.

My Mint Brownie Ice Cream Cake is a scrumptious birthday cake I’ve made up ahead of time to feature in this week’s column for Dwight’s birthday. Ever since Dwight was a teenager and I bought an ice cream cake for his birthday one year, he has always asked for an ice cream cake for his birthday. I have combined two of Dwight’s favorites: mint ice cream and brownies interlaced together with a fuggy chocolate topping to create this personalized cake. Even though the Mint Brownie Ice Cream Cake takes time to make, the look Dwight’s face when he takes his first bite will be well worth the effort. Preparation time for the Mint Brownie Ice Cream Cake is around thirty minutes (not counting freezing time).

Mint Brownie Ice Cream Cake

1 pan of brownies already prepared
2 (1.5 qts) mint chocolate ice cream
1 (11.75 oz) jar of hot fudge ice cream topping
1 (16 oz) container of cool whip

Soften ice cream in the microwave, spread into two 9-inch round cake pans, cover with wax paper, and freeze for a couple of hours. Dip a knife in hot water and move around the inside edge of one layer, run hot water over the bottom to dislodge the ice cream, and place on cake dish. Quickly spread half the jar of topping, sprinkle a layer of crumbled brownies on top, and refreeze. Pour the rest of the topping on the brownies, remove the second layer of ice cream and position on top. Frost with cool whip- refreezing if needed-, garnish the top with brownie crumbs, and then freeze until completely hardened!

Weekly tip: Ice cream cakes can also be layered in loaf pans and then frosted. Spraying a thin layer of cooking spray inside the pan helps the frozen ice cream slide out easier!

Dorcas Annette Walker is a published author, columnist, speaker, freelance magazine writer, and photographer from Jamestown, Tennessee. Contact her at: dorcasannettewalker@gmail.com For more recipes check out her Creative Tennessee Mountain Cookin blog at: www.dorcasannettewalker.webs.com