Mmmm, Ice Cream Cake

My mom bought me an ice cream cake for every birthday when I was growing up; my sister got me a Coldstone Creamery ice cream cake for my surprise 20th birthday; my friends got me a JP Licks ice cream cake for my 21st birthday... clearly, I love ice cream cake! So what better than to learn how to make the perfect ice cream cake! I finally made an ice cream cake for my best friend's 22nd birthday party, and I have to say, it was damn good.

Frozen Chocolate Cookie Cake (doesn't the name alone make your mouth water?!)

Ingredients:
Cake:
1 box package of Devil's food cake and listed ingredients (usually eggs, oil, and water)

Cake Filling:
1/2 gallon cookies 'n' cream ice cream

Chocolate Ganache:
1 cup heavy cream
12 oz chocolate chips

Garnish (optional, well, not really):
crushed oreo cookies

1. Freeze ice cream into a 9 inch round cake pan for several hours. (tip: line the pan with plastic wrap/saran wrap before adding ice cream. This will make it easier to remove the ice cream later on).
2. Bake 2 9-inch Devil's food cakes. Refrigerate cakes until cold.
3. Prepare the ganache: Heat cream until it bubbles. Remove from heat. Add chocolate and stir until it melts into the cream. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until it has thickened enough that it can be spread with a butterknife.
4. Building the cake: When cakes have cooled, cover 1 cake's top and sides with ganache. Unwrap ice cream and place on top of this layer. Place the second cake on top of the ice cream layer. Cover the sides and top of that cake with ganache. For the garnish, cover the sides of the ice cream layer and the top of the cake with crushed oreos.
*Another option would be to cover the cakes with ganache and then cool them in the refrigerator. Then put the three cooled pieces together.

Notes: Crush oreos by placing a plastic bag and hitting with a hammer or the back of a knife. Also, remember to even out the sides of the ice cream layer so it is more in line with the cake layer. This will make the cake prettier!